All of this falling on the Bush administration's time watch. Impeachment should've been the first thing on the table. There's no accountable! Any clear thinking person knows this Iraq war was based on nothing but lies in the first place yet nothing has been done about. This administration is going to go down as the worst in the history of the country!!!

22,000 US Soldiers Denied Healthcare
by R o o k

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/1/154236/750

It really boggles the mind how a democratic congress can stand by and not impeach these animals!

State sanctioned murder and refusing to allow the Iraqi government (such that it is) to act. This on top of the outrage of a botched occupation that shouldn't have been allowed to happen in the first place.

Not to worry though. Our brave, trusty and true democratic presidential frontrunners will swoop in and save the day - by 2013 - maybe.

Gore/Kucinich 2008 and let's get Cindy Sheehan into Nancy "Impeachment's off the table" Pelosi's office!

There needs to more of presenting info on investigations like this, and far less of letting the GOP control the message.

And I turned on C-Span briefly today, and they were giving the Republicans 20 each to debate the name of a post office somewhere. Wasted time.

I think Conyers and Waxman are raring to do some more investigating. And Pelosi is making a mistake keeping impeachment off the table. I did not feel that way earlier, but this administration is scary in its lack of responsibility.

First thing tomorrow the Democrats need to stop letting the GOP control the agenda

U.S. firm out of control in Iraq:
report to Congress
The U.S. security firm Blackwater is an out-of-control outfit indifferent to Iraqi civilian casualties, says a critical report released by a key U.S. congressional committee.
Full Story:

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/10/01/blackwater.html

When a President hires mercenaries, he wants to do things his military would find uncivilized.

When his rubber stamp Congress passes bills that disavows any litigation by victims, you are admitting you can't control them.

When you refuse Congress any information of their activities using Executive Privilege, you are admitting they committed crimes against humanity and your are equally guility.

Out of control mercenaries, and abused American soldiers!
This crap's been going on for the last 7 years. It Started with Afghanistan, and keeps getting worse and worse.
Impeachment is not off the table! It needs to happen!
Write your legislators! Harass them if necessary!
There is no excuse for any of the crap that is going on in this (mis)administration!
IMPEACH BUSH/CHENEY NOW!!!!

This country and its people have gone mad. Bush now is drawing up plans to bomb Iran. One third
want to go to war with Iran. Now in my book this is a very high number and a scary number. How can people love to kill people and be proud of the fact. Things like Blackwater, hate and war will never stop in this country until the people who want power have destroyed this country. The christians want the end of the world to happen. Will, they will get there prayer answered with the Christian right and the Republicans.

It was a shame that the House representatives had so few minutes to ask questions of each panel. Elijah Cummings was really getting somewhere with his questions on the single source issue, when his time ran out.

I hope Cummings demands every bit of the original, written justification from the State Department's Procurement that allowed them to proceed with a single source. I hope he gets the names of all who signed off on the contract, from the initial procurement agent to the top. It might help to ask questions of every secretary, administrative assistant, and clerk who were involved in any way in the processing of the contract, as they usually know more than those for whom they work.

I hope Cummings demands the names of the 3 or 4 companies who were passed over for this contract, and see what they have to say about Blackwater being awarded this single source contract. Did they have the resources and ability to perform the same mission at a lower cost, and perhaps better? I bet those companies would enjoy duking it out with Blackwater and all involved if they thought that they had been cheated, especially considering that the contract has reached one billion dollars a year.

How can the State Department not have known, way in advance, that there would be a need for security when the Provisional Authority left? Their justification for awarding a no-bid contract to Blackwater was because of the urgent need for security after the Provisional Authority was disbanded. The State Department official in charge of security, Griffin?, implied that the US military was not ready or trained to handle security, which seems absolutely ludicrous given what US soldiers have already accomplished. Griffin, along with Prince and the ambassador, seemed contemptuous of any member of the House who asked any question of any value. Their smug arrogance in choosing to answer questions, in ways that they determined, smacked of a comfortable feeling of superiority and confidence that they could not be touched. This was particularly repugnant. The diplomatic integrity of the State Department has been sullied by the undiplomatic acts of the current people at the top.

This secretive and unilateral privatization of military, State Department, and other government services has left the US vulnerable in so many ways. What will the executive branch secretively privatize next without any consultation or independent oversight? This is a dangerous trend that needs to be watched.

I say keep Blackwater there, they are doing a good job protecting officals over there in Iraq. The reason why Democrats don't like them is because the company has not given monies to the Democrats coffers, once they do the Democrats mind will change. So once the check is in the mail, Ole Henry Waxman will forget it ever happened, watch and see.

The media and Congress have only Blackwater Corp. for illumination and investigation. For years, perhaps decades, Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) has provided security personnel, aka mercenaries, to protect the oil producing facilities world-wide. Until a few years ago, KBR was owned by Halliburton. Over the years, KBR also supplied security personnel to various rebel or state governments in Africa, South America and wherever Halliburton needed to protect its oil services operations world-wide.

From my analysis, the most likely KBR unit supplying these personnel is located in England, so there would be no financial record of KBR on its US books or on Halliburton's financial books.

My guess is that Bush/Cheney chose Blackwater over KBR to avoid the press from raising more conflict of interest questions for Dick Cheney. As the CEO of Blackwater testified to the committee, there are many more firms in addition to Blackwater providing private security protection in Iraq.

It may sound like a dull read, but I think the Waxman Committee should look closely at the Department of State, Department of Defense and especially at the Pentagon's contract award and monitoring procedures. Personally, I do not like to think that US military operations and State Department security functions are being managed by a DoD or DoS clerk back in Washington, DC. Mr. Prince tried to assert that his personnel were accountable to the US military command in the field, despite the written testimony of several generals in the field to the contrary.

One feature key to any outsourcing decision is the ability of the hiring organization to avoid the benefits and Department of Labor constraints. The contractor is not constrained by almost any overhead costs or responsibiliities, so the contractor can hire and fire at will without interference of regulations.

Pre-qualified contractors on a GSA list should not override the requirement of competitive bids for all but emergency or uniquely qualified contractors. The CPA functioned without supervision or sense of accountability when it awarded sole-source contracts and when it handled cash designated for the Iraqi treasury. Where did those $8-9 billion dollars go?

Blackwater and Mr. Prince are the Administration's sacrificial lamb intended to keep Congress and the American people distracted from focusing on troop withdrawal from Iraq, preparatory plans to invade Iran, and the ongoing tragedies of Katrina recovery and 40 million people without health insurance in this country.

By focusing on Blackwater in the press and in Congress, the Administration has created a chimera just as it did with immigration reform last year. Congress should blow away the smoke that is hiding what this Administration is doing.

It is past time to begin impeachment procedures in the House for George Bush and Dick Cheney. Congress should request a special prosecutor to investigate Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Alberto Chavez and other key Administration personnel for conspiracy to deceive Congress and the American people about the need to invade Iraq and then occupy the country for an idefinite period of time.

I have no doubt that there are some incredibly conscientious individuals working security detail for Blackwater, who would do everything within their power to guard their subjects. However, their integrity needs to be separated from very critical issues that need to be addressed by elected representatives, who are ultimately responsible for oversight and our protection. Those who represent us cannot make evaluations either way if they are kept in the dark regarding the extent of the operation and the details -- and this critical information has been withheld. Members of the House who are trying to shed some light -- any light -- on Blackwater's operations, policies, and procedures are being dismissed by a no-bid company that thinks that they don't have to take any guff from anyone. Eerily, the attitude of most of those Blackwater and State Department officials, who testified before House representatives, is exactly the attitude of contempt and arrogance that military officials in Iraq have noted in Blackwater operations and employees. It appears that this comopany is accountable to no one, and continues to get its extremely expensive contract renewed. The company may indeed merit this amount of money -- I don't know. However, do our representatives not have the right and the obligation to audit all aspects of the operations, costs, contract details, etc. to know exactly what is providing security for the US in several parts of the world? Is there no right to even KNOW if investigations of damaging incidents have even taken place, and to receive an answer? Other outstanding investigations of Blackwater have never seen the light of day after being forwarded to the Justice Department.

Blackwater is drawing employees from very questionable areas in the world and they are being given security clearances and guarding US personnel. Why does Congress have to drag this information out of a company that has been awarded a contract by our government? They are hired by our government and we have an absolute right to know how this company is performing, how their performance might affect the lives of our personnel and our military, and if the amount being paid is appropriate for the services rendered. Congress should not have to dig and probe for this information! It should be readily available for review as any other other corporation that has been awarded a US contract must do. House representatives would not have to get obnoxious if the company was complying with the established regulations. Regardless of political affiliation, if you hire someone to do a job, that company does not get to withhold critical information that it does not feel like giving. No one in our government should give any contractor a free ticket. As President Reagan used to say, "Trust, but verify."

Around a year ago, the families of the four Blackwater employees who were decapitated, burned, and hung over a bridge around Falouja, came to testifiy before a congressional committee. (C-SPAN) According to their testimony their family members who worked for Blackwater were not given what was necessary to protect them in a very dangerous situation, and they have been trying to get answers to no avail. It took congressional hearings to get anywhere.

If there was transparancy, and if Blackwater followed the rules like other government contractors must do, there would not be the need for going to such lengths to find out what is going on.

Hi, Sherfdog -- I agree.

This administration reminds me of arsonists who know exactly what they are doing. They take blow torches and start multitudes of fires in many areas. While responsible people in government and in the country are running around with fire extinguishers, trying to protect what is left, the Bush/Cheney regime slithers in the back door of their next target to create their ultimate inferno. If anyone looks at their MO these past years, this administration does this over and over, and gets away with it!

If it is not possible to impeach them now, would Congress please stop paving the way for their next war? As Jim Webb said, where is the debate in Congress to verify that the allegations against Iran are accurate? If this is the case, where is the debate that whould analyze how to proceed, rather than unilateral action? I am really alarmed about that Lieberman-Kyl? resolution, and need to read its contents. I could not believe that Lieberman asked General Petraeus if it was time to conduct operations inside Iran -- or however he put it. I don't know what is really happening in Iran, but accusations, suppositions, and allegations that are put forth as fact will have deadly consequences if more people in government do not stand up NOW and point out where these statements fall short of solid evidence. We invade countries on a lower standard of evidence than is used in our own courtrooms! I can't believe that this is happening in the United States!

If ever there was a time for members of Congress to stand up and yell, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!", that time is NOW. In the movie, "Network", the newsroom found that people all over the country felt the same way as Beal. The people felt liberated to be able to vent their anger and hopeful that their voices might be heard. Maybe our networks will also discover that letting the people's voices be heard will similarly boost their ratings and profit, as it did in "Network."

God forgive America if we cannot impeach Bush and Cheney, or if we cannot use our constitution and will to prevent their next bloodbath. If only their mothers would give them a timeout and have them both sit in Cheney's man-sized safe until their term in office is over.