Iraq to Blackwater: Get Out

The Iraqi government has determined that last month's shooting of civilians by Blackwater guards was unprovoked and random, and the government is "insisting" the company leave the country, CNN reports. An adviser to Nouri al-Maliki said today the PM asked the US to withdraw the contractors. The FBI and State Department are still investigating, but Baghdad is “completely satisfied” with its own probe.

Meanwhile, the preliminary US military report found no evidence Blackwater was fired upon, because the only casings found at the Baghdad scene belonged to the contractors, a source tells CNN. CEO Erik Prince maintains the American convoy came under fire; he says his men did not commit “deliberate violence.” (More Blackwater stories.)