http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070919/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iraqi leader disputes Blackwater account By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
15 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - Iraq's prime minister Wednesday disputed Blackwater USA's version of a weekend shooting that left at least 11 people dead, saying he cannot tolerate "the killing of our citizens in cold blood."
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki suggested that the U.S. Embassy should find another company to protect its diplomats.
Blackwater, which provides security for American diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq, insisted its contractors were responding to gunfire from insurgents.
But more witnesses came forward saying they saw Blackwater security guards firing at civilians in the Mansour district of western Baghdad on Sunday. Two witnesses recalled hearing an explosion before the gunfire, suggesting a bomb may have targeted the American convoy, prompting the guards to start shooting.
American and Iraqi officials announced they would form a joint committee to try to reconcile widely differing versions of Sunday's incident. Conflicting accounts were circulating among Iraqi officials themselves.
Land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials outside the fortified Green Zone remained suspended for a second day after Iraqi authorities ordered Blackwater to stop working as a separate Iraqi investigation continues.
The Moyock, N.C.-based firm is the main provider of bodyguards and armed escorts for American government civilian employees in Iraq.
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo refused to offer any version of what happened Sunday at busy Nisoor Square. She told reporters the contractors involved in the incident were still in Iraq.
But al-Maliki spoke out sharply against Blackwater, saying the shooting was "the seventh of its kind" involving the company, "and these violations should be dealt with."
"We will not tolerate the killing of our citizens in cold blood," al-Maliki told reporters. "The work of this company has been stopped in order to know the reasons."
Al-Maliki said the shootings had generated such "widespread anger and hatred" that it would be "in everyone's interest if the embassy used another company while the company is suspended."
Blackwater spokeswoman Anne E. Tyrrell said in a statement late Monday that its employees acted "lawfully and appropriately" in response to an armed attack against a State Department convoy.
"The `civilians' reportedly fired upon by Blackwater professionals were in fact armed enemies and Blackwater personnel returned defensive fire," she said. "Blackwater regrets any loss of life but this convoy was violently attacked by armed insurgents, not civilians, and our people did their job to defend human life."
But al-Maliki said Blackwater's version "is not accurate" and that the company "should be held accountable for such a violation."
Iraqi officials offered several versions of what happened. One official said the Blackwater convoy got stuck in traffic and the guards began firing and throwing stun grenades to clear the vehicles.
Another official said men in a passing car shot at the convoy and the Blackwater guards responded with heavy fire, hitting civilians. Others said a car bomb exploded and the guards opened fire.
All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release the information. Some accounts spoke of a child being killed, others that the infant was wounded.
Two Iraqi witnesses said they saw only Blackwater firing, although U.S. officials said Monday that gunfire had disabled one of the American vehicles.
"Several SUVs were passing from Nisoor Square when an explosion took place. I couldn't tell whether it was a roadside bomb or a car bomb," said Imad Mansour Abid, 35. "This was followed by heavy fire by guards of the security vehicles."
He said the shots were fired "at streets in the area where civilians and passers-by were moving. The firing lasted about 10 to 20 minutes."
Suhard Mirza, a hairdresser who works in the area, said she heard a "distant explosion" and raced outside to see what was happening.
"I saw four-wheel-drive vehicles opening fire randomly on people and civilian cars in the area," she said. "After five minutes police and ambulances reached the area to evacuate casualties."
Eager to contain the crisis, the State Department said Wednesday a joint U.S.-Iraqi commission will be formed.
The size and composition of the commission have yet to be determined but its members are charged with assessing the results of both U.S. and Iraqi investigations of Sunday's incident, reaching a common conclusion about what happened and recommending possible changes to the way in which the embassy and its contractors handle security, the State Department said.
Also Wednesday, the U.S. military said an American soldier was killed the day before in an attack in southern Baghdad. Another soldier died Wednesday of non-battle related causes in Salahuddin province, the military said.
The Iraqi Cabinet decided Tuesday to review the status of all foreign security companies in the wake of the Mansour shooting.
The Interior Ministry had said Monday it had lifted Blackwater's license and ordered its 1,000 employees to leave the country. The next day, Iraqi officials said Blackwater's operations were merely suspended pending an investigation.
Some Iraqi officials said privately that it would be difficult to order Blackwater out of the country because the Americans rely so heavily on it.
Iraqis have long resented the presence of thousands of armed foreign security guards, whose numbers swelled after violence escalated in late 2003 months after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.
With too few U.S. and coalition forces available to maintain order, governments and private companies hired thousands of security guards to protect their operations from Sunni and Shiite extremists and criminal gangs.
Blackwater, whose convoys of SUVs careen through the streets with weapons displayed, has been singled out for much of the criticism — in part because of its high profile operations.
"Blackwater has a reputation," said James Sammons, a former Australian Special Air Service commander who now works for the British-based AKE Group, which also provides security in Iraq.
"If you want over-over-the-top, gun-toting security with high profile and all the bells and whistles," he said, "Blackwater are the people you are going to go with."
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(speaking of Bush/family and him doing what he wants) 
Fair enough.... I did read where Russia has drilled that deep, but not for oil but to study the earth, reportedly for "oil research reasons".
I don't get it. What are you getting at on your Yousef/CNN post?