Blackwater USA/external articles 2007

The external articles section on Blackwater USA has been subdivided.

'Also see:'


 * Background information on Blackwater USA
 * Articles for 2003-2006

Statements

 * Transcript: Hearing on Private Security Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Chairman Henry A. Waxman's Opening Statement, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, October 2, 2007.
 * Transcript: Statement of Rep. Tom Davis, Ranking Republican Member, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, October 2, 2007.
 * Transcript: Blackwater CEO, Erik Prince's opening statement, CNN, October 2, 2007.

Live blogging the testimony

 * Marcy Wheeler, "House Oversight: Blackwater Liveblog, Firedoglake Blog, October 2, 2007:
 * Parts: One; Two; Three; Four; Five; and Six.


 * Spencer Ackerman, TPMmuckraker, October 2, 2007:
 * "Today's Must Read"
 * "Blackwater's Prince Digs In For Tough Hearing"
 * "Issa: Attack on Blackwater is Attack on... Petraeus"
 * "Blackwater: Rules of Engagement Set by State Department"
 * "The Case of the Drunken Blackwater Shooter"
 * "Prince: We Didn't Get No-Bid Contracts"
 * "Blackwater vs. U.S. Counterinsurgency Efforts"
 * "Prince Equivocates on 'Non-Compete' Clauses"
 * "Is Blackwater A Republican Company?"
 * "What Laws Govern Blackwater?"
 * "Prince: 'I'm Not A Financially Driven Guy'"
 * "Why Did State Help Drunken Blackwater Shooter Flee Iraq?"
 * "State: Blackwater Got Sole-Source Contract in 2004"
 * "Blackwater's Rules of Engagement Made Simple"
 * "Did State Investigate Blackwater's 2005 al-Hilla Shooting?"


 * Amanda Terkel, "Waxman: State Department ‘Acting As Blackwater’s Enabler’," Think Progress, October 2, 2007.
 * Ewen MacAskill, "Security chief says 'we're no cowboys'," The Guardian (UK), October 2, 2007.
 * David Edwards and Nick Juliano, "Blackwater president acknowledges guards sometimes fire first," The Raw Story, October 2, 2007.

Fact checking the testimony

 * Matt Corley, "Blackwater Fired First In 84 Percent Of ‘Escalation Of Force’ Incidents Since 2005," Think Progress, October 1, 2007.
 * "FACTBOX: Report says Blackwater Iraq shootings at 1.4 per week," Reuters, October 2, 2007.
 * Spencer Ackerman, "Today's Must Read," TPMmuckraker, October 3, 2007.
 * Steve Fainaru, "Guards in Iraq cite frequent shootings. Companies don't report all the incidents, U.S. officials say," Washington Post (MSNBC), October 3, 2007.

Background reading for the Congressional hearing

 * "Blackwater: Inside America's Private Army" (6-part series), Virginian-Pilot, July 2006.
 * Patrick O'Connor, "Oversight Panel Chronicles Alleged Blackwater Abuses," The Politico/CBS News, October 1, 2007.
 * P.W. Singer, "The dark truth about Blackwater. Outsourcing the war to private military contractors such as Blackwater has shattered the United States' moral authority and its ability to win wars like that in Iraq," Salon, October 2, 2007.
 * Ben Van Heuvelen, "The Bush administration's ties to Blackwater. Blamed in the deaths of Iraqi civilians, the private security firm has long ties to the White House and prominent Republicans, including Ken Starr," Salon, October 2, 2007.

January

 * Al Cronkite, "Blackwater USA. Onward Christian Soldiers," Ether Zone, January 8, 2007.
 * Bill Sizemore, "Iraq killing tracked to contractor could test laws," The Virginian-Pilot, January 11, 2007.
 * R.J. Hillhouse, "Blackwater Shooter Kills Iraq Cop on Xmas Eve," The Spy Who Billed Me Blog, January 13, 2007.
 * Ismael Hossein-zadeh, "Why the US is not leaving Iraq," Online Journal, January 17, 2007; OpEdNews.com, January 24, 2007.
 * "Iraq War veteran makes third return, this time as private worker," The Salem News (Mass.), January 18, 2007.
 * Jon D. Markman, "Make Money on the New Mercenary Army," The Street, January 19, 2007.
 * "Blackwater USA may start training Sudanese security forces," Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), January 19, 2007.
 * Mike Baker, "Blackwater seeks $10M from plaintiffs in wrongful-death suit," Associated Press (The Mercury News), January 19, 2007.
 * "Blackwater USA to start training in Sudan, official of country says," Associated Press (Winston-Salem Journal (N.C.)), January 20, 2007.
 * "Blackwater wants $10 million from lawyer for dead workers," Associated Press (The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)), January 21, 2007.
 * Josh Ing, "Blackwater USA Has No Shame," Joshing Politics Blogspot, January 21, 2007.
 * "Peacekeeping: American Mercenaries in Sudan," Strategy Page, January 22, 2007.
 * Zia Mian, "The Three U.S. Armies in Iraq," Foreign Policy in Focus, January 22, 2007.
 * "Ansar al Sunna Claims Downing of Blackwater Helicopter," The Jawa Report, January 23, 2007.
 * Qassim Abdul-Zahra, "4 Americans in Copter Crash Shot in Head," Associated Press (San Francisco Chronicle), January 24, 2007.
 * "Video: 2 Groups Claim Blackwater Helicopter Down, Murder Crew," The Jawa Report, January 24, 2007.
 * Jeremy Scahill, "Our mercenaries in Iraq. The president relies on thousands of private soldiers with little oversight, a disturbing example of the military-industrial complex," Los Angeles Times, January 25, 2007.
 * David Ivanovich and Brett Clanton, "Contractor deaths in Iraq nearing 800. Toll has surged in past months, but civilians still line up for the jobs," Houston Chronicle, January 28, 2007.

April

 * Jeremy Scahill, "Bush's Shadow Army," The Nation, March 15, 2007 (April 2, 2007 issue).
 * Sharon Weinberger, "Inside the Belly of the Blackwater Beast," Danger Room Blog / Wired, April 6, 2007. Posting of Nathan Hodge's "Blackwater: Lawyers, guns and Money".
 * Ted Roelofs, "Holland native, his security firm cash in on war," Grand Rapids Press, April 29, 2007.
 * Ted Roelofs, "Security firm claims same rights as Army," Grand Rapids Press, April 29, 2007.

May

 * "Old Blackwater Keep on Rolling…," Scholars and Rogues, May 8, 2007.
 * Jeremy Scahill, "Outsourcing the War," The Nation (Common Dreams), May 12, 2007.
 * Yochi J. Dreazen, "New Scrutiny for Iraq Contractors: Killing by Blackwater Worker Poses Dilemma for U.S. Authorities," Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), May 14, 2007.
 * Erik Prince, "Guest Column Defending Blackwater," Grand Rapids Press, May 16, 2007.
 * Media Mouse, "Jeremy Scahill Lecture on Blackwater USA (Audio)," Mediamouse.org, May 19, 2007.
 * Media Mouse, "Jeremy Scahill Lecture on Blackwater USA (Video)," Mediamouse.org, May 19, 2007.
 * Media Mouse, "Author Speaks in Holland on Blackwater," Mediamouse.org, May 20, 2007.
 * Shandra Martinez, "Blackwater author visits Holland," Grand Rapids Press, May 20, 2007.
 * "Author sees change for contractors," Holland Sentinel, May 20, 2007.
 * Media Mouse, "Interview with Author Jeremy Scahill on Blackwater USA (Audio)," Mediamouse.org, May 20, 2007.
 * Steve Fainaru and Saad al-Izzi, "U.S. Security Contractors Open Fire in Baghdad. Blackwater Employees Were Involved in Two Shooting Incidents in Past Week," Washington Post, May 27, 2007.

June

 * Glen Owen, "The picture that proves 'torture flights' are STILL landing in the UK", The Daily Mail, June 11, 2007.
 * Blackwater USA, "British Tabloid Withdraws False Story on Blackwater: The withdrawal that proves factual accuracy STILL has some role in journalism", Media Release, June 14, 2007.
 * Anne Tyrrell, "Rendition flights", Letter to the Editor, The Daily Mail, June 16, 2007. (Tyrell wrote on behalf of Blackwater USA).

July

 * Joseph Neff, "Blackwater manager blamed for 2004 massacre in Fallujah. Military contractors write that a site manager sent four Americans on an ill-advised, fatal mission," The News & Observer (N.C.) (The Raw Story), July 8, 2007.

August

 * "Blackwater Flies," Scholars and Rogues, August 27, 2007.

September

 * Ken Fireman and Robin Stringer, "Blackwater Denies Any Wrongdoing in Shooting Incident (Update1)," Bloomberg News, September 17, 2007.
 * Larry C. Johnson, "The Iraq Blackwater Test," Atlantic Free Press, September 17, 2007.
 * Rob Kall, "Will Iraq's Blackwater Ban Raise Troop Levels in Baghdad?" OpEdNews, September 17, 2007.
 * Adam Zagorin and Brian Bennett, "Will Iraq Kick Out Blackwater?" TIME Magazine, September 17, 2007.
 * Jane Roh, "Blackwater Incident Highlights U.S. Dependence On Contractors," The Gate Blog/National Journal, September 17, 2007.
 * Noah Schachtman, "Blackwater Ban 'Inevitable'," WIRED Blog Network, September 17, 2007.
 * Steve Benen, "Iraq to Blackwater: You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here," The Carpetbagger Report, September 17, 2007.
 * Aseel Kami and Dominic Evans, "Iraq to review security firms after shooting," Reuters AlertNet, September 18, 2007.
 * Joshua Partlow and Walter Pincus, "Iraq Bans Security Contractor," Washington Post, September 18, 2007.
 * Alex Koppelman and Mark Benjamin, "What happens to private contractors who kill Iraqis? Maybe nothing," Salon, September 18, 2007.
 * Sabrina Tavernise, "U.S. Contractor Banned by Iraq Over Shootings," New York Times, September 18, 2007.
 * Sinan Salaheddin, "Iraqis to Review Security Companies," Associated Press (Washington Post), September 18, 2007.
 * "Iraq Orders Blackwater USA Contractors Out. Moves Sparks State Department Diplomatic Surge; Iraqi Papers Herald Order," Associated Press/CBS News, September 18, 2007.
 * "Sadr demands ouster of 'criminal' security firms from Iraq," Agence France Presse, September 18, 2007.
 * "Iraq could try Blackwater over deadly shootout," Agence France Presse, September 18, 2007.
 * Daniel Luban, "Blackwater pays price for Iraqi firefight," Asia Times Online, September 19, 2007.
 * Bill Berkowitz, "Blackwater Blues for Dead Iraqi Civilians," Dissident Voice, September 19, 2007.
 * Matt Corley, "State Dept. ‘Discounts’ Iraqi Report, Clings To Blackwater Line Of ‘Defensive Fire’," Think Progress, September 19, 2007.
 * Amanda Terkel, "Pentagon Issues Blackwater New $92 Million Contract," Think Progress, September 30, 2007.

October

 * Richard Lardner, "FBI Sending Investigators to Iraq," Associated Press (San Francisco Chronicle), October 1, 2007.
 * Paul Kiel, "Prince, Solid Republican, Also Supported Green," TPMmuckraker, October 2, 2007.
 * "Blackwater contractor wrote government report on incident," CNN, October 2, 2007.
 * Jason Rhyne and Nick Juliano, "Man Bush chose to lead Pentagon contracting probes left under fire to become Blackwater COO," The Raw Story, October 2, 2007.
 * "Murky Legal Issues In Ex-Blackwater Case. Investigations Into Multiple Iraqi Deaths Offer Window Into Shadowy Private Security Firm," CBS News/Associated Press, October 3, 2007.
 * Bryan Bender, "US control over guards in Iraq urged. Blackwater criticized," Boston Globe, October 3, 2007.
 * Todd Spangler, "Security boss: I didn't use DeVos clout for Iraq job," Detroit Free Press, October 3, 2007.
 * Maureen Dowd, Opinion: "Sinking in a Swamp Full of Blackwater," New York Times, October 3, 2007.
 * Scarecrow, "Our Media’s Failure to Report the Real Blackwater Story," Firedoglake Blog, October 3, 2007.
 * "US contractor Blackwater faces challenges in attempt to improve image after Iraq shooting", Associated Press, October 5, 2007.
 * Sudarsan Raghavan and Josh White, "Blackwater Guards Fired at Fleeing Cars, Soldiers Say. First U.S. Troops on Scene Found No Evidence of Shooting by Iraqis; Incident Called 'Criminal'," Washington Post, October 12, 2007.
 * Spencer Ackerman, "Internal Review of Blackwater Prompted Firm to Leave Lobbying Assoc.," TPMmuckraker, October 12, 2007.
 * Spencer Ackerman, "Today's Must Read," TPMmuckraker, October 15, 2007.