Danger In Iraq

The preliminary report on the Blackwater shooting incident in Iraq shows that the mercenaries fired first and they were not ambushed like the company suggested.

The report, by the Ministry of Interior, was presented to the Iraqi cabinet and, though unverified, seemed to contradict an account offered by Blackwater USA that the guards were responding to gunfire by militants. The report said Blackwater helicopters had also fired. The Ministry of Defense said 20 Iraqis had been killed, a far higher number than had been reported before.

In a sign of the seriousness of the standoff, the American Embassy here suspended diplomatic missions outside the Green Zone and throughout Iraq on Tuesday.

“There was not shooting against the convoy,” said Ali al-Dabbagh, the Iraqi government’s spokesman. “There was no fire from anyone in the square.”

And the embassy stopping diplomatic missions is a big deal. Americans are clearly under siege in Iraq over this. And in comes the Bush Administration to try and lobby for Blackwater remaining in the country. Nothing could paint a bigger target on all of our troops' backs than that.