Group will March to State Dept. to Demand Cancellation of Blackwater Contract
Details: Wednesday, September 19, 2007, 3 PM
Start at International Peace Operations Association
(IPOA), an umbrella Private Security Group that Blackwater belongs to
Location: 1900 L Street, NW, Washington DC
March to State Department, arriving 4 pm at 2201 C Street NW
On Sunday, September 16,
Blackwater USA, a private army that provides security for US officials
in Iraq, was involved in the fatal shooting of 8 Iraqi civilians after
shooting indiscriminately during an attack on a U.S. State Department
motorcade in Baghdad. The
Iraqi government has revoked the operating license of Blackwater, but
the Bush administation, in what is widely seen as a test of the Iraqi
government’s sovereignty, is trying to reverse this decision.
The International Peace Operations Association (IPOA), a DC-based
umbrella Private Security Group that Blackwater belongs to, has been
defending Blackwater. “We will start our protest at IPOA, which is the
public face for Blackwater in Washington DC, calling on the company to
leave Iraq,” says CODEPINK cofounder Medea Benjamin. “Then we’ll march
to the State Department to let them know that as taxpayers, we demand
they cancel all contacts with this mercenary company that has become
known as Murder, Inc.”
“As a private contractor, Blackwater is subject to virtually no
oversight and its employees literally get away with murder,” says
Retired Colonel and Diplomat Ann Wright, who will lead the march. “The
State Department has given Blackwater $678 million in contracts since
2003 to guard US personnel in Iraq, instead of using the State
Department’s internal Diplomatic Security. We demand that the State
Department cancel its contract with Blackwater and instead hire
government employees for security who can be held accountable for their
actions.”
CODEPINK is the national women's peace group that has most recently
garnered international attention when its members "disrupted" General
Petraeus' report on Iraq. Started in the lead-up to the Iraq war,
CODEPINK has inspired thousands of women throughout the United States
and the world to make the color pink synonymous with political rabble
rousing. CODEPINK also rents a house a few blocks from the Capitol and
has had since March over 250 women visit to participate in actions in
the Halls of Congress.
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