Yesterday there was a recommended diary by one of my favorite writers on intelligence issues, Larry Johnson, concerning Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki's statement that Blackwater would no longer be allowed to operate in Iraq. Larry said, in part:
First problem. Blackwater does not have a license to operate in Iraq and does not need one.
I checked Juan Cole's blog (my favorite writer on Iraq) and didn't see anything on the license, so I shot him an email. He had a quite different take on this matter...
The email:
Juan,
Long time no see. What's your take on Maliki revoking the "license" of
Blackwater to practice its dark arts in Iraq? Is there such a license
(sounds rather 007 to me)? Or is Maliki just trying to score some cheap
rhetorical points with the homeboys?
With Blackwater being joined at the hip with the "administration", is
Maliki just screwed anyway?
As always, if you are caught or killed - oops, wrong spy flick :-(
Cheers!
Mark
--
Come see TV from the Reality-Based Community at http://RealityBasedTV.com
Juan replied:
Hi, Mark.
Security companies working in Iraq do have to be licensed by the Iraqi government. Licensing was introduced by Paul Bremer.
I saw one report that suggested that Blackwater's license actually had just expired, though perhaps it was pursuing renewal. In any case, al-Maliki cannot survive in the Iraqi parliament if he lets American cowboys just shoot up downtown Baghdad at will. So of course he pulled the license.
cheers Juan
http://www.juancole.com
If Juan is right, and he usually is, then this may lead to a battle royale between Bush and Maliki. Any bets on the winner of that fight?