Dogs of War: Life without Blackwater?

by David Isenberg Washington (UPI) Jul 25, 2008 For a moment there it looked like we might not have Blackwater to kick around anymore. The company's contract with the U.S. State Department has been at the center of a lot of unflattering media attention since a Baghdad shooting incident last year in which local authorities say innocent civilians and Iraqi police personnel were fired on and killed. I thought these armed personnel protection details might become an artifact of history when I read the Associated Press story this week reporting that Blackwater Worldwide planned a shift away from the security contracting business and to focus on training, aviation and logistics. But, as it turns out, I was wrong. Blackwater is not getting out of the security business. Most of the media focused on the news flash that AP sent out and... [read full story]