A few days ago, in reference to Blackwater in Iraq, I said that "This is a FAR bigger deal than the military-industrial-media is making it."
As it turns out, I may have understimated the importance of the latest incident involving Blackwater.
I was referring to the question of whether or not *Bush's private mercenary/dark christian army would be allowed to continue to terrorize the citizens of Iraq when "the Iraqi government" (which we all know by now is a hideously corrupt joke of a sock-puppet for "Bush/Cheney policy in Iraq") is demanding that they be investigated, prosecuted if need be, and have their operations suspended is a "litums test" for whether it's time to call the Bush/Cheney claim of "Democracy" in Iraq bullshit, or not. (Of course, most anyone reading this blog is smart enough to have called "bullshit" on this particular lie long ago, but I'm talking about the military-industrial-media having no choice but to admit it to Joe Sixpack, who's more worried about holding off the outsourcing of his job than he is about a dark christian mercenary army the media hasn't told him existed, yet.)
BAGHDAD, Sept. 25 -- A confrontation between the U.S. military and the State Department is unfolding over the involvement of Blackwater USA in the shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians in a Baghdad square Sept. 16, bringing to the surface long-simmering tensions between the military and private security companies in Iraq, according to U.S. military and government officials.
In high-level meetings over the past several days, U.S. military officials have pressed State Department officials to assert more control over Blackwater, which operates under the department's authority, said a U.S. government official with knowledge of the discussions. "The military is very sensitive to its relationship that they've built with the Iraqis being altered or even severely degraded by actions such as this event," the official said.
"This is a nightmare," said a senior U.S. military official. "We had guys who saw the aftermath, and it was very bad. This is going to hurt us badly. It may be worse than Abu Ghraib, and it comes at a time when we're trying to have an impact for the long term." The official was referring to the prison scandal that emerged in 2004 in which U.S. soldiers tortured and abused Iraqis.
This comes on top of (surprise, surprise) the refusal of the WH to allow congress to hear any details unless they agree not to share them with the American people, and the reinstatement of heavily armed dark christian patrols in the muslim country which goes against the wishes of "the host government".
I see why the Democrats are in no hurry to take up the discussion of funding for the war so soon after the testimony of Bush's hand-picked General on "progress" in Iraq. By November, when it comes up, all the happy talk about how much insurgents attacks are down now that the clever general has come up with new ways to count them will have gone away.
"Worse than Abu Graib" may be a story even the military-industrial-media can't hide, right when it matters the most. When Bush is asking for $200 billion more (and who knows how many lives.) And that's if the warmongers are lucky.
What if the average guys on the streets of Iraq decide to oust Blackwater themselves? The first shots of their own revolution may already have been fired.
(*Note to the uninitiated: Blackwater, owned by a "fundamentalist christian" is the "Bush's private mercenary/dark christian army" I refer to. It's been widely reported that the "grunts" in the American military resent their overpaid, overly rested, recklessly trigger happy presence.)