Ukraine plans conversion of Russian base…Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has commissioned a panel to plan for civilian uses for the naval base at Sevastopol when the Russian lease ends in 2017.

Abduction Illuminates Criminality In Mexico: U.S. Expert’s Case An Embarrassment…They ordered the goat. That’s what the kitchen is famous for at the upscale La Principal [...]

By Gustavo Capdevila, IPS News
Posted on December 26, 2008, Printed on December 26, 2008
http://www.alternet.org…
Mercenaries hired by private military and security companies are playing an increasingly broad range of roles in Latin America, such as guarding mines, borders, prisons, and now humanitarian aid, said the members of the United Nations Working Group on the use [...]

KBR knowingly exposed troops to toxins?:
Today James Gentry is dying from rare form of lung cancer. The result, he believes, of months of inhaling hexavalent chromium - an orange dust that’s part of a toxic chemical found all over the plant.
At least one other Indiana guardsman has already died from lung cancer, and others are [...]

http://www.sott.net…
Gustavo Capdevila
IPS News
Mercenaries hired by private military and security companies are playing an increasingly broad range of roles in Latin America, such as guarding mines, borders, prisons, and now humanitarian aid, said the members of the United Nations Working Group on the use of mercenaries at a meeting in this Swiss city.

http://www.nytimes.com…
By SCOTT SHANE
WASHINGTON — The State Department’s inspector general has warned in a new report that Blackwater Worldwide, the security contractor, may not be licensed by the Iraqi government to continue to protect American diplomats in Baghdad next year, forcing the Obama administration to make new security arrangements.

http://www.pissedonpolitics.com…
Pissed On Politics by PoliShifter
Just heard on MSNBC that the State Dept is recommending the U.S. stop using Blackwater for security in Iraq…5 years too late but better than never I guess.
Apparently one of the Blackwater guys involved in shooting Iraqis is cooperating with Prosecutors.
I’ll update as articles become available.

http://rawstory.com…
Agence France-Presse
Published: Monday December 15, 2008
AMMAN, Dec 15, 2008 (AFP) - A Jordan-based Iraqi rights group said on Monday it has filed 200 lawsuits against US former defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and American security firms for their alleged role in torturing Iraqis.

http://www.washingtonpost.com…
By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, December 9, 2008; A19
The federal manslaughter indictment of five Blackwater Worldwide security guards in the horrific massacre of more than a dozen Iraqi civilians in Baghdad may look like an exercise in accountability, but it’s probably the exact opposite — a whitewash that absolves the government and corporate officials who should bear [...]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap…
By LARA JAKES JORDAN and MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writers Lara Jakes Jordan And Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press Writers 2 hrs 27 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Wild, unprovoked gunfire and grenades killed 14 innocent Iraqis and hurt dozens more in a 2007 Baghdad attack, prosecutors said Monday in announcing charges with mandatory 30-year prison terms against [...]

from Huff Po by William Fisher
Since the start of George Bush’s war of choice in 2003, an army of private contractors in Iraq has enjoyed virtually total impunity from prosecution. They have been accused of killing Iraqi civilians, participating in the torture of prisoners, and committing countless acts of waste, fraud and abuse.