Blackwater USA License Being Pulled in Iraq

Winning hearts and minds:

A U.S. State Department motorcade came under attack in Baghdad on Sunday, prompting security contractors guarding the convoy to open fire in the streets. At least nine civilians were killed, according to Iraqi officials.

According to U.S. officials, the Blackwater USA security contractors, "escalated the force to defend themselves," while Iraqi officials say the incident, "involved excessive force and killed innocent civilians."  And today:

The Interior Ministry said Monday that it was pulling the license of an American security firm allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of civilians during an attack on a U.S. State Department motorcade in Baghdad.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf said eight people were killed and 13 were wounded when security contractors working for Blackwater USA opened fire in a predominantly Sunni neighborhood of western Baghdad.

"We have canceled the license of Blackwater and prevented them from working all over Iraqi territory. We will also refer those involved to Iraqi judicial authorities," Khalaf said.

For the record, while U.S. troops are immune from prosecution in Iraq, private contractors are not.

Update:  Courtesy of LeftOverAmerica:

The Coalition Provisional Authority -- the now-defunct occupational government -- issued a decree in 2004 (pdf) immunizing security contractors from Iraqi prosecution and placing their operations under the jurisdiction of U.S. authorities.

That's what I get for relying on the AP.