[NYTr] "The Long War" Needs More Money; State Dept Immunity for Blackwater

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Op-Ed News - Oct 29, 2007
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bruce_k__071029_the_long_war_needs_m.htm

THE LONG WAR NEEDS MORE MONEY 
WHILE BLACKWATER SLIPS AWAY FROM PROSECUTION

by Bruce Gagnon

I watched the new chairman of the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff,
Michael Mullen, for an hour on C-SPAN yesterday. It was his first
speech in his new job.

He used the words "Long war" about 150 times just to make sure we
understood his point. We ain't coming home from Iraq, or Afghanistan,
and the rest of the Middle East any time soon.

He also made clear several times that this "Long war" was of course
about fighting "terrorism" but then slipped in a statement at least
twice that we've got to control diminishing supplies of "water and
fossil fuels" around the world.

He acknowledged that the Army has a serious manpower problem and
made quite a number of references to the "families" of GI's now in
Iraq, or who had recently returned, making quite clear to me that
there is a mutiny going on with the families. He promised to bring
more troops into the Army and Marines in coming years. Where will
they come from? The economic draft.

Mullen repeatedly talked about the Pentagon not having enough money
and needing the country to recognize that in order to fight the
"Long war" we were all going to have to pony up more cash. Of course
this cash will come from cutbacks in social spending thus ensuring
a steady stream of poor and working class kids having to go into
the military for lack of jobs, education funding, etc....

It will also mean more reliance on privatizing the military in order
to fight the "Long war" and so the headline in the Washington Post
today, Immunity Deal Hampers Blackwater Inquiry, comes as no surprise.
[Actually,it's an AP article; see below. By now other news outlets
have also reported this.]

The first two lines of the article read: "The State Department
promised Blackwater USA bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its
investigation of last month's deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians,
The Associated Press has learned. The immunity deal has delayed a
criminal inquiry into the Sept. 16 killings and could undermine any
effort to prosecute security contractors for their role in the
incident that has infuriated the Iraqi government."

Well, well. Condi-sleeza has found a way to cut the heart out of
the prosecution of Blackwater. Who would have ever predicted that
one?

Admiral Mullen also yesterday very lightly touched on the role of
the Navy in the coming period of resource wars. He talked about the
need to, working with chosen allies, be able to choke off vital
shipping lanes at sea. [Naval Aegis destroyers made right here in
Bath, Maine.]

Why? Well just keep in mind that China imports 80% of its oil through
the Taiwan Straits. If the U.S. could shut down that route then the
U.S. would essentially be able to strangle China's economy and hold
them hostage to any policy.

But in order to do all this Admiral Mullen says the Pentagon needs
more of your tax dollars. So every dime we keep in Social Security,
Medicare, Medicaid, Education, environmental programs, public
transportation, and the like is money that will not be going to
fight the "Long war."

Fight for social progress and make the world a more peaceful place.

Bruce K. Gagnon Coordinator 
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space 
PO Box 652 Brunswick, ME 04011 (207) 443-9502 
http://www.space4peace.org
globalnet at mindspring.com 
http://space4peace.blogspot.com (Blog)
http://www.myspace.com/brucekgagnon (MySpace profile)

                              ***

AP via The Guardian - Oct 30, 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7034541,00.html

Immunity Deal Hampers Blackwater Inquiry


Tuesday October 30, 2007 2:46 AM

By LARA JAKES JORDAN

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The State Department promised Blackwater USA
bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of last
month's deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians, The Associated Press has
learned.

The immunity deal has delayed a criminal inquiry into the Sept. 16
killings and could undermine any effort to prosecute security
contractors for their role in the incident that has infuriated the
Iraqi government.

``Once you give immunity, you can't take it away,'' said a senior law
enforcement official familiar with the investigation.

State Department officials declined to confirm or deny that immunity
had been granted. One official - who refused to be quoted by name-
said: ``If, in fact, such a decision was made, it was done without any
input or authorization from any senior State Department official in
Washington.''

Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd and FBI spokesman Rich Kolko
declined comment.

FBI agents were returning to Washington late Monday from Baghdad, where
they have been trying to collect evidence in the Sept. 16 embassy
convoy shooting without using statements from Blackwater employees who
were given immunity.

Three senior law enforcement officials said all the Blackwater
bodyguards involved - both in the vehicle convoy and in at least two
helicopters above - were given the legal protection as investigators
from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security sought to find out what
happened. The bureau is an arm of the State Department.

The law enforcement and State Department officials agreed to speak only
if they could remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the
inquiry into the incident.

The investigative misstep comes in the wake of already-strained
relations between the United States and Iraq, which is demanding the
right to launch its own prosecution of the Blackwater bodyguards.

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell declined comment about the U.S.
investigation. Based in Moyock, N.C., Blackwater USA is the largest
private security firm protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq.

The company has said its Sept. 16 convoy was under attack before it
opened fire in west Baghdad's Nisoor Square, killing 17 Iraqis. A
follow-up investigation by the Iraqi government, however, concluded
that Blackwater's men were unprovoked. No witnesses have been found to
contradict that finding.

An initial incident report by U.S. Central Command, which oversees
military operations in Iraq, also indicated ``no enemy activity
involved'' in the Sept. 16 incident. The report says Blackwater guards
were traveling against the flow of traffic through a traffic circle
when they ``engaged five civilian vehicles with small arms fire'' at a
distance of 50 meters.

The FBI took over the case early this month, officials said, after
prosecutors in the Justice Department's criminal division realized it
could not bring charges against Blackwater guards based on their
statements to the Diplomatic Security investigators.

Officials said the Blackwater bodyguards spoke only after receiving
so-called ``Garrity'' protections, requiring that their statements only
be used internally - and not for criminal prosecutions.

At that point, the Justice Department shifted the investigation to
prosecutors in its national security division, sealing the guards'
statements and attempting to build a case based on other evidence from
a crime scene that was then already two weeks old.

The FBI has re-interviewed some of the Blackwater employees, and one
official said Monday that at least several of them have refused to
answer questions, citing their constitutional right to avoid
self-incrimination. Any statements that the guards give to the FBI
could be used to bring criminal charges.

A second official, however, said that not all the guards have cited
their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination - leaving open
the possibility for future charges. The official declined to elaborate.

Prosecutors will have to prove that any evidence they use in bringing
charges against Blackwater employees was uncovered without using the
guards' statements to State Department investigators. They ``have to
show we got the information independently,'' one official said.

Garrity protections generally are given to police or other public law
enforcement officers, and were extended to the Blackwater guards
because they were working on behalf of the U.S. government, one
official said. Experts said it's rare for them to be given to all or
even most witnesses - particularly before a suspect is identified.

``You have to be careful,'' said Michael Horowitz, a former federal
prosecutor in Manhattan and senior Justice Department official. ``You
have to understand early on who your serious subjects are in the
investigation, and avoid giving these people the protections.''

It's not clear why the Diplomatic Security investigators agreed to give
immunity to the bodyguards, or who authorized doing so.

Bureau of Diplomatic Security chief Richard Griffin last week announced
his resignation, effective Thursday. Senior State Department officials,
speaking on condition of anonymity, have said his departure was
directly related to his oversight of Blackwater contractors.

Tyrrell, the Blackwater spokeswoman, said the company was alerted Oct.
2 that FBI would be taking over the investigation from the State
Department. She declined further comment.

On Oct. 3, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the FBI had
been called in to assist Diplomatic Security investigators. A day
later, he said the FBI had taken over the probe.

``We, internally and in talking with the FBI, had been thinking about
the idea of the FBI leading the investigation for a number of different
reasons,'' McCormack told reporters during an Oct. 4 briefing.

Last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ordered a series of
measures to boost government oversight of the private guards who
protect American diplomats in Iraq. They include increased monitoring
and explicit rules on when and how they can use deadly force.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., wrote a letter to Rice on Monday expressing
his dismay over the immunity offers. The presidential candidate, who
has introduced Senate legislation that would make private security
contractors in Iraq subject to federal law, asked Rice if she was aware
of the offers before they were made; if the FBI and Justice Department
were consulted; and if Rice agreed with the decision. Obama's
spokeswoman said he intended to send the letter Tuesday.

Blackwater's contract with the State Department expires in May and
there are questions whether it will remain as the primary contractor
for diplomatic bodyguards. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has
said his Cabinet is drafting legislation that would force the State
Department to replace Blackwater with another security company.

Congress also is expected to investigate the shootings, but a House
watchdog committee said it has so far held off, based on a Justice
Department request that lawmakers wait until the FBI concludes its
inquiry.

[Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Lolita C. Baldor contributed
to this story. ]