Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
Stop me if you've heard this one before: major scandal breaks out and internal documents, obtained through FOIA requests, shows that the agency involved knew of the problems years earlier. This is proving true once again in the Blackwater scandal. ABC News reports:
Internal State Department e-mails, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, show top officials were extensively briefed about repeated incidents of Blackwater security guards killing innocent civilians more than two years ago.
The emails also show that the State Department was already aware of the problem of the Blackwater contractors not being under any clear legal jurisdiction:
Other e-mails reveal how State Department officials in Washington maneuvered to stonewall inquiries by a reporter for the Los Angeles Times about a Blackwater incident in 2005 near the ABC News headquarters in Baghdad.Some Diplomatic Security officials in Baghdad wanted the case of Blackwater guards outside the ABC News offices referred for criminal prosecution, officials tell ABCNews.com.
But the officials say State Department legal advisers told them "it was not feasible."
According to another internal e-mail, the legal jurisdiction was "hazy." The only recourse in cases of wrongful deaths is "dismissal."
And what did the administration do about it? Not a damn thing. But now Condoleeza Rice says they want Congress to pass legislation putting the private contractors under a clear legal jurisdiction. Of course, the Bush administration could have done that themselves years ago but chose not to. Keep on passing that buck.
Comments
Uhh ... Whitewater?
Posted by: Bill | October 27, 2007 9:42 AM
Ed: Check your post title. Whitewater is so 90s.
Posted by: HP | October 27, 2007 9:48 AM
Uh, Ed. I think the title of this post should read More Govt. Documents Confirm BLACKWATER Problems. Whitewater was the last administration and now should probably be considered water over the dam.
Posted by: James | October 27, 2007 9:50 AM
Ed, didn't you get a copy of the talking points? Emphasis on Whitewater will not be back in vogue until after Hillary seals the Democratic nomination.
Posted by: Tegumai Bopsulai, FCD | October 27, 2007 9:50 AM
Wow. Mr. Freud, call your office. How did I manage to do that?
Posted by: Ed Brayton | October 27, 2007 10:03 AM
Is "water" up there with "family" in organizations not to trust?
Posted by: Brandon | October 27, 2007 2:30 PM
Well, heck, its not like the murder of innocent civilians is a serious problem like, for instance, schoolchildren not being told often enough that god hates gays....
Posted by: Bill Poser | October 27, 2007 2:41 PM
But you see Bill, those Blackwater guys are just killing soulless heathen sand-people, so its ok for them to do it. Heck, its hardly murder at all.
I doubt anyone's really surprised by this turn of events. Given all the absurd claims this admin's made is it really that much furthur of a stretch for them to claim their hired thugs have the right to kill anyone for any reason, or no reason, without fear of legal ramifications? That's what all the statements regarding jurisdiction boil down to. Of course, now that they have a slightly less pliant Congress to deal with, they have to at least attempt to sound contrite about it, but that doesn't change the underlying attitude. Bush was the governor responsible for the most executions in Texas history after all; I seriously doubt he values human life of any kind all that highly.
Posted by: Julian | October 28, 2007 7:59 AM