a rose by any other name

still has thorns.

xe is still blackwater. they can change their name, but they can't change what they are


Contractors investigated in shooting of Afghan civilians

From Mike Mount and Suzanne Simons
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The U.S. military in Afghanistan is investigating a group of military contractors who shot and wounded two Afghan civilians in Kabul earlier this month, according to the military.

The contractors worked for a company called Paravant, which is affiliated with Xe, the new company name for the security contractor Blackwater Worldwide, according to sources familiar with the incident. Paravant is owned by Erik Prince, who is also the owner of Xe.

“The contractors were involved in a vehicle accident in Kabul at approximately 9 p.m. May 5. While stopped for the vehicle accident, the contractors were approached by a vehicle in a manner the contractors felt threatening,” according to a U.S. military press release.

“The contractors fired upon the vehicle, reportedly wounding two Afghans,” the statement said.

The wounded Afghans were taken to a hospital, according to the release.

The press release did not identify the contracting company. A spokesman for the U.S. Military’s Central Command, which oversees combat in Afghanistan, said, “Because the incident remains under investigation, there’s no further information available beyond the information in the press release.”

But a senior source in the contracting industry said that, while off duty, the four contractors were allegedly drinking before the accident...........

kind of hard to start denying it

when you actually have a video

remember the LAST time this happened (killing civilians LOTS OF THEM) the military denied it and denied it and denied it until someone dug up pictures and videos of the horror

Karzai says air strike kills 40 in Afghanistan

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday an air strike by coalition forces earlier this week killed some 40 civilians and wounded about 28 in Kandahar province.

Karzai called on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to make it his priority to stop the killing of civilians.

Scores of Afghans have been killed in U.S. air strikes this year, leading to resentment against the presence of foreign troops and a rift between Karzai and his Western backers.

The air strike took place on Monday in the Shah Wali Kot district in the southern Taliban heartland of Kandahar province.

"By bombing Afghanistan, the war against terrorism cannot be won," Karzai told a news conference................

U.S. Airstrike Reported to Hit Afghan Wedding

By ABDUL WAHEED WAFA and MARK MCDONALD
KABUL, Afghanistan — Tensions between American forces and the Afghan government over civilian casualties from coalition airstrikes spiked again on Wednesday with a report by Afghan officials that a missile from a United States aircraft had killed 40 civilians and wounded 28 others at a wedding party in the southern province of Kandahar.

Afghan officials said casualties from the airstrike, on Monday, included women and children. The United States military command said it was conducting an urgent investigation with the Afghan Interior Ministry. Although the command’s statement made no mention of a missile strike or any death toll, it appeared to acknowledge the possibility that noncombatants had been killed.

“Though facts are unclear at this point, we take very seriously our responsibility to protect the people of Afghanistan and to avoid circumstances where noncombatant civilians are placed at risk,” the command said. “If innocent people were killed in this operation, we apologize and express our condolences to the families and people of Afghanistan.”..............

i think it's important we ALL read the words of sgt jim wilt

In Article, Soldier Urges That Troops Be Honored Like Virginia Tech Dead

KABUL, Afghanistan An Army sergeant complained in a rare opinion article that the U.S. flag flew at half-staff last week at the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan for those killed at Virginia Tech but the same honor is not given to fallen U.S. troops here and in Iraq.In the article issued Monday by the public affairs office at Bagram military base north of Kabul, Sgt. Jim Wilt lamented that his comrades' deaths have become a mere blip on the TV screen, lacking the "shock factor" to be honored by the Stars and Stripes as the deaths at Virginia Tech were."I find it ironic that the flags were flown at half-staff for the young men and women who were killed at VT, yet it is never lowered for the death of a U.S. service member," Wilt wrote.
He noted that Bagram obeyed President Bush's order last week that all U.S. flags at federal locations be flown at half-staff through April 22 to honor 32 people killed at Virginia Tech by a 23-year-old student gunman who then killed himself."I think it is sad that we do not raise the bases' flag to half-staff when a member of our own task force dies," Wilt said.............