This video from the USA is called GRITtv: Jeremy Scahill: Blackwater‘s Secret War in Pakistan.
Associated Press reports:
Mar 20, 2:05 PM EDT
Iraqi family sues ex-Blackwater guard over death
By MIKE BAKER
Associated Press WriterRALEIGH, N.C. — The family of a slain Iraqi security guard says in a federal lawsuit that a former Blackwater contractor fatally shot the man while wandering drunk in Baghdad, and the survivors accuse the company of covering up wrongdoing while reneging on promises of compensation.
Raheem Khalaf Sa’adoon’s wife and two children said Blackwater, the North Carolina-based company now known as Xe, destroyed documents to hide evidence of a pattern of recklessness. The lawsuit filed Thursday in the southern district of California also says the company promised to compensate the widow, Wijdan Mohsin Saed, in a series of payments but stopped after an initial payment of $20,000.
“She was expecting a continued stream of compensation,” said Susan Burke, a Washington-based attorney for the family, in an interview. “But, obviously, with killing the breadwinner of the family, they had essentially cut off her means of livelihood. She’s a stay-at-home mom and doesn’t have any other source of income.”
The lawsuit names both Xe and the former Blackwater guard, Andrew Moonen. It says Moonen shot Sa’adoon without provocation on Christmas Eve of 2006 after getting drunk at a party and then getting lost. Sa’adoon, 32, was on guard duty for Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi at the time.
…
Xe spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said in a release that the shooting happened while Moonen was off-duty. She said military officials investigated the matter and that the company was ordered to remove him from Iraq. He was fired and fined, and Tyrrell said the company has assisted throughout a Department of Justice investigation.
…
A congressional report released in 2007 said Moonen reported the shooting at a nearby post for another security contractor, Triple Canopy, saying he had been in a gunfight with Iraqis. The lawsuit says a visibly intoxicated Moonen simply pulled out his Glock and fired at Sa’adoon for no reason.
The lawsuit accuses Xe of a pattern of recklessness and illegal activity. It seeks compensation and punitive damages that would strip the company of all “revenue and profits earned from their pattern of constant misconduct and callous disregard for human life.”
“To some degree, I think they continue to believe they’ll be able to evade scrutiny and accountability,” Burke said.
Blackwater changed its name to Xe (pronounced ZEE) in February.
Blackwater sued in US court over alleged cover-up: here.
My Opposition to the Iraq War, by Gary Hart: here.
Australia: On March 21, 200 people gathered at Sydney Town Hall for the sixth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, demanding an end to the current US-led wars and occupations: here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m52798&hd=&size=1&l=e
Our Shame
Cindy Sheehan
March 20, 2009
I remember sitting in my living room, six years ago, watching the “Leader of the Free World” announcing that the United States military had just embarked in “shock and awe” against the country of Iraq.
The images made me physically ill, as they had 12 years before when the criminal’s criminal father was bombarding Iraq.
I was also personally sick with fear as my family had “skin in the game,” our son/brother, Casey. On that night, Casey’s life clock starting ticking down: He had exactly one year and 15 days to live from “shocking and awful.”
Six years and over a million lives later, our military is still shamefully in Iraq. Our “Peace President” has created no positive change there and is in fact extending the length of the deployment of “combat troops.” The country has been ethnically cleansed. Violence is down because everyone there is either dead, displaced or too poor, wounded or frightened to move let alone continue fighting. Violence is down, but not out, and you can bet there will be a strong US military presence in Iraq until every last drop of oil has fallen into the hands of foreign oil companies.
What about Afghanistan? When will the “peace movement” begin to protest the anniversary (Oct. 7, 2001) of the invasion of that war-torn country? When will we begin saying “illegal and immoral” in connection with Afghanistan and start mourning the dead there? Maybe when US casualties begin to ratchet up as Obama surges US troop presence there? Obama is sending incursions farther and farther into Pakistan every day. From one “dumb war” to another “dumb war,” and the cycle of death will never end for we in the Robbed Class or the poor innocents of that region.
The economic collapse is a very worrisome and immediate problem to so many of us, but we need to remember that the Military Industrial Robber Class Complex is the reason we are in this current crisis and the economic costs of the occupations cannot and must not be separated from the human cost. Whose life clock is ticking away today? How can we allow yet another year to pass?
Every year I say that this will be our last–I don’t believe that anymore. I believe that a very few of us will be demonstrating against these “wars” for years and every year that goes by, fewer of us will be out.
It is our shame that we as a nation complacently sit by and allow the audacity of the atrocities of empire to continue in our names.
Our demands must be the same with the Obama regime as it was with the Bush regime: Troops home completely and immediately. Leave cowardice and compromise to the politicians: we in the movement must never compromise or sell out the values of peace with justice. Or if we have already sold-out, we must buy-back…we need everyone!
Many have already given up or have been co-opted by the Democratic Party or the false specter of “hope.” Most have never even protested other than bitching on blogs or yelling at the TV when Bush or Cheney came on spewing their lies (Cheney is still at it).
Some will never give up. Here’s to you! I honor your commitment to peace, no matter who is the current warmonger occupying the Evil Office (oops, I sorta meant “Oval Office”)
Hasta la victoria, siempre!
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Mar 21, 2:22 PM EDT
Protesters march to Pentagon, call to end Iraq war
By NAFEESA SYEED
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of war protesters from across the country gathered in Washington on Saturday to mark the sixth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
Organizers from the ANSWER Coalition said more than 1,000 groups sponsored the protest to call for an end to the Iraq war. Holding signs that read “We need jobs and schools, not war” and “Stop the war!” they rallied around noon across the street from the Lincoln Memorial and by 1:30 p.m., were beginning to march across the Memorial Bridge to the Pentagon.
Protesters demanded that President Barack Obama immediately withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq, saying thousands of Iraqis have died and thousands of American troops have been wounded or killed.
Protesters lined up about 100 cardboard coffins on the ground draped with flags, including the American flag, representing countries where the U.S. has taken military action.
Anti-war activists said even though former President George W. Bush is out of power, they are disappointed with what they see as stalled action from Obama. Several of them said they supported Obama during his campaign, but that his administration has let them down by not ending the war sooner.
“Obama seems to be led somewhat by the bureaucracies. I want him to follow up on his promise to end the war,” said 66-year-old Perry Parks of Rockingham, N.C., who served in the Army for nearly 30 years, including in Vietnam. “But the longer it goes, the more it seems like he’s stalling.”
Obama has said he plans to withdraw roughly 100,000 troops by the summer of 2010. He promises to pull the last of the U.S. troops by the end of 2011, which is in accord with a deal Iraqis signed with Bush.
…
James Circello disagreed.
Circello of Washington served in the Army from March 2003 until April 2004, when he said he deserted before his unit was deployed to Afghanistan. Circello, 30, said he left because of what he called the destruction the U.S. caused in Iraq.
“I was forced to remove people from their homes,” he said. Circello turned himself in to authorities in 2007 and was administratively discharged, he said.
He said he participated in the Saturday protest to show his solidarity with the troops and the Iraqi people.
“We want to show the Iraqi people that we are not in line with the government, whether Bush or Obama, and we want immediate withdrawal of troops,” he said. “Just because a new popular president comes into power, it’s not going to stop us from demonstrating.”
Among other concerns protesters raised, they criticized continued troop presence in Afghanistan and called for an end to U.S. support of Israel’s military.
Taxpayer dollars should be used not for war but for domestic job-creation, health care, housing and education, demonstrators said.
This year, the protest was held on a weekend – a few days after the March 19 anniversary of the war, which began in 2003. Last year’s weekday protest was marked by lower turnout than in previous years.
Protests also were held in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
© 2009 The Associated Press.
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leftwing
Messages In This Digest (2 Messages)
1.
Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors – very funny From: Compañero
2.
GO FIGURE: KY Election Officials Arrested, Charged With ‘Changing Vo From: Richard Frager
1.
Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors – very funny
Posted by: “Compañero” companyero@bellsouth.net chocoano05
Sun Mar 22, 2009 3:42 pm (PDT)
Ben & Jerry’s created the “Yes Pecan!” ice cream flavor for Obama.
They then asked people to fill in the blank to the following:
For George W. they created “_________”.
Here are some of the favorite responses:
– Grape Depression
– Abu Grape
– Cluster Fudge
– Nut’n Accomplished
– Iraqi Road
– Chock ‘n Awe
– WireTapioca
– Impeach Cobbler
– Guantanmallow
– imPeachmint
– Good Riddance You Lousy Motherfucker… Swirl
– Heck of a Job, Brownie!
– Neocon Politan
– RockyRoad to Fascism
– The Reese’s-cession
– Cookie D’oh!
– The Housing Crunch
– Nougalar Proliferation
– Death by Chocolate… and Torture
– Chocolate Chip On My Shoulder
– “You’re Shitting In My Mouth And Calling It A” Sundae
– Credit Crunch
– Mission Pecanplished
– Country Pumpkin
– Chunky Monkey in Chief
– George Bush Doesn’t Care About Dark Chocolate
– Chocolate Chimp
– Bloody Sundae
– Caramel Preemptive Stripe
– I broke the law and am responsible for the deaths of
thousands…with nuts
2.
GO FIGURE: KY Election Officials Arrested, Charged With ‘Changing Vo
Posted by: “Richard Frager” science@zzz.com falseflagusa
Sun Mar 22, 2009 3:48 pm (PDT)
KY Election Officials Arrested, Charged With
‘Changing Votes at E-Voting Machines’
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7001
Circuit court judge, county clerk, and election officials among eight indicted for gaming elections in 2002, 2004, 2006 used popular, unverifiable ES&S touch-screens to flip votes…
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