Badges? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Badges.

For about 15 minutes, Prime Minister Maliki thought he was really a Prime Minister and his country was really sovereign. Thank god we have Condoleeza to disabuse him of that sort of thought.

Iraq sees security vacuum without Blackwater

The shooting in western Baghdad last Sunday incensed Iraqis and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to freeze the work of Blackwater, which employs about 1,000 people and guards the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. But five days later it was back at work.

Instead, the Iraqi government and U.S. officials have agreed to set up a joint inquiry into the work of private security companies like U.S.-based Blackwater, which many Iraqis see as private armies acting with impunity.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said she had ordered a full "review of how we are conducting our security details" but added that dangerous diplomatic missions in Iraq had to go on because they were critical to U.S. goals in the country.