Eideard

The United States plans to appeal a federal judge’s dismissal of charges against five Blackwater security guards accused of killing 17 people in Baghdad in 2007, Vice President Joe Biden announced Saturday.

Speaking at a joint appearance with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in Baghdad, Biden said he was “disappointed” with the ruling, and that the Justice Department would file the appeal next week.

“The United States is determined to hold accountable anyone who commits crimes against the Iraqi people,” Biden told reporters.

The September 2007 shootout in Baghdad’s Nusoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and two dozen wounded. The killings led Iraq’s government to slap limits on security contractors hired by Blackwater, now known as Xe, and other firms…

Last month, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina found that…the government has utterly failed to prove that it made no impermissible use of the defendants’ statements or that such use was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Each of the now-former guards — Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard, Donald Ball and Nicholas Slatten — faced 14 counts of manslaughter, 20 counts of attempted manslaughter and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime.

One of the critical examples of change offered by the Obama administration over the Cheney-Bush crime syndicate.

The Dems in Congress who hadn’t the backbone to oppose a Republican fiefdom are still there. But, now, at least, there is some leadership to direct their limpid commitment to history’s advance.

Daylife/Reuters Pictures

The Obama administration sought to mend fences with Moscow today after years of drifting into hostility, offering to shelve the Pentagon’s contentious missile shield in central Europe and to work with the Russians on arms control and a host of other issues.

In the first major foreign policy speech from the new US administration, the vice-president, Joe Biden, stated categorically that Washington wanted to negotiate for the first time with Iran about the country’s nuclear ambitions…

“There is no conflict between our security and our ideals. We believe they are mutually reinforcing,” the vice-president said. “The example of our power must be matched by the power of our example.

“America will not torture. We will uphold the rights of those we bring to justice. We will close Guantánamo…”

While Biden offered the Russians a policy shift towards co-operation and consultation, Barack Obama’s national security adviser, General James Jones, told the Observer that plans to put parts of the Pentagon’s missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic – a project that Moscow says could trigger a new arms race – were being put on ice and that talks on the shield would be broadened.

“We’re interested in having a fresh look at each of our [foreign] policies. We’re undergoing major policy reviews. Missile defence is one of those policies being reviewed. We will consult with our friends and allies and we’ll take a fresh look at it.”

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NY’s next junior senator (L) with Joe Biden
Daylife/AP Photo by Steven Senne

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he will bar Vice President-elect Joe Biden from weekly internal Democratic Party Senate lunches.

Reid’s decision to exclude Biden, a longtime Senate leader, from the strategy sessions is meant to restore constitutional checks and balances that have heavily favored the executive branch during the Bush presidency.

Outgoing U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney’s attendance at weekly Senate Republican strategy luncheons was a symbol of the power shift from the legislative to the executive branch during the Bush administration. “Cheney would come in there and try to force discipline on the Republican senators,” said Rutgers University Professor Ross Baker. “He was the Bigfoot that came into those meetings. If someone got out of line, he would put a thumb in their eyes.”

Reid told the Las Vegas Sun: “(Biden) can come by once and a while, but he’s not going to sit in on our lunches. He’s not a senator. He’s the vice president.”

There are plenty of Americans still waiting to see if Bigfoot Cheney ends up doing time for his crimes?

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today praised Sen. Joe Biden, the newly named Democratic vice presidential candidate, as a statesman and a “true patriot.”

“I am not going to comment on the politics of it. I will just say that Sen. Biden is obviously a very fine statesman,” Rice told reporters as she flew to Israel for talks on Israeli-Palestinian peace. “He’s a true patriot.”

The warm words were unusual from Rice, who generally steers away from commenting on the U.S. presidential election pitting Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona against Democrat Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

Anyone think Condi is angling for a gig in the next administration?

Sen. Barack Obama has picked Delaware Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, multiple Democratic sources tell CNN.

The longtime Democratic senator was long considered a likely choice for vice president, but the buzz surrounding him intensified after he returned earlier this week from a two-day trip to the Republic of Georgia after Russian troops invaded.

Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, brings years of experience that could help counter GOP arguments that an Obama administration would be inexperienced on foreign policy.

After trying for the presidential spot enough times, certainly name recognition is there. Plus, Biden’s extensive foreign policy experience might make a difference.

Thanks, K B