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Posted by: SOT

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/...ain/index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's Interior Ministry has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, an American security firm whose contractors are blamed for a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead.

Sunday's firefight took place near Nusoor Square, an area that straddles the predominantly Sunni Arab neighborhoods of Mansour and Yarmouk.

In addition to the fatalities, 14 people were wounded, most of them civilians, the official said.

The ministry said the incident began around midday, when a convoy of sport utility vehicles came under fire from unidentified gunmen in the square.

The men in the SUVs, described by witnesses as Westerners, returned fire, and the witnesses said the vehicles are the kind used by Western security firms.

An official with the U.S. Embassy told The Associated Press that a State Department motorcade came under small-arms fire near Nusoor Square, and one of the vehicles was disabled.

The official said no State Department officials were injured but provided no information on Iraqi casualties, the AP reported.

"We have revoked Blackwater's license to operate in Iraq. As of now they are not allowed to operate anywhere in the Republic of Iraq," Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf said Monday. "The investigation is ongoing, and all those responsible for Sunday's killing will be referred to Iraqi justice."

Blackwater is one of many security firms contracted by the U.S. government during the Iraq war. An estimated 25,000-plus employees of private security firms are working in Iraq, guarding diplomats, reconstruction workers and government officials. As many as 200 are believed to have been killed on the job, according to U.S. congressional reports.
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Some Blackwater personnel died in a grisly incident in Iraq more than three years ago that sparked shock and outrage in the United States.

Four Americans working as private security personnel for Blackwater, all of whom were military veterans, were ambushed, killed and mutilated in March 2004 in Falluja, west of Baghdad.

People close to the company estimate it has lost about 30 employees during the war.

Iraqi authorities have issued previous complaints about shootings by private military contractors, but Iraqi courts do not have the authority to bring contractors to trial, according to a July report from the Congressional Research Service.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee estimated in February that nearly $4 billion had been spent on security contracts amid the insurgency that followed the U.S. invasion in 2003 -- costs that have forced the delay, cancellation or scaling back of some reconstruction projects.

Meanwhile, seven people were killed and 31 others were detained Monday in U.S.-led coalition raids across Iraq, the U.S. military said.

The fatalities occurred west of Yusufiya, southwest of the capital, as coalition forces targeted two buildings used by al Qaeda in Iraq militants, who organize suicide attacks.

Armed men at one building drew weapons as troops approached, and the troops "engaged" the two and killed them, the statement said.

They killed four others who were apparently acting as lookouts and another who wouldn't surrender when ordered. Nineteen people were detained, the military said.

Troops arrested other suspects in regions north of the capital -- north of Taji, near Balad, in Baiji and near the Syrian border.

In Baghdad, three people were killed and 11 others were wounded Monday when a parked car detonated near a Shiite mosque on the edge of a densely populated Shiite neighborhood, an Interior Ministry official said.

Posted by: kwflatbed

Blackwater license being revoked in Iraq

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer 20 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government said Monday that it was revoking the license of an American security firm accused of involvement in the deaths of eight civilians in a firefight that followed a car bomb explosion near a State Department motorcade.
The Interior Ministry said it would prosecute any foreign contractors found to have used excessive force in the Sunday shooting. It was latest accusation against the U.S.-contracted firms that operate with little or no supervision and are widely disliked by Iraqis who resent their speeding motorcades and forceful behavior.
Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf said eight civilians were killed and 13 were wounded when contractors believed to be working for Blackwater USA opened fire in a predominantly Sunni neighborhood of western Baghdad.
"We have canceled the license of Blackwater and prevented them from working all over Iraqi territory. We will also refer those involved to Iraqi judicial authorities," Khalaf said.
The spokesman said witness reports pointed to Blackwater involvement but said the shooting was still under investigation. It was not immediately clear if the measure against Blackwater was intended to be temporary or permanent.
Blackwater, based in Moyock, N.C., provides security for many U.S. civilian operations in the country.
Phone messages left early Monday at the company's office in North Carolina and with a spokeswoman were not immediately returned.
The U.S. Embassy said a State Department motorcade came under small-arms fire that disabled one of the vehicles, which had to be towed from the scene near Nisoor Square in the Mansour district.
"There was a convoy of State Department personnel and a car bomb went off in proximity to them and there was an exchange of fire as the personnel were returning to the International Zone," embassy spokesman Johann Schmonsees said, referring to the heavily fortified U.S.-protected area in central Baghdad also known as the Green Zone.
Officials provided no information about Iraqi casualties but said no State Department personnel were wounded or killed.
The embassy also refused to answer any questions on Blackwater's status or legal issues, saying it was seeking clarification on the issue as part of the investigation, which was being carried out by the State Department's diplomatic security service and law enforcement officials working with the Iraqi government and the U.S. military.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki late Sunday condemned the shooting by a "foreign security company" and called it a "crime."
The decision to pull the license was likely to face a challenge, as it would be a major blow to a company that was at the forefront of one of the main turning points in the war.
The 2004 battle of Fallujah — an unsuccessful military assault in which an estimated 27 U.S. Marines were killed, along with an unknown number of civilians — was retaliation for the killing, maiming and burning of four Blackwater guards in that city by a mob of insurgents.
Tens of thousands of foreign private security contractors work in Iraq — some with automatic weapons, body armor, helicopters and bulletproof vehicles — to provide protection for Westerners and dignitaries in Iraq as the country has plummeted toward anarchy and civil war.
Monday's action against Blackwater was likely to give the unpopular government a boost, given Iraqis' dislike of the contractors.
Many of the contractors have been accused of indiscriminately firing at American and Iraqi troops, and of shooting to death an unknown number of Iraqi citizens who got too close to their heavily armed convoys, but none has faced charges or prosecution.

"There have been so many innocent people they've killed over there, and they just keep doing it," said Katy Helvenston, the mother of late Blackwater contractor Steve Helvenston, who died in 2004 during the ambush in Fallujah. "They have just a callous disregard for life."
Helvenston is now part of a lawsuit that accuses Blackwater of cutting corners that ultimately led to the death of her son and three others.
The question of whether they could face prosecution is legally murky. Unlike soldiers, the contrators are not bound by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Under a special provision secured by American-occupying forces, they are exempt from prosecution by Iraqis for crimes committed there.
Khalaf, however, denied that the exemption applied to private security companies.
Iraqi police said the contractors were in a convoy of six sport utility vehicles and left after the shooting.
"We saw a convoy of SUVs passing in the street nearby. One minute later, we heard the sound of a bomb explosion followed by gunfire that lasted for 20 minutes between gunmen and the convoy people who were foreigners and dressed in civilian clothes. Everybody in the street started to flee immediately," said Hussein Abdul-Abbas, who owns a mobile phone store in the area.
The wartime numbers of private guards are unprecedented — as are their duties, many of which have traditionally been done by soldiers. They protect U.S. military operations and diplomats and have guarded high-ranking officials including Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Baghdad.
They also protect journalists, visiting foreign officials and thousands of construction projects.
Blackwater has an estimated 1,000 employees in Iraq, and at least $800 million in government contracts. It is one of the most high-profile security firms in Iraq, with its fleet of "Little Bird" helicopters and armed door gunners swarming Baghdad and beyond.
The secretive company, run by a former Navy SEAL, is based at a massive, swampland complex. Until the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, it had few security contracts.
Since then, Blackwater profits have soared. And it has become the focus of numerous controversies in Iraq, including the May 30 shooting death of an Iraqi deemed to be driving too close to a Blackwater security detail.
In violence Monday, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car near a busy market in Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 10 in an attack that apparently targeted a police patrol, said a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to release the information.
Hamid Ghassan, a 20-year-old juice vendor, who described hearing the blast, said he was dismayed that al-Maliki's government is "sitting safe, making agreements and lying to people while masses ... are being killed."
___ Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.

http://fe3.news.re3.yahoo.com/s/ap/i..._R4d3GDs1X6GMA

Posted by: SinePari

Several discrepancies here. First off, they are under State Department contract, which means they must follow all of their SOPs, and are subject to the same rules of engagement as the DSS agents.

When the Defense Department handed the keys to the country back to the Iraqis in 2004, the technical state of the mission went from military to diplomatic with the stroke of a pen, regardless on the threat. Subsequently the State Department handed over to the Private Military Companies (PMCs) an SOP manual as thick as "War and Peace".

Second, the company is in bed with just about every Congressman and Senator in the beltway, and the contracts were a virtual no-bid award. This means they will either continue to operate under the same BW name based on pressure from the US Congress, or a new name altogether.

I ran the gauntlet every day and we took hits and casualties. Anyone who's standing around when a car bomb or an IED goes off, is probably not armed and the desired effect is chaos in addition to carnage. The haze of war during an IED attack is ten times what you read about.

I'll be the first to admit that EVERY company over there has less-than-qualified people in their SUVs armed to the max. But without the PMCs the State Department has no where near enough DSS agents to provide security for the mission. Sooooo, pick your poison.

Posted by: Barbrady

No doubt. Without them.....might as well hand over the embassy. Still hired guns, but losing them would be......scary.

Posted by: MSP75

Everything in OEF/OIF had been outsourced. As a soldier, I felt the "contractors" were treated more valuable by CJTF (180 at the time) than the volunteers who took an oath for the USA.

Posted by: JoninNH

And they were paid a hell of a lot better too.

Posted by: SOT

You had me at SOP.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by SinePari

Several discrepancies here. First off, they are under State Department contract, which means they must follow all of their SOPs, and are subject to the same rules of engagement as the DSS agents.

When the Defense Department handed the keys to the country back to the Iraqis in 2004, the technical state of the mission went from military to diplomatic with the stroke of a pen, regardless on the threat. Subsequently the State Department handed over to the Private Military Companies (PMCs) an SOP manual as thick as "War and Peace".

Second, the company is in bed with just about every Congressman and Senator in the beltway, and the contracts were a virtual no-bid award. This means they will either continue to operate under the same BW name based on pressure from the US Congress, or a new name altogether.

I ran the gauntlet every day and we took hits and casualties. Anyone who's standing around when a car bomb or an IED goes off, is probably not armed and the desired effect is chaos in addition to carnage. The haze of war during an IED attack is ten times what you read about.

I'll be the first to admit that EVERY company over there has less-than-qualified people in their SUVs armed to the max. But without the PMCs the State Department has no where near enough DSS agents to provide security for the mission. Sooooo, pick your poison.

Posted by: kwflatbed

This will not happen,Iraq needs to read their agreements
with the US Government.
Blackwaters website has also been targeted by hackers.

Blackwater can be tried in Iraqi court: Iraq judges opinion

BAGHDAD (AFP) - US security firm Blackwater could be tried in an Iraqi court over a shootout in a Baghdad neighbourhood which killed eight people, a top judge told AFP on Tuesday.
"This company is subject to Iraqi law and the crime committed was on Iraqi territory and the Iraqi judiciary is responsible for tackling the case," said Abdul Sattar Ghafour Bairaqdar from Iraq's Supreme Judiciary Council, the country's highest court.
On Monday, Iraq's interior ministry ordered the cancellation of Blackwater's operating licence after the company's guards who were escorting US officials were involved in a shootout which killed eight people and wounded 13.
The judge said the case against Blackwater could be filed either by the relatives of the victims or by the government.
The ministry's director of operations Major General Abdel Karim Khalaf said the investigation into Sunday's incident was continuing.
The US embassy in Baghdad has said it was in discussions with the Iraqi authorities about the shooting as well as the status of Blackwater's operations in the country.

http://fe12.news.re3.yahoo.com/s/afp...okffsKCGRX6GMA

Iraq to review security firms after shooting

By Aseel Kami and Dominic Evans 1 hour, 3 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq will review the status of all security companies after this week's "flagrant assault" by contractors from the U.S. firm Blackwater in which 11 people were shot dead, the government said on Tuesday.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the cabinet backed an Interior Ministry decision to "halt the license" of Blackwater, which provides security for the U.S. embassy, and launch an immediate investigation into the shooting.
Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, adding his voice to Iraqi anger over the incident, urged the government to "cancel this company's work, and the rest of the criminal and intelligence companies" that employ tens of thousands of people across Iraq.
In fresh violence, four car bombs in Baghdad killed 17 people and wounded 50, police said.
"Cabinet affirmed ... the need to review the situation of foreign and local security companies working in Iraq, in accordance with Iraqi laws," Dabbagh said in a statement.
"This came after the flagrant assault conducted by members of the American security company Blackwater against Iraqi citizens," Dabbagh said after a cabinet meeting.
Iraq's Interior Ministry said 11 people were killed when Blackwater contractors opened fire at random after mortar rounds landed near the convoy.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday to express regret over the death of innocent civilians, which the State Department said occurred during an attack on a U.S. convoy.
Blackwater said its guards reacted "lawfully and appropriately" to a hostile attack. It said late on Monday it had received no official notice from Iraq's Interior Ministry.
U.S. officials in Baghdad have yet to clarify the legal status of foreign security contractors in Iraq, including whether they could be prosecuted by Iraqi authorities.

IRAQ "WON'T KEEP SILENT"
Many Iraqis see the contractors, who have worked in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003, as private armies that have acted for too long with impunity.
"These cases have happened more than once and we can't keep silent in the face of them," Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani said on Monday.
Ministry spokesman Brigadier-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf said Iraq did have the right to take action if the Blackwater force had fired on civilians.
"Definitely we have the right. If they committed this act this should be tried," he said.
The latest bombings in Baghdad came after Sunni Islamist al Qaeda militants pledged a renewed campaign of violence to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started last week.
Police said Tuesday's deadliest car bomb attack killed eight people and wounded 22 near a market in the Ur neighborhood, not far from the Shi'ite district of Sadr City.

Three other car bombs killed a total of nine people and wounded 28 in Baghdad, police said. At least two of the explosions were heard echoing across the centre of the city.
In Diyala province, a stronghold of al Qaeda militants, a suicide bomber killed four people and wounded 14, police said. The bomber walked into a mobile telephone shop in Jalawla, near the border with Iran, and detonated an explosives belt.
U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a security campaign around Baghdad in February, aimed at curbing sectarian violence which has spiraled since the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra last year.
The security plan also aimed to win time for Maliki's government to pass laws aimed at reconciling Iraq's warring Shi'ite and Sunni Arab factions.
But Maliki's unity government has been weakened by the withdrawal of a dozen Sunni and Shi'ite ministers, and legislative progress in parliament has been painstakingly slow. Tuesday's parliamentary session was called off after just 108 members showed up at the assembly in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, well below the 138 required for a quorum.

http://fe12.news.re3.yahoo.com/s/nm/...WOFg0SwglX6GMA

Posted by: kwflatbed

U.S. bans diplomatic ground movements in Iraq outside protected Green Zone

BAGHDAD -- The United States on Tuesday suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, amid mounting public outrage over the alleged killing of civilians by the U.S. Embassy's security provider Blackwater USA.

The move came even as the Iraqi government appeared to back down from statements Monday that it had permanently revoked Blackwater's license and would order its 1,000 personnel to leave the country -- depriving American diplomats of security protection essential to operating in Baghdad.

"We are not intending to stop them and revoke their license indefinitely but we do need them to respect the law and the regulation here in Iraq," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told CNN.

The U.S. order confines most American officials to a 3.5-square-mile area in the center of the city, meaning they cannot visit U.S.-funded construction sites or Iraqi officials elsewhere in the country except by helicopter. The notice did not say when the suspension would expire.

The Iraqi Cabinet decided Tuesday to review the status of all foreign security companies. Still, it was unclear how the dispute would play out, given the government's need to appear resolute in defending national sovereignty while maintaining its relationship with Washington at a time when U.S. public support for the mission is faltering.

Polls show Gen. David Petraeus' report to Congress and President Bush's nationally televised address have had little impact on Americans' distaste for the Iraq war and their desire to withdraw U.S. troops.

Petraeus, America's top commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the top U.S. diplomat here, briefed the British government Tuesday on their recommendations to keep troop levels high.

Also Tuesday, three U.S. soldiers were killed following an explosion near their patrol northeast of Baghdad, the military said. Another soldier was killed in a vehicle accident in the northern province of Ninevah, the military said.
Exploiting public rage over the killings of what police said were 11 civilians by Blackwater guards, anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr demanded that the government ban all 48,000 foreign security contractors.
Al-Sadr's office in Najaf said the government should nullify contracts of all foreign security companies, branding them "criminal and intelligence firms."
"This aggression would not have happened had it not been for the presence of the occupiers who brought these companies, most of whose members are criminals and ex-convicts in American and Western prisons," the firebrand cleric said in a statement.
Al-Sadr insisted that the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki prosecute those involved and ensure that families of the victims receive compensation.
There was no threat by al-Sadr to unleash his Mahdi Army militia in retaliation for the killings.
However, his statement was significant because it signaled al-Sadr's intention to stir up anti-American sentiment in the wake of the weekend shootings and further undermine al-Maliki's U.S.-backed government.
Many Iraqis, who have long viewed security contractors as mercenaries, dismissed Blackwater's contention that its guards were attacked by armed insurgents and returned fire only to protect State Department personnel.
"We see the security firms ... doing whatever they want in the streets. They beat citizens and scorn them," Baghdad resident Halim Mashkoor told AP Television News. "If such a thing happened in America or Britain, would the American president or American citizens accept it?"
Blackwater is among three private security firms employed by the State Department to protect employees in Iraq, and expelling it would create huge problems for U.S. government operations in this country.
In a notice sent to Americans in Iraq, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said it had taken the step to review the security of its personnel and possible increased threats to those leaving the Green Zone while accompanied by such security details.
"In light of a serious security incident involving a U.S. embassy protective detail in the Mansour District of Baghdad, the embassy has suspended official U.S. government civilian ground movements outside the International Zone (IZ) and throughout Iraq," the notice said.
"This suspension is in effect in order to assess mission security and procedures, as well as a possible increased threat to personnel traveling with security details outside the International Zone," said the notice, a copy of which was provided to The Associated Press by the State Department in Washington.
The two other firms, both of which are headquartered in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, are Dyncorp, based in Falls Church, Va., and Triple Canopy, based in Herndon, Va. Neither has the resources of Blackwater, which includes a fleet of helicopters that provide added security for State Department personnel traveling through Baghdad's dangerous streets.
In London, Crocker told reporters that "an investigation of that incident is under way and it would be premature to comment until the investigation is finished."
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, who announced the Blackwater ban, said Tuesday the most important issue now is "to find the best ways to put new regulations and conditions by the Interior Ministry on the work of security companies."
A 2004 regulation issued by the U.S. occupation authority granted security contractors full immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law. Unlike American military personnel, the civilian contractors are also not subject to U.S. military law either.
Hassan al-Rubaie, a member of the parliament's Security and Defense Committee, said an investigative committee has been formed to consider lifting the contractors' immunity.
Some private security officials have blamed much of the confusion surrounding the work of the contractors on inefficiency and corruption within the Iraqi government -- especially the Ministry of the Interior.
Many security companies have tried to obtain weapons permits from the ministry, only to find the rules constantly changing. That forces security guards to choose between venturing into the streets without protection or running the risk that their weapons might be confiscated at a checkpoint.
U.S. officials arranged an extension of the deadline for weapons permits until the end of the year, although procedures for obtaining them remain unclear.
Blackwater and other foreign contractors accused of killing Iraqi citizens have gone without facing charges or prosecution in the past. But the latest incident drew a much stronger reaction by the Iraqi government.
Unlike many deaths blamed on foreign contractors, Sunday's shootings took place in a crowded area in downtown Baghdad with dozens of witnesses.
Details of the incident remain unclear.
Blackwater says State Department personnel came under attack from insurgents and that its guards returned fire. Iraqi police say a car bomb exploded near a State Department convoy and that Blackwater guards opened fire. Khalaf said 11 people were killed.
Yassin Majid, an adviser to al-Maliki, said the killings had deeply embarrassed the Iraqi government and forced it to act against Blackwater -- even before a full investigation had been completed.
"They were not subjected to the kind of attack or shooting ... that required a response of this intensity that led to the death of civilians," Majid said. "This incident embarrassed the government and also embarrassed the American government."

http://www3.whdh.com/news/articles/world/BO62430/

Posted by: Sniper

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSP75

Everything in OEF/OIF had been outsourced. As a soldier, I felt the "contractors" were treated more valuable by CJTF (180 at the time) than the volunteers who took an oath for the USA.

So didn't the JTF-SWA180........

Posted by: justanotherparatrooper

"They were not subjected to the kind of attack or shooting ... that required a response of this intensity that led to the death of civilians,"
Not knowing any of the specifics, as I remember it,if your ambushed(does an IED count as ambushed?) ,Generally ISNT the correct responce to an ambush to ATTACK?

Posted by: mikemac64

Immediate Action Drills. Any boot knows that. They teach it (or taught it) in boot camp for christ sakes. Someone shoots or blows you up, you are supposed to shoot and blow them up back.

Posted by: SinePari

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikemac64

Immediate Action Drills. Any boot knows that. They teach it (or taught it) in boot camp for christ sakes. Someone shoots or blows you up, you are supposed to shoot and blow them up back.

In the Personal Protection Detail world, the main response is to GET OFF THE "X". Protect the principal, move your wounded and dead with covering fire, and keep moving. I know FM 7-8 teaches you to assault through the kill zone, so when you become a civilian protection agent, you must change your paradigm on how things are done.

Posted by: pahapoika

if i'm reading these articles right , security companies are suffering way less casualties than US troops.

of course the contractors are no where near the size of the military , but they sound like they are ready to defend themselves instead of facing the nonsense that our soldiers are subjected to.

Posted by: kwflatbed

Iraq-US seek to defuse Blackwater crisis

by Bryan Pearson 1 hour, 6 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi and US officials have set up a joint panel in a bid to defuse a crisis over the killing of civilians in a shootout involving US security firm Blackwater, an Iraqi official said Wednesday.
The panel will attempt to thrash out a compromise that will allow Blackwater, which provides protection to US embassy staff and other American officials, to continue its operations in Iraq, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told AFP.
"Iraqi and US officials have set up a joint committee to decide how this issue can be resolved," Dabbagh said. "The committee will begin its work today."
US officials have been barred from travelling by land outside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone amid fears of attacks after Sunday's incident in which Blackwater guards escorting US embassy officials opened fire in a Baghdad neighbourhood, killing 10 people and wounding 13.
The Iraqi government said on Monday it would revoke the licence of US firm -- one of the one of the largest private security operators in Iraq -- and a top Iraqi judge has said it could face trial over the incident.
Dabbagh indicated however that the ban would not be permanent.
"We understand that this company is giving security to embassy staff so we don't want to revoke their licence permanently," he said.
"We want them operate within the laws of Iraq. They used effective fire against civilians and we don't want this to happen again. We will decide the course of action to be taken (in talks with US officials).
"It is not against the American government. This is a technical matter and we need to discuss with the Americans how we deal with this."
US and Iraqi sources said the shooting erupted after a bomb exploded near a US diplomatic convoy, but a US government incident report said armed insurgents fired on the convoy and Blackwater guards responded.
Blackwater said its contractors "acted lawfully and appropriately in response to a hostile attack."
US officials are taking no chances and have ordered embassy staff and other personnel to remain in the confines of the sprawling Green Zone in the heart of Baghdad.
"In light of a serious security incident involving a US embassy protective detail in... Baghdad, the embassy has suspended official US government civilian ground movements outside the (Green Zone) and throughout Iraq," the embassy said in a notice to Americans, a copy of which was received by AFP.
"This suspension is in effect in order to assess mission security and procedures, as well as a possible increased threat to personnel travelling with security details outside the International Zone."
The Pentagon said it was taking a hard look into the US military's use of private security contractors in Iraq.
A spokesman for the US Central Command said 7,300 private security personnel were in Iraq under contract to the US Defence Department as of July 5. Overall, there were 137,000 people in Iraq on Defence Department contracts.
Those figures do not include private security personnel or others under contract to the State Department -- like the Blackwater contractors in the shooting -- or other US agencies.

Iraqi police, meanwhile, said that Al-Qaeda in Iraq militants have seized control of an village in the restive province of Diyala after a two-day battle with a rival Sunni insurgent group.
Members of the rival Brigades of the 1920 Revolution fought to maintain control of Al-Shuan village on the banks of the Diyala river but were eventually routed, said police Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim al-Obeidi.
Quoting villagers who escaped the assault, Obeidi said seven of the 30 houses in the village had been destroyed but he gave no casualty figures.
A US soldier was killed in a small-arms fire attack on Tuesday during combat operations in south Baghdad, the American military said. The latest death brings American losses since the March 2003 invasion to 3,788, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/iraq;_yl...qwV9K_nlhX6GMA

Iraqi PM disputes Blackwater version

AP - 1 hour, 32 minutes ago BAGHDAD - Iraq's prime minister on Wednesday disputed Blackwater USA's version of a weekend shooting that left at least 11 people dead, and he declared he would not tolerate "the killing of our citizens in cold blood."

Posted by: justanotherparatrooper

Quote:

Originally Posted by SinePari

I defer to your expertice brother, wasnt my field we just killed anything that was a threat...be safe.

Posted by: kwflatbed

Blackwater SOP:

Protect the passengers,eliminate the threat,get the hell out of there as quick as possible in that order.

Posted by: kwflatbed

US resumes Blackwater convoys in Iraq

By KATARINA KRATOVAC, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD - American convoys under the protection of Blackwater USA resumed on Friday, four days after the U.S. Embassy suspended all land travel by its diplomats and other civilian officials in response to the alleged killing of civilians by the security firm.
A top aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had earlier conceded it may prove difficult for the Iraqi government to follow through on threats to expel Blackwater and other Western security contractors.
The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation into Sunday's shooting was ongoing, said a way out of the Blackwater crisis could be the payment of compensation to victims' families and an agreement from all sides on a new set of rules for their operations in Iraq.
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said the decision to resume land travel outside the heavily fortified Green Zone was made after consultations with the Iraqi governments. She said the convoys will be limited to essential missions.
Nantongo declined to comment on an Interior Ministry report that officials said concluded that Blackwater guards opened fire Sunday from four positions on a square in western Baghdad after a vehicle near their convoy failed to stop.
"We're waiting for the results of the investigation, which we are conducting as quickly as we can," she said.
The U.S. ban announced Tuesday had confined most American officials to the Green Zone, a 3 1/2-square-mile area in the center of the city that houses the American Embassy and thousands of U.S. soldiers and contractors.
The decision kept them from visiting U.S.-funded construction sites or Iraqi officials elsewhere in the country except by helicopter — an indication of how dependent the State Department is on Blackwater protection.
Blackwater has said its employees acted "lawfully and appropriately" in response to an armed attack against a State Department convoy. Several Iraqi witnesses and officials claimed the security guards were the first to open fire.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have formed a joint committee to probe the widely differing accounts.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said a report found that the security guards opened fire first on Iraqi drivers.
The report, Khalaf said, recommended annulling a legal provision that gives immunity to foreign security companies operating in Iraq. It also recommended Blackwater compensate the victims' families and that all foreign security companies be replaced by Iraqi companies.
According to Khalaf, a car bomb detonated around noon Sunday near al-Rahman mosque in Mansour, a mile north of Nisoor Square. "Minutes later, two mortar rounds landed nearby Nisoor Square and they (Blackwater) thought that they were under attack," Khalaf said.
"They started shooting randomly from four positions in the square, killing 11 civilians and injuring 12 others. The first one who was killed was a driver who failed to stop and then his wife," Khalaf said.
Meanwhile, followers of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani refused to attend Friday sermons in their mosques in the southern city of Basra, in protest of the overnight assassination of two aides to the country's top Shiite cleric — one in Diwaniyah province and the other in in the southern Basra area.
The deaths bring to at least five the number of al-Sistani aides slain since early August but it remains unclear if the killings reflect internal Shiite disputes or are the work of Sunni insurgents opposed to the vast influence enjoyed by al-Sistani over Iraq's Shiites and politics since Saddam Hussein's 2003 ouster.
Al-Sistani's office in the holy city of Najaf declined to comment on the latest slayings. Basra Gov. Mohammed al-Waili called on the government to step up measures to protect clerics.

The reclusive cleric, who is in his 70s and commands the deep respect of Iraq's majority Shiites, has been the target of at least one assassination attempt since 2003.
In Baghdad, the U.S. military said Friday an American soldier was killed in an explosion Thursday in the volatile Diyala province north of the Iraqi capital. Another U.S. soldier died in a non-combat related incident in Tamim province Thursday.
Also Friday, a roadside bomb killed a Romanian soldier near Tallil in southern Iraq, the Romanian defense ministry said.
Separately, authorities in the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq called for the release of an Iranian detained by U.S. forces Thursday in Sulaimaniyah.
The U.S. military said he was smuggling in roadside bombs as a member of the elite Iranian paramilitary Quds Force, which is accused by the United States of arming and training Shiite militias in Iraq.
A Kurdish government stement said the man was part of an Iranian delegation of economists and businessmen, with an "official invitation." A spokesman, Fuad Hussein, said the detention was "illegitimate." The U.S. detentions of Iranians — including five grabbed during a U.S. raid in the northern city of Irbil — is a sensitive subject for Iraqi officials trying to balance the interests of their rival U.S. backers and Iran, powerful allies of the Shiite-led government.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070921/...eXpoAYkkms0NUE

Posted by: kwflatbed

I wonder who is realy behind this ??

Feds target Blackwater in weapons probe

By Associated Press
Saturday, September 22, 2007

WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors are investigating whether employees of the private security firm Blackwater USA illegally smuggled into Iraq weapons that may have been sold on the black market and ended up in the hands of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, officials said Friday.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Raleigh, N.C., is handling the investigation with help from Pentagon and State Department auditors, who have concluded there is enough evidence to file charges, the officials told The Associated Press. Blackwater is based in Moyock, N.C.
A spokeswoman for Blackwater did not return calls seeking comment Friday. The U.S. attorney for the eastern district of North Carolina, George Holding, declined to comment, as did Pentagon and State Department spokesmen.

Full Story: http://bostonherald.com/business/gen...icleid=1033324

BBC News
Blackwater Says Allegations of Arms Smuggling are `Baseless'
Bloomberg - 2 hours ago

By Miles Weiss Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Blackwater USA, the private security firm under investigation for shooting incidents in Iraq, denied it had engaged in smuggling weapons to that country.

Blackwater to face arms smuggling investigation The Carpetbagger Report

Blackwater escorting diplomats again San Francisco Chronicle

Washington Post - Guardian Unlimited - Daily Times - BBC Bulgaria

all 2,274 news articles »

Posted by: SinePari

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwflatbed

US resumes Blackwater convoys in Iraq

By KATARINA KRATOVAC, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD - American convoys under the protection of Blackwater USA resumed on Friday, four days after the U.S. Embassy suspended all land travel by its diplomats and other civilian officials in response to the alleged killing of civilians by the security firm.

I hate to brag but...I told you so

Posted by: justanotherparatrooper

Quote:

Originally Posted by SinePari

I hate to brag but...I told you so

Didnt doubt you for a second brother but I'll buy you a beer next time I see you anyways

Posted by: SinePari

Quote:

Originally Posted by justanotherparatrooper

Didnt doubt you for a second brother but I'll buy you a beer next time I see you anyways

You got it. Sam Adams Octoberfest would be great.

Posted by: Barbrady

Quote:

Originally Posted by SinePari

You got it. Sam Adams Octoberfest would be great.

Thanks for the reminder. Octoberfest is in season!

Posted by: kwflatbed

Blackwater chief defends actions in Iraq

AP - 1 minute ago

WASHINGTON - The founder of Blackwater USA on Tuesday vigorously defended his private security company against charges of covering up Iraqi civilian deaths, saying 30 of its contractors have been killed while protecting U.S. diplomats and no Americans have died while under its watch.
"There is no better evidence of the skill and dedication of these men," Erik Prince said in remarks prepared for a congressional hearing and obtained by The Associated Press.
Prince said there has been a "rush to judgment based on inaccurate information."
He disputed a congressional report's finding that Blackwater is an out-of-control outfit that's indifferent to Iraqi civilian casualties. And he maintained that his guards were responding to hostile fire when they engaged in a Sept. 16 shootout while protecting a U.S. convoy. At least 11 Iraqis died as a result of that incident. Prince's contention about the nature of the gunfire exchange is hotly disputed by witnesses and the Iraqi government, and the incident remains under U.S. and Iraqi investigation.
"To the extent there was loss of innocent life, let me be clear that I consider that tragic," Prince said in his prepared opening statement to the congressional panel. "Every life, whether American or Iraqi, is precious." But, he added, "based on everything we currently know, the Blackwater team acted appropriately while operating in a very complex war zone."
Prince, 38, said existing laws and regulations provide an adequate level of accountability and oversight for contractors in battle zones. But, "Blackwater believes that more can and should be done to increase accountability, oversight and transparency," he said.
Prince did not specify what those additional measures should be.
Blackwater has nearly 1,000 personnel working in Iraq.
Prince refuted a claim in a congressional report released Monday, saying Blackwater does not engage in "offensive or military missions, but performs only defensive security functions."
While noting that the Sept. 16 incident remains under investigation, Prince said Blackwater guards acted properly after a car bomb exploded near a diplomatic convoy they were protecting.
After the bomb detonated the guards came under small-arms fire and some of them returned fire at "threatening targets," which included vehicles that appeared to be suicide car bombers. Only five of approximately 20 Blackwater guards involved fired their weapons, Prince said.
Blackwater helicopters did assist in directing the convoy to safety, but the choppers did not fire their weapons, he said.
"Despite the valiant missions our people conduct each day with great success, in this September 16 instance, Blackwater and its people have been the subject of negative and baseless allegations reported as truth," Prince said.
On Monday, the FBI opened an investigation of the Sept. 16 incident - the latest fatal shootings in Iraq involving Blackwater guards. The FBI team was sent at the request of the State Department and its findings will be reviewed for possible criminal liability.
Blackwater, founded in 1997 by Prince and headquartered in Moyock, N.C., is the largest of the State Department's three private security contractors. The others are Dyncorp and Triple Canopy, both based in Washington's northern Virginia suburbs.
Blackwater has had more shooting incidents than the other two companies combined, according to a report written by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ahead of Tuesday's hearing.
Blackwater, which has been paid more than $1 billion in federal contracts since 2001, is embroiled in a host of controversies over the conduct of its guards.

Others on the witness list besides Prince include David Satterfield, the State Department's Iraq coordinator; Richard Griffin, assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security; and William H. Moser, deputy assistant secretary of state for logistics management.
The Democratic staff of the House committee issued a scathing 15-page report on the company's conduct Monday, portraying the company as unchecked by the State Department.
Among the report's most serious charges was that Blackwater contractors sought to cover up a June 2005 shooting of an Iraqi man and the company paid — with State Department approval — the families of others inadvertently killed by its guards.
Blackwater has had to fire 122 guards — one-seventh of the personnel it has in Iraq — over the past three years for problems ranging from misuse of weapons, alcohol and drug violations, inappropriate conduct, and violent behavior, the committee report said.
It also said that Blackwater has been involved in 195 shooting incidents since 2005.
In more than 80 percent of the incidents, called "escalation of force," Blackwater's guards fired the first shots even though the company's contract with the State Department calls for it to use defensive force only, the report said.
"In the vast majority of instances in which Blackwater fired shots, Blackwater is firing from a moving vehicle and does not remain at the scene to determine if the shots resulted in casualties," it added.
The report said there is no evidence that "the State Department sought to restrain Blackwater's actions, raised concerns about the number of shooting incidents involving Blackwater or the company's high rate of shooting first, or detained Blackwater contractors for investigation."
The staff report says Blackwater has made huge sums of money despite its questionable performance in Iraq, where Blackwater guards provide protective services for U.S. diplomatic personnel.
Blackwater has earned more than $1 billion from federal contracts since 2001, when it had less than $1 million in government work. Overall, the State Department paid Blackwater more than $832 million between 2004 and 2006 for security work, according to the report.
Blackwater bills the U.S. government $1,222 per day for a single "protective security specialist," the report says. That works out to $445,891 on an annual basis, far higher than it would cost the military to provide the same service.
___
On the Net: http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20071001121609.pdf

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071002/...SSbxnXH_qs0NUE

Posted by: SinePari

My principals from the State Department always needed to be educated that we were not driving around the beltway in DC. Before each trip the instructions were:

"Hang on and shut the fuck up! This is not a limo service!"

Posted by: j809

$1222 a day, i wonder what they end up paying each specialist per day.

Posted by: SOT

$100-500 depending

Posted by: j809

Quote:

Originally Posted by SOT

$100-500 depending

Wow, I'll stick to working road jobs.

Posted by: SinePari

With the right resume, you could get over a $1000 per day (inside knowledge

). Right now the average shooter working in Iraq gets about $500+/day.

Posted by: kwflatbed

The DUMMYCRATS are at it again.

House OKs bill to prosecute contractors

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The House passed a bill Thursday that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to prosecution by U.S. courts. It was the first major legislation of its kind to pass since a deadly shootout last month involving Blackwater employees.
Democrats called the 389-30 vote an indictment of the shooting incident there that left 11 Iraqis dead. Senate Democratic leaders said they planned to follow suit with similar legislation and send a bill to President Bush as soon as possible.
"There is simply no excuse for the de facto legal immunity for tens of thousands of individuals working in countries" on behalf of the United States, said Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas.
The FBI is currently leading an investigation into the Sept. 16 shootout, although administration officials acknowledge they are unsure whether U.S. courts would have jurisdiction in the case or others like it.
In a separate incident, a drunk Blackwater employee left a Christmas eve party in Baghdad and fatally shot the guard of one of Iraq's vice presidents. That contractor was fired, fined and returned home to the United States, but no charges have been filed.
The current law, called the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, covers personnel supporting the mission of Defense Department operations overseas. But because Blackwater's primary mission is to protect State Department officials, defense lawyers would likely argue that the law doesn't apply.
At the same time, all U.S. contractors are immune from prosecution by Iraqi courts.
The bill's passage came on the same day that a government minister told The Associated Press that the official Iraqi investigation said Blackwater security guards involved in the September incident face trial in Iraqi courts and the company should pay compensation to the victims.
The White House and congressional Republicans said they support the intent of the bill, but thought it was drafted poorly.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the White House said the bill would have "unintended and intolerable consequences for crucial and necessary national security activities and operations." The statement did not explain further or give examples on how the bill would affect national security.
The White House referred questions to the Justice Department, which declined to comment.
Prior to passage, the House voted 342-75 to ensure the legislation would not affect intelligence operations.
Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., accused Democrats of rushing the bill through Congress in a partisan bid to criticize the Bush administration's handling of the war.
"It is amazing to me the number of men in Blackwater that have lost their lives and we never hear it on the other side of the aisle," Shays said. "Blackwater is evil. That's the way it appears in all the dialogue."
Rep. David Price, who sponsored the bill, said the White House's objections were unfounded and "should infuriate anyone who believes in the rule of law."
Blackwater founder Erik Prince told a House panel Tuesday that he supports expanding the law.
"Beyond firing him for breaking the rules, withholding any funds we can, we can't flog him," Prince said of the intoxicated Blackwater guard. "We can't incarcerate him. We can't do anything beyond that."

FBI agents will take control of the Sept. 16 probe from the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security as soon as a full team has been assembled in the Iraqi capital, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters on Thursday.
McCormack stressed that the step did not necessarily imply that the investigation would result in criminal charges being brought against the contractors. Under the State Department's contract with Blackwater, the company's guard's would have provided security for the FBI team while in Iraq. But FBI spokesman John Miller said the team will rely on U.S. government personnel "to avoid even the appearance of any conflict."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071004/...PDptKqRois0NUE

Posted by: SinePari

The FBI has been in Iraq since the beginning investigating everything from war crimes to fraud. This is only sending the Iraqis a signal that we will take responsibility of the contractors' actions if needed. When they signed the accord with Bremmer banning all prosecutions of contractors, they knew it would eventually expire under their new government.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwflatbed

"There is simply no excuse for the de facto legal immunity for tens of thousands of individuals working in countries" on behalf of the United States, said Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas.

Well, Sheila, you're more than welcome to take a little ride with BW or any other team. Once you get back ALIVE, you can judge how business is done and make your judgement accordingly.

Posted by: kwflatbed

I wish all of these asshats could walk one day in a contracters or militarys boots in
the war zone.

Posted by: kwflatbed

Blackwater Reply

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Why does Blackwater 'shoot first' so much?

Blackwater has been taking a lot of criticism for supposedly being too quick to "shoot first" while protecting American diplomats, congressmen, senators and others in Iraq. Critics say that Blackwater's "escalation of force incidents" in Iraq since 2005 are a concern, especially when compared to other companies doing the same work.

Why does Blackwater shoot more, both objectively and percentagewise, than the other two companies that perform diplomatic security services in Iraq?

A June 21, 2007 Congressional Research Service report on private security contractors in Iraq shows why. In the area of the manning of Department of State protective services contracts in Iraq, Blackwater holds 70.8 percent of the protective security positions and is responsible for the hugely volatile Sunni Triangle.

Blackwater has conducted over 16,000 protective missions in Baghdad alone since June 2005, with 195 documented "escalation of force" events. That means that Blackwater has used force about 1 percent of the time in one of the most violent areas of Iraq in order to protect American diplomats and other high-value targets. In other words, on nearly 99 percent of its missions, Blackwater does not use force.

Additionally, Blackwater is the only private security company in Iraq that is required by contract to have armed helicopters and tactical response teams for route reconnaissance and post-attack rescue response. This State Department requirement increases the probability that a Blackwater-contracted professional will be engaged or become involved in an ongoing engagement.

Let's look at the other two companies, Triple Canopy and DynCorp. By comparison, Triple Canopy has 18.4 percent of the protective security billets - all outside the Sunni Triangle. DynCorp has 10.8 percent of the contract positions - also outside the Sunni Triangle. Neither company has response/rescue requirements.

So those who try to compare Blackwater's role with Triple Canopy and DynCorp don't really know what they're talking about. To summarize:

Blackwater has 70.8 percent of the protective diplomatic security billets in Iraq; Triple Canopy has 18.4 percent and DynCorp has 10.8 percent.
Blackwater operates in the super-violent Sunni Triangle. Triple Canopy and DynCorp operate outside that area.
Blackwater is required by contract to have armed helicopters and tactical response teams for route recon and post-attack rescue response. Triple Canopy and DynCorp do not.
Even with the above extra risk and responsibility, Blackwater has not used force in nearly 99 percent of its 16,000 missions.

http://www.blackwaterfacts.com/

Monday, October 8, 2007

How trial lawyers drive the anti-Blackwater train

One of the deans of Washington's journalistic community describes how trial lawyers are driving the anti-Blackwater movement.

In his October 8 Washington Post piece, syndicated columnist Robert Novak tells how an ambulance-chasing attorney crafted Congressman Henry Waxman's hearings against Blackwater. Novak cites the December, 2006 letter from a California trial lawyer requesting that incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Waxman (D-CA) probe Blackwater.

BlackwaterFacts.com posted the letter on October 3.

Among other things, Novak reveals that the same day Waxman demanded that Blackwater CEO Erik Prince appear before his committee, the trial lawyer, Daniel Callahan, called Blackwater counsel Joseph Schmitz.

And here's where the case reeks of what reasonable people might call extortion: The trial lawyer told Schmitz that he could "bury" the bad publicity if Blackwater would fork over $20 million in cash.

Callahan is suing in North Carolina, along with local trial lawyer David Kirby, a former partner of ex-Senator John Edwards (pictured).

"While the trial lawyers wanted money, Democrats wanted more bad publicity for Blackwater -- and the Bush administration," says Novak. "Questioning by Democrats seemingly came straight from Callahan's legal briefs."

http://www.blackwaterfacts.com/

Posted by: kwflatbed

From Blackwater:

Blackwater Worldwide Founder and CEO Erik Prince stands his ground against critics as he begins a series of unprecedented appearances on the national talk show circuit. Since September 16th's attack in Bagdad on a Blackwater caravan carrying an American diplomat, Prince's Blackwater security contractors have come under fire amidst a developing debate about the contracting industry in a hot political climate. Mr. Prince has already given a revealing interview with CBS' 60 Minutes and will continue to answer questions for various media outlets while setting the record straight and clearing the names of those who work for him. All his comments can be found by searching YouTube where supporters of Blackwater have placed the various interviews, search "Erik Prince interviews".

Posted by: kwflatbed

'Criminal' Blackwater must leave, others can stay: Iraq

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq repeated a call for US firm Blackwater to leave on Saturday almost five weeks after its guards killed as many as 17 civilians, but said it had no problem with other companies that obeyed the law.
"The Iraqi government doesn't want Blackwater to stay in Iraq," said a statement from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh. "There is popular anger against this company because of the crime they committed."
On September 16, Blackwater guards protecting a US State Department convoy unleashed a hail of bullets in a crowded Baghdad square and killed as many as 17 civilians when they thought they were being ambushed.
Blackwater boss Erik Prince has rejected an Iraqi report that said the killings were unprovoked, insisting that his men were fired upon.
"The government is not against security contractors as long as companies stick to the law," Dabbagh's statement said.
The Baghdad government, which since the Blackwater incident has drafted a law that would regulate the activities of private security contractors, said there must be criteria to punish such companies if they mess up.
"No country in the world allows these companies to do what they do in Iraq," the statement said. "These companies are providing security for diplmomats but it shouldn't protect them from accountability."
The actions of security escorts, often used by foreign diplomats, are under the microscope in Iraq after two high-profile shootings in busy areas of the capital in the past five weeks.
Before the dust could settle on the Blackwater incident, the row deepened when a woman taxi driver and a passenger were shot dead when their vehicle got too close to a convoy of Australian-run security firm URG.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she has tightened control over Blackwater's operations in Iraq, while her department has ceded the lead role in one of several investigations into the September 16 incident to the FBI.
The US military told AFP on Friday it was also investigating a third shooting.
In the latest incident on Thursday, near the northern oil city of Kirkuk, security guards from British firm Erinys protecting a convoy of US army engineers allegedly shot and wounded three Iraqi civilians, again in a taxi.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071020...zhNhb1z6tX6GMA

Posted by: kwflatbed

Blackwater Scandal Prompts State Dept. Resignation

Assistant Secretary Of State For Security Quits After Shooting

CBS News Interactive: Blackwater Under Fire

CBS News Interactive: Battle For Iraq

(AP) WASHINGTON The State Department's security chief announced his resignation on Wednesday in the wake of last month's deadly Blackwater USA shooting incident in Baghdad and growing questions about the use of private contractors in Iraq.

Richard Griffin, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, announced his decision to resign at a weekly staff meeting, according to an internal informational e-mail sent to colleagues.

"He read his letter of resignation at the weekly Diplomatic Security staff meeting," said the e-mail, which was read to The Associated Press by one its recipients. "There was no detailed reason provided and no effective date identified at this time."

Neither Griffin nor spokesmen for the department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security could be reached for immediate comment.

It was not clear if Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had or would accept Griffin's resignation.

Griffin announced his resignation just a day after Rice ordered a series of measures to boost government oversight of the private guards the department uses to protect its diplomats in Iraq.

The steps were recommended by a review panel Rice created after a Sept. 16 incident in which Blackwater personnel are accused of killing 17 Iraqi civilians. The panel found serious lapses in the department's oversight of such guards, who are employed by Griffin's bureau.

Arguments on Capitol Hill over the role of private contractors in wartorn Iraq have largely obscured the broader debate over the war in recent weeks as majority Democrats have scrambled for new strategies designed to end the U.S. presence there.

Rice's review panel found serious lapses in the department's oversight of such guards, who are employed by Griffin's bureau.

"Prompt measures should be taken to strengthen the coordination, oversight and accountability aspects of the State Department's security practices in Iraq in order to reduce the likelihood that future incidents will occur," their report said.

In addition to clarifying the rules of engagement, Rice accepted recommendations from the panel for private security guards to undergo cultural awareness and Arabic-language training and to set up a board to investigate any incidents where they use deadly force.

Rice had already accepted interim suggestions from the panel to have Diplomatic Security agents escort diplomatic convoys protected by Blackwater and other private guards, install cameras in all security vehicles, improve communications with U.S. military forces in areas where they travel, and record and catalogue radio traffic with the embassy.

The panel made no specific recommendations about what should happen to Blackwater, whose guards were escorting an official from the U.S. Embassy when the shooting occurred. Iraqi authorities claim Blackwater guards fired unprovoked, but Blackwater's founder has said his employees were fired on first.

The panel recommended that when a separate FBI review of the incident is complete the U.S. embassy in Baghdad should assess "whether the continued services of the contractor involved is consistent with the accomplishment of the overall mission in Iraq."

The killings have outraged Iraqis and focused attention on the shadowy rules surrounding heavily armed private guards.

The Iraqi government is demanding that Blackwater be expelled from the country within six months and that its employees be subject to Iraqi law.

The moves announced Tuesday are among those that Rice opted to make on her own, but further changes are likely after she meets later this week with Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

http://wbztv.com/topstories/topstori...297140107.html

Posted by: kwflatbed

Report: Blackwater killings unjustified

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Blackwater Worldwide supports "stringent accountability" for any wrongdoing, a spokeswoman says following a report saying federal investigators found that the shooting deaths of at least 14 Iraqi civilians by its guards violated rules of deadly force.
The New York Times cited unidentified civilian and military officials in reporting for Wednesday's editions that the killings of at least 14 of the 17 Iraqi civilians shot by Blackwater personnel guarding a U.S. Embassy convoy were found to have been unjustified and violated standards in place governing the use of deadly force.
Responding to the Times report, Anne Tyrrell, a Blackwater spokeswoman, said the company "supports the stringent accountability of the industry. If it is determined that one person was complicit in the wrongdoing, we would support accountability in that. The key people in this have not spoken with investigators."
She added that the company will withhold further comment "until the findings are made available."
A government official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press on Tuesday night that no final conclusions have been reached about any of the fatalities. A State Department official said he was not aware that the department had been informed of any findings. Both requested anonymity because the investigation is still under way.
The Times said the Justice Department is already reviewing the findings even though the FBI is still investigating the Sept. 16 shootings.
No evidence supports assertions by Blackwater employees that they were fired upon by Iraqi civilians, but the FBI has concluded that three of the deaths may have been justified under rules that allow lethal force in response to an imminent threat, the paper reported.
"Without a doubt, the teams were faced with deadly force that day," the Blackwater spokeswoman said.
Investigators have concluded that as many as five of the company's guards opened fire during the shootings, the newspaper reported. One guard has become the focus of the investigation, the Times reported, because that guard was responsible for several deaths.
The shootings took place in Baghdad's Nisoor Square. Blackwater contends that its convoy was attacked before it opened fire, but the Iraqi government's investigation concluded that the shootings were unprovoked.
State Department officials have said it has offered limited immunity to private security contractors involved in shootings in Iraq. They disagreed with law enforcement officials that such actions could jeopardize prosecutions in the Sept. 16 incident.
Rep. David E. Price, D-N.,C., has sponsored legislation to apply U.S. criminal law to contractors serving overseas and called for the Justice Department to hold someone accountable for the shootings.
"We've always supported any productive moves toward accountability, including Congressman Price's bill," said Tyrrell, the Blackwater spokeswoman.
Paul Cox, a spokesman for Price, said late Tuesday that "we don't have any independent verification of this. I don't have any access to the report." But he said if the FBI concludes there was criminal wrongdoing, "just because there are deficiencies in the law, and Congressman Price is trying to rectify that, that's no excuse not to prosecute."
"For him, it just underscores that the administration should work with Congress in trying to pass this bill," added Cox.
___
Associated Press writers Tom Foreman Jr. in Raleigh, N.C., and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071114/...WHvAE4ltOs0NUE

Posted by: kwflatbed

It continues

Lawsuit Claims Blackwater Guards Abandoned Post on Day of Shootings, Used Steroids

WASHINGTON — A lawsuit against government contractor Blackwater Worldwide accuses its bodyguards of ignoring a direct order and abandoning their post shortly before taking part in a shooting in Baghdad that killed 17 Iraqi civilians.
Filed this week in U.S. District Court in Washington, the complaint also accuses North Carolina-based Blackwater of failing to give drug tests to its guards in Baghdad — even though an estimated one in four of them was using steroids or other "judgment altering substances."
A Blackwater spokeswoman said Tuesday its employees are banned from using steroids or other enhancement drugs but declined to comment on the other charges detailed in the 18-page lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of five Iraqis who were killed and two who were injured during the Sept. 16 shooting in Baghdad's Nisoor Square. The shootings enraged the Iraqi government, and the Justice Department is investigating whether it can bring criminal charges in the case, even though the State Department promised limited immunity to the Blackwater guards.
The three teams of an estimated dozen Blackwater bodyguards had already dropped off the State Department official they were tasked with protecting when they headed to Nisoor Square, according to the lawsuit filed by lawyers working with the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Blackwater and State Department personnel staffing a tactical operations center "expressly directed the Blackwater shooters to stay with the official and refrain from leaving the secure area," the complaint says. "Reasonable discovery will establish that the Blackwater shooters ignored those directives."
Additionally, the lawsuit notes: "One of Blackwater's own shooters tried to stop his colleagues from indiscriminately firing upon the crowd of innocent civilians but he was unsuccessful in his efforts."
The civil complaint offers new details of the incident that has strained relations between the United States and Iraq, which is demanding the right to launch its own prosecution of the Blackwater bodyguards.
The Justice Department says it likely will be months before it decides whether it can prosecute the guards, and it is trying now to pinpoint how many shooters in the Blackwater convoy could face charges. A senior U.S. law enforcement official confirmed Tuesday that government investigators are looking at whether the Blackwater guards were authorized to be in the square at the time of the shooting. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.
In an interview, lead plaintiff attorney Susan L. Burke said private investigators turned up the new evidence through interviews with people in Iraq and the United States "who would have reason to know." Those people do not include government officials, Burke said, and she declined to comment when asked if they include Blackwater employees.
The civil lawsuit does not specify how much money the victims and their families are seeking from Blackwater, its 11 subsidiaries and founder, Erik Prince, all of whom are named as defendants.
"We're looking for compensatory (damages) because the people who were killed were the breadwinners in their families," Burke said. "And we're looking for punitive in a manner that suffices to change the corporation's conduct. We have a real interest in holding them accountable for what were completely avoidable deaths."
The lawsuit also accuses Blackwater of routinely sending its guards into Baghdad despite knowing that at least 25 percent of them were using steroids or other "judgment-altering substances." Attorneys estimated that Blackwater employs about 600 guards in Iraq. The company "did not conduct drug-testing of any of its shooters before sending them equipped with heavy weapons into the streets of Baghdad," the lawsuit states.
Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said Blackwater employees are tested for drug use before they are hired and later given random quarterly tests. She said use of steroids and other performance enhancement drugs "are absolutely in violation of our policy."
"Blackwater has very strict policies concerning drug use, and if anyone were known to be in violation of them they would be immediately fired," Tyrrell said.
She declined comment on whether the bodyguards ignored their orders and abandoned their posts, or on other details outlined in the lawsuit.
Blackwater's contract with the State Department to protect diplomats in Iraq expires in May, and there are questions whether it will remain as the primary contractor for diplomatic bodyguards. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said his Cabinet is drafting legislation that would force the State Department to replace Blackwater with another security company.
The State Department declined to comment on the case Tuesday, citing standard policy on pending legal matters. Deputy spokesman Tom Casey referred questions on the matter "to those involved in the lawsuit."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,313325,00.html

Posted by: kwflatbed

It continues again:

New York Times in Iraq: "Blackwater shot our dog"

Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:05pm EST

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Iraq is investigating another deadly shooting incident involving its Blackwater bodyguards -- this time of the New York Times's dog.
Staff at the newspaper's Baghdad bureau said Blackwater bodyguards shot Hentish dead last week before a visit by a U.S. diplomat to the Times compound.
Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said the dog had attacked one of Blackwater's bomb-sniffer dogs while a security team was sweeping the compound for explosives.
"The K-9 handler made several unsuccessful attempts to get the dog to retreat, including placing himself between the dogs. When those efforts failed, the K-9 handler unfortunately was forced to use a pistol to protect the company's K-9 and himself," she said in an e-mail to Reuters.
The U.S. embassy employs about 1,000 armed Blackwater staff to protect American diplomats in Baghdad.
The firm's role became a serious issue in Iraqi-U.S. relations when its guards opened fire on a Baghdad street in September, killing 17 people. Blackwater says its employees acted lawfully in that incident, which is under investigation.
State Department investigators have made two follow-up visits to the Times compound to investigate the shooting of Hentish, correspondent Alissa Rubin said.
"They were very solicitous and I thought took the incident very seriously," Rubin said. "It's not a dog that everyone's close to in the compound.
"But it's a dog that's been around a long time. It lived its whole life there."
(Reporting by Peter Graff; editing by Robert Woodward)

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNe...rpc=22&sp=true

Posted by: kwflatbed

Report: FBI finds Blackwater trucks patched

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Blackwater Worldwide repaired and repainted its trucks immediately after a deadly September shooting in Baghdad, making it difficult to determine whether enemy gunfire provoked the attack, according to people familiar with the government's investigation of the incident.

Damage to the vehicles in the convoy has been held up by Blackwater as proof that its security guards were defending themselves against an insurgent ambush when they fired into a busy intersection, leaving 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

U.S. military investigators initially found ''no enemy activity involved'' and the Iraqi government concluded the shootings were unprovoked.

The repairs essentially destroyed evidence that Justice Department investigators hoped to examine in a criminal case that has drawn worldwide attention. The Sept. 16 shooting has strained U.S. relations with the Iraqi government, which wants Blackwater expelled from the country. It also has become a flash point in the debate over whether contractors are immune from legal consequences for their actions in a war zone.

Blackwater's four armored vehicles were repaired or repainted within days of the shooting, and before FBI teams went to Baghdad to collect evidence, people close to the case said. The work included repairs to a damaged radiator that Blackwater says is central to its defense.

The damage and subsequent repairs were described to The Associated Press by five people familiar with the case who discussed it in separate interviews over the past month. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

The repair work creates a hurdle for prosecutors as they consider building a case against any of the 19 guards in the Sept. 16 convoy. It also makes it harder for Blackwater to prove its innocence as it faces a grand jury investigation and multiple lawsuits over the shooting. The company is the target, too, of an unrelated investigation into whether its contractors smuggled weapons into Iraq.

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said any repairs ''would have been done at the government's direction.'' Blackwater's contract with the State Department requires that the company maintain its vehicles and keep them on the road.

The State Department would not comment on whether it ordered the repairs to the vehicles involved in the shooting.

Blackwater's chief executive, Erik Prince, has pointed to the damaged trucks to counter accusations that his contractors acted improperly.

In interviews this fall, he said three of Blackwater's armored vehicles were struck by gunfire and that the radiator from one was ''shot out and disabled'' during the shooting in Baghdad's Nisoor Square. An early two-page State Department report supports Prince's statements. The report noted the Blackwater command vehicle was ''disabled during the attack'' and had to be towed.

Prince has indicated he expects the FBI investigation to clear his company. Yet people close to the case say the vehicles and radiator alone probably will not be enough to do that because repairing the trucks made it difficult for investigators to say whether the convoy was fired on -- or not.

As for the radiator, investigators have verified that it was damaged. But it, too, was repaired before the FBI arrived two weeks after the shooting.

No bullets were found inside the radiator to prove it had been shot, as opposed to being broken during routine use. That makes it hard for scientists to say for certain what caused the damage or when, according to those close to the case.

The preliminary State Department report noted ''superficial damage'' to the vehicles; and photographs exist showing bullet damage. People who have seen the photos said there are no time stamps or other indications of when and where that damage occurred.

One photo, obtained and broadcast by CBS News, bore no notations indicating when it was taken or even if the vehicle pictured was involved in the shooting.

The evidence gaps will force investigators to rely more heavily on testimony and other statements from witnesses. But even those efforts have been hampered by a State Department deal that gave Blackwater guards limited immunity for their statements following the incident. As a result, the Justice Department cannot use those interviews in its criminal investigation.

There were 19 security guards at the scene. Investigators believe only a few fired their weapons. Investigators are pushing ahead with the search for additional evidence and so far are focusing on as many four guards who could face criminal charges.

Over the past two months, prosecutors have brought several guards before a Washington grand jury to describe their recollection of the shooting. According to the initial State Department report, the shooting occurred as the Blackwater convoy was responding to a car bombing about a mile outside the U.S.-protected Green Zone, which houses the Iraqi government and several embassies.

James Sweeney, a lawyer representing several guards, would not discuss the forensic gaps or whether the grand jury investigation is helping authorities bridge them. He said Blackwater guards are patriots, not aggressors.

''They are good, solid intelligent Americans. They're good people,'' Sweeney said. ''They're protecting U.S. diplomats.''

North Carolina-based Blackwater is the largest private security company protecting U.S. officials in Iraq. It has been paid more than $1 billion from federal contracts since 2001. Despite criticism, Blackwater notes that no official under its protection has been killed or seriously injured.

Blackwater also strongly denies wrongdoing in a weapons smuggling investigation by federal officials in North Carolina. Two former employees, who prosecutors say are aiding the investigation, were sentenced to probation Thursday on gunrunning charges.

Blackwater and other contractors operate in a legal gray area. They are immune from prosecution in Iraqi courts. If the Justice Department wants to bring criminal charges such as assault, manslaughter or murder in a U.S. court, prosecutors would have to do so under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act.

That would require the government to show that State Department contractors were ''supporting the mission of the Department of Defense overseas.'' Defense lawyers are expected to argue that guarding diplomats was a purely State Department function, one independent from the Pentagon.

The Justice Department has said it could be some time before it decides whether it will bring charges in the case.

Wire Service

Posted by: WaterPistola

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwflatbed

''They are good, solid intelligent Americans. They're good people,'' Sweeney said. ''They're protecting U.S. diplomats.''

+1, I work with an ex blackwater guy...stand up guy

Posted by: chief801

We wonder why our progress is taking so long. Our team is forced to play by the rules against an enemy who doesn't even understand the game, never mind the rules.

Posted by: kwflatbed

State Department extends Blackwater's deal a year

By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON - Amid investigations into fatal shootings of civilians and allegations of tax violations, Blackwater USA's multimillion-dollar contract to protect diplomats in Baghdad has been renewed, the State Department said Friday.

Fri Apr 4, 6:04 PM ET

Plainclothes contractors working for Blackwater USA take part in a firefight in the Iraqi city of Najaf in this 2004 file photo. The State Department said it will renew Blackwater USA's license to protect diplomats in Baghdad for one year, but a final decision about whether the private security company will keep the job is pending.

A final decision about whether the private security company will keep the job is pending, the department said. Moyock, N.C.-based Blackwater is one of the largest private military contractors, receiving nearly $1.25 billion in federal business since 2000, according to a House committee estimate.
Blackwater provides security for diplomats in Baghdad, where the sprawling U.S. Embassy is headquartered. Its private guards act as bodyguards and armed drivers, escorting government officials when they go outside the fortified Green Zone.
Iraqis were outraged over a Sept. 16 shooting in which 17 Iraq civilians were killed in a Baghdad square. Blackwater said its guards were protecting diplomats under attack before they opened fire, but Iraqi investigators concluded the shooting was unprovoked.
An FBI probe began in November. Prosecutors want to know whether Blackwater contractors used excessive force or violated any laws.
The State Department's top security officer, Greg Starr, told reporters Friday that because the FBI is still investigating the shootings, there is no justification now to pull the contract when it comes due in May.
Blackwater has a five-year deal to provide personal protection for diplomats, and its contract is reauthorized each year. The decision announced Friday extends Blackwater's deal for the third year.
Prosecutors investigating the shootings have questioned more than 30 witnesses in the U.S. and in Iraq, but they have announced no conclusions. One possibility is that individual contractors could be indicted, another is that the company could be indicted, or the FBI could conclude that there was no crime.
The company is also the target of an unrelated investigation into whether its contractors smuggled weapons into Iraq. Lawmakers have called for an investigation into whether Blackwater violated tax laws by classifying employees as independent contractors. The company says the claim is groundless.
Starr said that Blackwater's contract could be pulled at some future point, depending on what the FBI and an internal State Department inquiry conclude. He would not predict whether that is likely, and he said he has no information about when the FBI might act.
Starr's predecessor, Richard Griffin, resigned just one day after a State Department study found serious lapses in the department's oversight of private guards.
After the September deaths, U.S. commanders in Iraq complained that they often do not know security firms are moving through their areas of responsibility until after a hostile incident has taken place.
At the end of October, Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and reached a general understanding that more military control was needed over security firms operating in the war zone.
The Pentagon and the State Department agreed in December to give the military in Iraq more control over Blackwater Worldwide and other private security contractors.
The agreement spells out rules, standards and guidelines for the use of private security contractors and says contractors will be accountable for criminal acts under U.S. law. That partly clarifies what happens if a contractor breaks the law, but it leaves the details to be worked out with Congress.
The State Department also installed new safeguards after the September shooting, including a requirement for additional monitoring of Blackwater convoys.
Rep. David Price, D-N.C., author of a House-passed bill that would subject all contractors to criminal liability, called the agreement "an important step toward improving transparency, management and accountability in security contracting."

"There is no question that it comes in response to significant congressional pressure ... but the agencies deserve credit for reading the writing on the wall and taking substantive steps to deal with a clear and critical problem," Price said.
___ Associated Press writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080404/...raq_blackwater

Posted by: SinePari

Too bad the $$$ has gone down the toilet and they're getting less qualified applicants these days.

Posted by: Barbrady

Quote:

Originally Posted by SinePari

Too bad the $$$ has gone down the toilet and they're getting less qualified applicants these days.

How bad have they lowered? Today I saw two guys in Charlotte at two different locations with BW shirts. They both looked about 18-21 yoa...thought it was odd.

Posted by: SinePari

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barbrady

How bad have they lowered? Today I saw two guys in Charlotte at two different locations with BW shirts. They both looked about 18-21 yoa...thought it was odd.

Let's just say...back in the day 2003/2004 you had to have certain requirements to be on THE details, and you were paid $700/day or more. Now you're lucky to see anybody who had stripes on active duty at about $400/day. I'm all set with that shit when I can make that here and nobody is trying to blow me up. Anyone on THE detail doesn't wear a BW shirt off-duty.

Posted by: Deuce

Quote:

Originally Posted by SinePari

Anyone on THE detail doesn't wear a BW shirt off-duty.

Posers.. Just like the chumps walking around in general public wearing SF, SOF, SWAT garb... Wannabe's...

Posted by: Barbrady

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deuce

Posers.. Just like the chumps walking around in general public wearing SF, SOF, SWAT garb... Wannabe's...

..and thats what I figured but did not know Blackwater even had commercial merchandise.

Posted by: SinePari

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barbrady

..and thats what I figured but did not know Blackwater even had commercial merchandise.

One of my Kiwi co-workers over there (that would be a New Zealander, for those not in the know) called them "The Guys With The Gucci Kit". Oakleys, 5-11 pants, etc. Every time they rolled, they rolled heavy with gun trucks, MPs, little birds, etc. Their principal was well protected, but we had everyone else in his cabinet and basically had to do more with less.

And the guys from DynCorp would roll heavy like that all around the Green Zone

, wishing they could leave the camp and go do a REAL mission. Missions to fun places like Sadr City, Hillah, and about 10 BIAP runs on a daily basis, all the while trying not to end up on a website wearing an orange jump suit, with some dude holding a sword behind you.

My favorite was every week I had to go downtown by myself with a few locals that worked for us, and make cash runs from the bank to pay everyone. Not to whip it out to impress anyone, but it was kind of fun looking the part, and walking in to the bank manager to do the meet 'n greet each week. Then we'd hop into our B6 level armored Benz with about $200K in cash in a James Bond briefcase.

For those that think I'm a little nuts you're probably not far off, but I trusted our locals and even went to the homes to meet their families occasionally. There were other companies doing business downtown but one day we got made, and my indigs told me we should start using another bank across town. The following day our old bank got RPG'd and IED'd in their parking lot. How's that for trust?

I have some great pics but I keep them on my 'puter cause I don't want them floating around the net and someone claiming them as their own BTDT pics, and also to protect those we protected and employed.

Posted by: kwflatbed

Blackwater unlikely to face charges in Iraq shooting

WASHINGTON -- Blackwater Worldwide, the security contractor blamed by an angry Iraqi government for the shooting deaths of 17 civilians, is not expected to face criminal charges -- all but ensuring the company will keep its multimillion-dollar contract to protect U.S. diplomats.
Instead, the seven-month-old Justice Department investigation is focused on as few as three or four Blackwater guards who could be indicted in the Sept. 16 shootings, according to interviews with a half-dozen people close to the investigation.
The final decision on any charges will not be made until late summer at the earliest, a law enforcement official said. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.
The State Department publicly raised the question of Blackwater's corporate liability last month when it extended the company's contract by one year. The contract could still be canceled if criminal charges are brought, but the department said it was unlikely to penalize the corporation if only its employees were charged.
"I think that's really what the FBI investigation needs to look at: Is the company culpable or are the individuals culpable?" Greg Starr, the department's top security officer, said last month.
Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd declined to comment.
Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said, "If it is determined that there are any individuals who need to be held accountable, we support that."
The shootings began when a Blackwater convoy, which was responding to a Baghdad car bombing, entered the Nisoor Square traffic circle. Blackwater says the convoy was ambushed by insurgents, touching off a firefight. Iraqi witnesses, however, described an unprovoked attack in which security guards fired indiscriminately, killing motorists, bystanders and children in the square.
The shooting enraged the Iraqi government, which originally sought to expel the company from the country, and strained diplomatic relations between Washington and Baghdad. The shooting also raised questions at home and abroad about the U.S. reliance on heavily armed private contractors in war zones. With nearly 1,000 personnel working in Iraq, Blackwater is the largest State Department security contractor; critics have compared its guards to mercenaries.
Since the shooting, Blackwater has also come to symbolize the legal gray area in which such security contractors operate. Iraqi officials wanted to charge Blackwater guards in Baghdad, but U.S. contractors are immune from prosecution in Iraqi courts. U.S. prosecutors believe they have jurisdiction to bring a case in Washington, but that's an untested legal theory.
This week, the Justice Department continued its secret grand jury interviews in the case with the testimony of a U.S. military official. An estimated 40 witnesses have so far been brought before the grand jury in Washington, including Blackwater security guards and company managers. Iraqi witnesses also are expected to testify in coming months, according to people close to the case.
Companies are sometimes charged for the wrongdoing of their employees, but the standard is high. Prosecutors must prove that the corporation -- not just the employees -- intended to break the law. One recent example is Chiquita Brands International, which was fined $25 million after admitting it paid Colombian terrorists to protect its most profitable banana-growing operation.
"The law tries to get at the idea of moral responsibility," said longtime Washington corporate lawyer Thomas F. Cullen. "To be morally responsible for someone else's criminal act, you need to be somehow involved in their criminal intent. Did you direct it?"
Blackwater could still face charges if, for example, prosecutors conclude the company lied to investigators, destroyed documents or obstructed the probe. Blackwater says it is fully cooperating with the Justice Department. The Department gives credit for such cooperation when deciding whether to bring charges.
Even if Blackwater avoids prosecution for the shooting, its legal problems will continue.
Families of the Nisoor Square victims are suing Blackwater under a wrongful death claim in civil court. The lawsuit does not specify how much money they are seeking from Blackwater, its 11 subsidiaries and founder, Erik Prince, all of whom are named as defendants. The standard of proof needed to win is lower in civil cases than in criminal cases, which require proof beyond reasonable doubt.
Separately, federal prosecutors in North Carolina are investigating whether Blackwater played a role in a weapons smuggling case linked to the Kurdish militant group PKK, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Blackwater denies involvement in the case.

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/national/BO78209/

Posted by: Grasshopper

One of the finest men I have ever known was a contractor such as those mentioned.

Posted by: kwflatbed

Blackwater opens San Diego training center

SAN DIEGO -- A new counterterrorism training facility operated by military security contractor Blackwater Worldwide echoed with the grunts of Navy sailors, a day after a federal judge ordered the city to let classes begin.
The 24 trainees batted and punched each other Thursday as they learned basic strike tactics in a corner of the 61,000-square-foot converted warehouse in an industrial area near the U.S.-Mexico border.
For the next three weeks, they'll practice shooting inside a 25-yard indoor firing range and learn to wear sidearms safely while wriggling through ship hatches and up narrow ladders installed in white metal cargo containers stacked along one wall of the building to simulate a ship. Trainers from Blackwater will quiz them on distinguishing small boats carrying cargo from those carrying bombs.
The company sued last month because city officials refused to issue final occupancy documents without a vote by the planning commission, after building inspectors had already signed off on the necessary permits. Blackwater said it faced a Navy contract deadline and accused the city of caving to political pressure.
The company has been targeted by anti-war activists and Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., who opposed its proposed training camp for law enforcement in a remote mountain community east of San Diego. That project was dropped after firing ranges failed to satisfy noise restrictions, but Filner and others have raised concerns that Blackwater is simply seeking a foothold near the border that could serve as a base for providing private migrant or drug interdiction services to federal agencies.
Blackwater insists the warehouse was built to provide the Navy's "ship reaction force basic" training course as part of a $400 million contract. The program is part of an initiative to train sailors in counterterrorist defense tactics after the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in a Yemeni port.
"This facility supports our oldest customer," said company Vice President Brian Bonfiglio, referring to the military.
Blackwater trains sailors from East Coast bases at its headquarters in Moyock, N.C., where it offers an advanced course using model ships floating in a private lake. It developed the California warehouse to offer the introductory program to sailors from San Diego, Guam, Japan and other Pacific bases.
Bonfiglio acknowledged that Blackwater would gladly host other agencies, including the Border Patrol or Coast Guard, at the warehouse, located in an unmarked building within sight of the border fence and the Tijuana airport control tower beyond.
"If we had a bunch of Border Patrol vehicles parked outside, they'd accuse us of trying to take over the border," he said, only half-joking. "But I'd open up our doors to any law enforcement that needed training, if I could do it."
The company has been expanding its domestic law enforcement training business, opening an 80-acre police training center in Mount Carroll, Ill., in 2007 to complement its 7,000-acre complex in North Carolina.
At the same time, Blackwater, the largest private security firm in Iraq, has come under increased scrutiny for its work abroad. Its guards are under investigation by a federal grand jury in Washington for their involvement in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians. The company is also under investigation for possible weapons smuggling, allegations Blackwater denies.
Democratic activist Raymond Lutz said those inquiries can't be ignored when it comes to Blackwater's domestic operations.
"To put training in the hands of private profiteers means that you're giving up your ability to oversee what they're doing and when you give it up you lose control," Lutz said. "Why doesn't the Navy train its own people?"
Bonfiglio said his five trainers offer students a depth of counterterrorism experience the Navy couldn't match without pulling its own experts from other duties.
"What we do overseas needs to be separated from what we do in the United States," he said. "Here we put all of our effort into developing training facilities that are unmatched."
The pride of the facility is the mock warship area, where shipping containers are outfitted with red lights to simulate an onboard emergency and speakers blare clanking background noise during exercises.
On Thursday, workers were reinforcing a maze of wooden walls appended to the cargo containers at the request of city inspectors, who are still reviewing Blackwater's application to use the simulated ship area under an amusement-park ride permit, Bonfiglio said.
City lawyers said the company misled inspectors by applying for permits piecemeal and under the names of affiliated companies instead of making a single application to open a training center with firearms. District Court Judge Marilyn Huff ruled Wednesday that the company did not need to seek special approval because the area is already zoned for vocational school use.
The city has not said whether it will appeal.

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/national/BO79982/

Posted by: kwflatbed

Judge: Calif. Blackwater facility may remain open

SAN DIEGO -- A federal judge in San Diego has ruled that Blackwater Worldwide's new counterterrorism training facility may remain open.
District Court Judge Marilyn Huff said Tuesday the center near the U.S.-Mexico border may continue operating with its current permits. San Diego officials had sought a more public permit review.
The military security contractor sued because city officials refused to issue final occupancy documents without a vote by the planning commission, after building inspectors had already signed off on the necessary permits. Blackwater accused the city of caving to

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