President, IraqSlogger.com
Author and documentary filmmaker who spent three years living and traveling with security contractors and mercenaries while researching the book Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror; president of IraqSlogger.com
American Forces Drawn into Bitter Fighting in Iraq Yesterday, President Bush said Iraq was returning to " normalcy ," but today he conceded the situation is "dangerous and fragile." He called the Maliki government's efforts to confront criminal elements a " defining moment " in Iraq. The President's comments followed US air strikes in both the southern city of Basra and a Shiite militia stronghold in Baghdad, where the government has declared a curfew through Sunday. We get an update on the situation from a journalist, documentarian and aid worker in Iraq.
Private Security Contractors and Public Accountability Congressional investigators say Blackwater fired first in almost two-hundred shootouts , often failed to help injured civilians, and that many killings were covered up by state department officials. One criticism of Blackwater guards is that they interfere with the military’s counterinsurgency mission. Today’s hearing won’t be the last we hear of Blackwater and other civilian contractors.
Private Security Guards and the War in Iraq Blackwater USA —with more than a billion dollars in federal contracts—was on the carpet today on Capitol Hill. Congressional investigators claim that Blackwater guards shot first in almost 200 shootouts and killed innocent Iraqis in incidents the State Department helped cover up. Company founder Erik Prince, a former Navy Seal who has rarely been heard from in public, today told the committee that the shooting was always defensive, that 30 of its men have been killed and that that none of the VIP's under guard has ever been lost. Are they skilled professionals who free up Marines and soldiers or rogue mercenaries who interfere with America's goals in Iraq?
Iraq Wants Blackwater Security Guards Out All US diplomats are banned from leaving the Green Zone by land as Iraq's Prime Nouri al-Maliki Minister tells the State Department to fire Blackwater USA security guards. Iraq says ten civilians were killed on Sunday when Blackwater guards fired indiscriminately into a crowd. Blackwater says they shot at "armed enemies." It's the latest in a long series of incidents that have infuriated Iraqis from the streets to the corridors of power. Why is the State Department so dependent on private guards? Has it failed to exercise appropriate oversight?
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.