Blackwater is all over the news. In the last seventy-two hours, a series of breaking developments involving the notorious private military firm have come to light, ranging from their involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, and even Germany, as well as legal cases here at home.

In the latest news, two former Blackwater operatives were arrested yesterday on murder charges stemming from their alleged involvement in the shooting deaths of two Afghan civilians in Kabul in May.

The news broke just hours after it was revealed Blackwater had reached a settlement with Iraqi victims of a string of shootings, including the Nisoor Square massacre, who had sued the company for what they called “senseless slaughter.” Blackwater is reportedly paying $100,000 for each of the Iraqis killed by its forces and between $20,000 to $30,000 to each Iraqi wounded. News of the settlement came a week after a federal judge dismissed manslaughter charges against five Blackwater operatives involved in the Nisoor Square massacre that killed seventeen Iraqi civilians.

Then, on Wednesday, prosecutors in Germany announced they had launched a preliminary investigation into a report that the CIA and Blackwater had planned a secret operation in 2004 to assassinate a German citizen in Hamburg with suspected ties to al-Qaeda.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/8/ ... ilitary_firm_in_firestorm

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Blackwater Diverted Weapons Intended for Afghan Army

The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a hearing today on the private military firm Blackwater’s operations in Afghanistan. On the eve of the hearing, the committee released findings showing Blackwater seized hundreds of US-supplied weapons intended for the Afghan army. A Blackwater official allegedly signed for the weapons at a US weapons bunker by using the name of a cartoon character. The weapons ended up in the hands of the four Blackwater employees who fired on an Afghan vehicle while under the influence of alcohol in May 2009. Two Afghan civilians were wounded in that attack.
Blackwater Diverted Weapons Intended for Afghan Army
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/24/headlines#8