Today’s Must Read

The Iraqi government is pressing hard to kick private-security giant Blackwater out of the country. After a pitched battle between Blackwater operatives and Iraqi insurgents in the Baghdad neighborhood of Mansour left at least nine civilians dead, the Iraqi Interior Ministry revoked Blackwater’s license to work in Iraq. Now, the Iraqis are escalating their campaign against Blackwater, claiming that an official inquiry found that the company’s agents fired the opening rounds. Reports the New York Times:

The report, by the Ministry of Interior, was presented to the Iraqi cabinet and, though unverified, seemed to contradict an account offered by Blackwater USA that the guards were responding to gunfire by militants. The report said Blackwater helicopters had also fired. The Ministry of Defense said 20 Iraqis had been killed, a far higher number than had been reported before.

In a sign of the seriousness of the standoff, the American Embassy here suspended diplomatic missions outside the Green Zone and throughout Iraq on Tuesday.

“There was not shooting against the convoy,” said Ali al-Dabbagh, the Iraqi government’s spokesman. “There was no fire from anyone in the square.”

The explanation from the U.S. on Sunday for the Mansour incident was that a State Department convoy came under attack, prompting the Blackwater guards protecting it to respond with small arms fire and employ helicopter support. A State Department official said Blackwater’s people were forced to “defend themselves” against an ambush.

But Dabbagh, the Iraqi spokesman, contradicted that entirely. According to the Iraqi inquiry, he said, a car bomb detonated far from the convoy, prompting Blackwater to overreact. A traffic policeman attempted to clear an area for the convoy to pass, but a “small car” didn’t heed the warning. Blackwater responded as if the car represented a follow-on attack. Witnesses interviewed by the Times said that the ensuing confusion prompted Iraqi soldiers and police in the area to fire into the crowd as well.

State Department officials said they were investigating the incident themselves and urged caution. It should be noted that Blackwater has a reputation, earned or not, for using force to ensure that suspicious vehicles don’t get too close to those under Blackwater’s protection. In May, the Interior Ministry was incensed after Blackwater opened fire on a car leaving a gas station just outside the ministry. The Times notes that “even Westerners” — read: journalists — fear coming too close to Blackwater-guarded vehicles.

Whomever is at fault, the Times reports that Iraqis are infuriated by the perception of impunity by private security companies. A U.S. occupation order from 2004, still binding on the Iraqi government for some reason, created legal immunity for security contractors. The Times:

The Iraqis’ accounts have not been verified, but the anger in their telling served to reinforce the feeling among Iraqis here that private security companies care little for Iraqi lives. In a war where perceptions are paramount, the effect is poisonous.

“They are more powerful than the government,” the Iraqi soldier said. “No one can try them. Where is the government in this?”