On the heels of the instant backslide on the time line for withdrawal, Blackwater, now Xe, is slated to stay in Iraq until late summer/early fall.
According to the AP:
Armed guards from the security firm once known as Blackwater Worldwide are still protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq, even though the company has no license to operate there and has been told by the State Department its contracts will not be renewed two years after a lethal firefight that stirred outrage in Baghdad.
Private security guards employed by the company, now known as Xe, are slated to continue ground operations in parts of Iraq long into the summer, far longer than had previously been acknowledged, government officials told The Associated Press.
In addition, helicopters working for Xe's aviation wing, Presidential Airways, will provide air security for U.S. diplomatic convoys into September, almost two years after the Iraqi government first said it wanted the firm out.
This is unbelievable. Ideally we shouldn't be any employing PMCs but continuing to allow a company like Blackwater to operate, with their criminal track record, doesn't bode well for Iraq's future as an independent state. If we can't keep our promise to remove Blackwater from Iraq, how reluctant will Obama be to take the training wheels off and let the Iraqis have their country back. I have a feeling we're going to be in Iraq for years to come and well beyond the numbers of the "left behind" force of 50,000 troops. Pathetic.