Update: Blackwater

Several BIRCHES readers have sent news about the Blackwater Group - which operates as a paid "protective" force in Iraq. These readers include Sparty and Alice, who have been quoted about this matter. Some of the criticisms of Blackwater are these:
1. They are trigger-happy.
2. Their presence in Iraq makes them mercenaries, something we as a people should not be doing.
3. They have operated illegally, or as a law unto themselves.
4. They have been criticized as tax-evaders.
5. The Iraqi government has ordered them out of the country.
====

Now comes this report:

Report: Blackwater Killings Unjustified
Associated Press
November 14, 2007

WASHINGTON - A Blackwater Worldwide spokeswoman says the company supports "stringent accountability" for any wrongdoing in the wake of a New York Times report that federal investors have found that the shooting deaths of at least 14 Iraqi civilians by Blackwater guards in Baghdad nearly two months ago violated rules of deadly force.

The Times cited unidentified civilian and military officials in reporting for Wednesday's editions that the killings of at least 14 of the 17 Iraqi civilians shot by Blackwater personnel guarding a U.S. Embassy convoy were unjustified and violated standards in place governing the use of deadly force.