WASHINGTON Reports that the United States has agreed to stop shielding employees of Blackwater Worldwide and other American contractors in Iraq from prosecution in Iraqi courts drew little comment Wednesday from the State Department.

By SABRINA TAVERNISE BAGHDAD Iraq's foreign minister said on Tuesday that the United States had agreed to lift immunity for foreign security contractors operating in Iraq, making them subject to prosecution under Iraqi law, according to Iraqi politicians.

MOYOCK, N.C. Federal agents raided Blackwater Worldwide in Moyock this week as part of an investigation into whether the private security company avoided federal gun laws to purchase dozens of automatic rifles.

Blackwater is making a small shift in its West Coast operations. The move comes a few weeks after the company abandoned a plan to build a training facility in Potrero, Calif., outside San Diego in the face of heavy opposition. This latest step, company Vice President Brian Bonfiglio said, " is nothing more than an exercise in geography."

Blackwater has dropped its controversial plans for a military and law enforcement training center in Southern California. The Moyock, N.C.-based private military company has learned that the project would not comply with the county noise ordinance, spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said Friday.

WASHINGTON

President Bush warned on Tuesday that he may disregard several portions of a massive defense policy bill he signed just one day earlier, including provisions creating a commission to investigate the use of civilian contractors such as Blackwater in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Blackwater , already taking heat in the media for shooting incidents involving its security contractors in Iraq, is now under scrutiny for putting a slug in The New York Times’ dog.

In the first-ever popular vote on Blackwater, the citizens of a tiny hamlet in southern California delivered a resounding “no” Tuesday.

This time, the site of the fight is a rural community where the private military company wants to open a training center. Like the contractor’s role in Iraq, the issue in the West has proved divisive.  

POTRERO, Calif.
Ron Spinneit dragged the toe of his shoe in a straight line through the chalky dust, summing up the current state of affairs in this arid desert valley.
"It's divided right here between left and right," he said.