This smells a lot like a cover-up to me.

WASHINGTON - Blackwater Worldwide repaired and repainted its trucks immediately after a deadly September shooting in Baghdad, making it difficult to determine whether enemy gunfire provoked the attack, according to people familiar with the government's investigation of the incident.

Damage to the vehicles in the convoy has been held up by Blackwater as proof that its security guards were defending themselves against an insurgent ambush when they fired into a busy intersection, leaving 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

U.S. military investigators initially found "no enemy activity involved" and the Iraqi government concluded the shootings were unprovoked.

The repairs essentially destroyed evidence that Justice Department investigators hoped to examine in a criminal case that has drawn worldwide attention. The Sept. 16 shooting has strained U.S. relations with the Iraqi government, which wants Blackwater expelled from the country. It also has become a flash point in the debate over whether contractors are immune from legal consequences for their actions in a war zone.


Source

I am so tired of coverups, and I'm especially tired of coverups that go unchallenged.

I'm totally with you on that. I'm really sick of hearing about these types of things happening.

There aren't many officials willing to tackle the problem so there is very little accountability. In this case they very well could get away with murder, so to speak.

I agree all these cover ups are sickening, but we do have a Repub admin. Need I say more? What bothers me the most is that Blackwater is a private army, by every sense of the word Army. Burr was accused of treason when he tried gto raise a private army, but yet Blackwater is how ok. Why?

What kind of asshole makes a career out of fighting a war for the highest bidder anyway? My sister suggested a natural disaster scenario where the National Guard is in Iraq, so Blackwater is "hired" by the government to enforce security. Scary. When I have the money, the best hurricane supply I can get is an assault rifle to protect my property with. I want an AK-47 style semi-automatic. I hear the Romanians make one of the better models.

WASR-10 is the designation used for the Romanian version. It's a stout little rifle. I have one with a folding stock. I bought it for about $400 or so, new. The price might have gone up a little bit since four years ago but it's worth it.

Thanks, Rup. Hopefully a 30 round magazine will still be available.

Just get it before Obama is elected (mercy be upon us should that happen).

I hear you. Obama isn't my first choice but I can't, in good conscience, vote for an extension of the republican administration.

I'm not voting for either one. They're the best the parties have to offer?

I also refuse to perpetuate the myth that people should choose between evils. I'd much rather "throw away my vote" than vote for McCain or Obama.

Rup, Rup, Rup. Shirley you know that you have to choose the lesser of two evils. As distasteful as either candidate is, you forfeit your right to complain if you don't choose. I hate going with the least negative, but one of them will win. I don't believe in wasting the process on some independant schmuck like Ralph Nader either. If you don't vote for one, it helps the other. Search your soul and decide which candidate you definitely DON'T want, then hold your nose and vote for the other. Remember this also, It'll take a whole lot more than a bleading heart president to cut into gun ownership. I know that's as important to you as it is for me. I fully intend to have mine and then they'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands if they want it.

Wrong. My vote counts as long as I cast the ballot. I can vote for anyone I want and it will count. I'll be voting for Ron Paul. I have no optimism that he'll win however I do hope that enough people will vote for 3rd party candidates that the rest of the nation and a lot of future candidates will take notice and change their view on the current system.

The way I look at it I'm choosing between Hitler and Stalin. I'll vote for Ghandi and when Hitler/Stalin is elected then fight them.

If Ron Paul had any shot at winning I might agree.

I hate that mentality. It's basically saying only vote for the winner. When did the candidate most likely to win become more worthy of my vote than the candidate with good ideas?