By Joshua Partlow and Megan Greenwell
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, September 17, 2007; 2:14 PM

BAGHDAD, Sept. 17 -- The Iraqi government said today it has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, a private security company that guards U.S. Embassy personnel in Iraq, following a shootout in downtown Baghdad on Sunday that left at least nine people dead.

Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf called the episode the "last and the biggest mistake" committed by Blackwater, whose black sports utility vehicles and agile "Little Bird" helicopters escort diplomatic convoys throughout Baghdad.

He said the decision of the Iraqi government meant that Blackwater "cannot work in Iraq any longer, it will be illegal for them to work here."

"Security contracts do not allow them to shoot people randomly," Brig. Gen. Khalaf said. "They are here to protect personnel, not shoot people without reason."

Phone calls and e-mails to a Blackwater spokeswoman were not immediately returned.

The Iraqi government's position toward Blackwater set up a confrontation with the U.S. government over what legal authority governs the behavior of private security contractors here. Blackwater, which has an estimated 1,000 employees in Iraq, plays a high-profile role because it guards U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker and other diplomats. The company has faced criticism in the past for violent incidents in Iraq.

The shooting on Sunday started when a car bomb exploded near a State Department motorcade in the Mansour district of western Baghdad. In response to the explosion, Blackwater employees opened fire, U.S. Embassy officials said. The shooting killed at least nine people and wounded 14 others, according to police and hospital officials. Khalaf put the death toll at 11 people.

Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said the embassy discussed the incident with the Iraqi government, but she added that few details would be available while it was under investigation.

"We are taking it very seriously indeed," she said. "We certainly regret any loss of life associated with this incident."

Embassy officials would not say whether Blackwater had suspended its work in Baghdad after the Interior Ministry's decision. W. Johann Schmonsees, another embassy spokesman, said, "No one has been expelled from the country yet."

It was not immediately clear whether Iraq or the United States holds the authority to regulate Blackwater's operations. A regulation known as Order 17 established under the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority headed by L. Paul Bremer effectively granted immunity to American private security contractors from being prosecuted in Iraqi courts.

Another CPA memorandum requires private security companies to register with the Interior Ministry, but some of the companies in Iraq operate without doing so.

Lawrence T. Peter, director of the Private Security Company Association of Iraq, said Blackwater was licensed by the Interior Ministry. But Blackwater acknowledged as recently as two months ago that a license it obtained in 2005 had lapsed, and the company was having trouble getting the license renewed.

"Many Iraqis have come to me and complained bitterly to me about CPA Order 17, I understand that," said Peter. "But the fact that you complain bitterly doesn't mean you can wave a magic wand and change it."

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The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. United State Constitution, Art. I Sec. 9 Par. 2

"Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism" -- Howard Zinn

Hell yeah, getting rid of those assholes should save a few million tax bucks, Aren't the marines supposed to guard Embassy officials? Those asshole have killed countless Iraqis, it's no wonder they beheaded them and set them on fire then hung their remains from a bridge, sounds like exactly what I'd like to do if some foriegn invaders were patrolling our streets shooting our citizens.

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Life is good, the water is sweet. The ground keeps moving beneath my feet.

Have some friends that work for that company. Wow man, you just love fucking over and causing harm to your fellow citizens. But, I am the one that is blind. Are you just bitter? Is that your thing? Do you talk shit and start shit just to be an asshole or does your stupidity have a point?

The only point to your posts is the one on the top of your head. I'm sure you,ve heard the old saying, "If you had a brain you'd be dangerous" this certainly seems to apply in your case. You are so brainwashed that you can't envision the tables being turned and what your response would be. come on man, we (The Bush regime) invaded a soveriegn nation for profit, (Oil and War profiteering) . What I'm saying is how would you react if the Russians invaded us for some lame reason and started shooting your friends and neighbors, unless you were a full on coward, you'd be killing as many as you could get away with. And whats with privatizing a war anyway, Blackwater has to go.

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Life is good, the water is sweet. The ground keeps moving beneath my feet.

Instead of clear thoughts you have reduced yourself to badgering and name calling of those that disagree with you. Impressive.

I ask you this oh short-sighted one, do you actually know anything about Blackwater other than what you read in the above posted article? My guess is you don't becasue if anything seems to fit your warped political view whether its true, false, or somewhere in between, you seem to run with it and latch onto it like its gospel. Oh well at least we don't have too much longer to deal with cartoon characters like yourself, then again assholes seem to live forever.

Thats what scares me, you may actually outlive me and my grand kids would have to live in your fucked up world where private armies invade soveriegn nations and kill citizens with abandon. Since the provisional authority gave them free reign, All that is happening here is the Iraqi government is revoking their authority, about time I'd say. And yes, I am quite versed with the shennanigans of those egoed out blackwater thugs, for that is what they are, mercenaries for profit, IE thugs. BTW, did you notice I called you no names, It took a lot of control, but I'll leave that area to you.

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Life is good, the water is sweet. The ground keeps moving beneath my feet.