Rice Orders Team to Iraq on Blackwater

[babylonsister]

Rice Orders Team to Iraq on Blackwater

By MATTHEW LEE – 9 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has ordered a review board to visit Iraq next week to assess U.S. diplomatic security practices there following a deadly Baghdad shooting incident involving private Blackwater USA guards protecting a U.S. Embassy convoy.

Led by Patrick Kennedy, one of the most senior management experts in the U.S. foreign service, the panel will leave early next week and present an interim report by Oct. 5, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Thursday.

Kennedy's team will "begin establishing some baseline set of facts about these contractor operations" and report back to Rice, McCormack said.

He quoted Rice as saying she wanted Kennedy's assessment to "be 360 (degrees), to be serious, and to be really probing."

His announcement was posted to the State Department's new Internet blog, "Dipnote," (http://www.blogs.state.gov). He then confirmed the comments to The Associated Press.

McCormack also said the department soon would name several outside independent experts to join Kennedy's review board.

more...

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h6pO0aYIb45Hz2UOP6SsrWtlOn_wD8RU8H880

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. More smoke and mirrors

Kennedy's team will "begin establishing some baseline set of facts about these contractor operations" and report back to Rice

Would have to say the baseline needs to start at the reported deaths aof Iraqi citizens at the hands of Blackwater, as well as the US taxpayer money being spent for this group, and other mercenaries numbering in the thousands, all in the name of oil and corporate greed.


Yeah, I know. It's highly doubtful there will actually be a transparent and completely honest investigation and report.