Quote of the Day 9/26

More on Blackwater...

“This is a nightmare. We had guys who saw the aftermath, and it was very bad. This is going to hurt us badly. It may be worse than Abu Ghraib, and it comes at a time when we're trying to have an impact for the long term."

- An unidentified senior US military official in today's Washington Post on Blackwater's massacre of up to 20 Iraqi civilians. Blackwater soldiers fired into a group of cars in a downtown Baghdad square. Blackwater, a private security firm that functions as an army to protect US interests, said the shootout came after an ambush when their soldiers were protecting diplomats. Iraqi officials countered no such threat existed, and there is video evidence that Blackwater was unprovoked. Iraq's PM has demanded the firm leave Iraq, but Secretary of State Rice has stepped in to ensure Blackwater's continued presence.