tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16816866.post7061507502393223033..comments2024-02-29T02:10:56.878-08:00Comments on J O S H U A P U N D I T: JoshuaPundit's Headlines, 1/30/08Freedom Fighterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13649470110087808596noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16816866.post-52698581018708989052009-01-31T18:28:00.000-08:002009-01-31T18:28:00.000-08:00Hi Poster,Actually, the entire contract was termin...Hi Poster,<BR/>Actually, the entire contract was terminated, not just for ops in Iraq. Blackwater alsoprotected diplomats an dother US government figures in Afghanistan,Yemen an dthe Phillipines as well as other areas in Africa and the Middle East.<BR/><BR/>I hate to differ, but this was politics.<BR/><BR/>Regards,<BR/>RobFreedom Fighterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13649470110087808596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16816866.post-30876238602535475202009-01-31T08:39:00.000-08:002009-01-31T08:39:00.000-08:00The first line of the abc article on the terminati...The first line of the abc article on the termination of Blackwater's contract is misleading. It was the soverign Iraqi government who made the decision not to license Black Water. The State Department cannot and would not over ride that decision even if they wanted to. If the IL Representative who was quoted thinks the Obama Administration could or would over ride the the will of Iraq's soverign government, she fundamentally misunderstands the geopolitical situation. <BR/><BR/>Btw, no diplomats killed on their watch. That is a very impressive record!! With as many people as they have had operating one would have expected a few "moles." The military, the state department, and others within the government and the private sector should study Black Water's screening techniques for hiring personnel in order to possibly learn how this record was achieved. <BR/><BR/>Iraq is a fully soverign country now. The US is winding down its presence. As such, the ending of Black Water's services is to be expected. With the current security situation their services are no longer needed to the extent they once were. The termination of the contract should surprise no one. <BR/><BR/>I pray that the soverign Iraqi government will work with us to combat Islamic terrorism or at the very least not allow their territory to be used to support it. Unfortunately Iraq is a bit to close to Iran for the optimal needs of American national security but with the US in a hurry to withdraw we should expect the Iraqis to seek good relations with their powerful neighbor. <BR/><BR/>NYC proposes $1 billion in budget cuts. This is happening much as I predicted. With the struggling economy governments will have to cut services. This is where it starts. Eventually this will spread to the Federal level. It already has to an extent. The Post Office wants to end Saturday mail delivery. <BR/><BR/>Unlesss the economic situation drastically improves within the next few months we should expect basic services like fire, police, ems and other vital services to be drastially cut accross the country. On the federal level, the first things to be cut would likely be expenditures on the military and the intellegence services. Eventually entire agencies would have to be shut down. <BR/><BR/>This does not need to happen. The government could come to its senses and GET OUT OF THE WAY of the private sector. In other words, no more bail outs. Had the government not spent 700 billion to bail out the banks no doubt some of them would have failed and what ever valuable assets they had would have been bought by their competitors. At least we would be well on the way to an economic recovery right now. As it is the bail outs have only made things worse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com