Dear Kitty. Some blog

This is a video about Blackwater killings of civilians in Iraq.

From the New York Times in the USA:

Iraq Criticizes Attacks by American Troops

By ALISSA J. RUBIN

Published: June 30, 2008

BAGHDAD — Iraqi government officials on Sunday criticized the American military for two recent attacks in which soldiers killed people who the government said were civilians.

One death occurred during a raid by American soldiers on Friday near Karbala; two days earlier, three people described by the Interior Ministry as bank employees on their way to work were shot and killed near the Baghdad airport when they tried to pass an American convoy.

An Iraqi government statement demanded that the soldiers be held accountable in Iraq. The issue is particularly delicate now because the two countries are negotiating a long-term security agreement and among the chief points of disagreement are whether the American military will be free to conduct operations and detain suspects and whether, if its soldiers kill civilians, they will have immunity from Iraqi law.

Currently soldiers can only be tried under American military law. However, there have been many shootings of Iraqi civilians by American soldiers and contractors, prompting Iraqi politicians to demand that they have a right to prosecute soldiers and contractors in their courts.

The reaction to the latest deaths signals that the Iraqi government is likely to push hard on the issue in the negotiations. These two shootings “are a violation of the law and an encroachment on Iraqi sovereignty,” said a statement from the General Command of the Iraqi armed forces. “We demand the coalition force to arrest their employees and refer them to the judiciary because their crimes were committed in cold blood.”

Bush and oil in Iraq: here.

Iraq Fails to Sign Contracts With Global Oil Majors: here.