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Blackwater Worldwide won’t be allowed back into Iraq.  The Iraq Interior Ministry has denied the security firm a license to operate in the country.  This is just one of many signs of Iraq asserting its own sovereignty.  

Blackwater was hired by the US State Department to protect American diplomats and employees.  The company has been under fire since the September 2007 incident, where 17 civilians were killed and dozens other wounded.  The charges are that the Blackwater employees fired into an unarmed crowd.  Six former security agents have been charged.  Five have pleaded not guilty, claiming that they were fired on by armed militants.  One has already pleaded guilty to voluntary and attempted manslaughter.  He will testify against his former co-workers next February when the trial is set.  

The controversy, aside from that of American civilian contractors killing innocent Iraqi’s indiscriminately, is whether the former Blackwater employees can be charged.  They were all under the impression that they were immune to Iraqi law.  In December of last year a security agreement was approved allowing them to be tried.  As Iraq continues to organize its own government, its members have a responsibility to defend the human rights of their people.  

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