State Dept. Reups Blackwater Security

Despite Tax Woes And Controversial Shootings, Contractor Will Continue Protecting Diplomats

(AP)  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.

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.

[j-whitman]

BaghdadsHere,,,,, Your "Support the Troops" bumper sticker must have fallen off the back of your car. --- Support the troops, not Blackwater --- If they where hero''s they wouldn''t have left the military in the 1st place.

[j-whitman]

BaghdadsHere,,,, There you go again, calling our troops cowards & incapable of doing their job. -- You are a total idiot ------- Blackwater has hurt our troops & the war effort.

[baghdadshere]

HATS a fair and wise decision. BLACKWATER guys are the heroes of our time. True RAMBOs who go on harms way to protect our diplomats. Nobody has the courage to do the job they are doing.

[excoachken]

Black water is a cancer-- a terminal variety-- mercenaries always kill any sign of "democracy" that lives in their own country.

[hungry1968]

Posted by DSR57 at 05:14 AM : Apr 06, 2008





I can''t believe that someone is sitting here telling fellow Americans, that their military is INFERIOR to a group of military wash outs. They don''t cut through the red tape - they don''t follow the rules of engagement that the US military is bound by. That''s funny though, considering that this whole war was started by launching a war based strictly on aggression.

Why do the generals "prefer" to have Blackwater escorts? The generals are escorted by OUR military, as are our politicians when they go over there. Did you see John McCain in the Baghdad market last year telling us how safe it was with 4 armed helicopters, 4 tanks, 2 APC''s, and 200 AMERICAN troops around him? Those weren''t Blackwater - those were America''s military.

Blackwater murders innocent people, they protect the Iraqi politicians, they ignore all the military rules, and they make 5 times what our troops make over there.

I''ll give you this point - let''s pull out ALL American military and their respective equipment, and let Blackwater take over operations. If they are so much better than our military as you claim, then they should be able to win the war in a few weeks.

[naucoming4u]

The wealthy elites of America are on a never ending quest, driven by greed, who live by the following:

"Company before country, profit before people."


The end result... the end of America.

[feelfree1]

DSR57,

Re: "You''re the one that is Stupid, It''''s clear you have NO IDEA what they do there."

We know that they mass-murder civilians for money, and claim to be beyond the reach of any law, under the guise of illegal, aggressive war, for starters. We know that they are shaming and looting our country.

Is the verdict still out on Blackwater?

I think not.

These guys are kind of like a prostitute, a really *** one, but way more dangerous and criminal.

[dsr57]

They aren''''t covert operations stupid.

They''''re security guards, protecting diplomats and Iraqi government officials. This job USED to be carried out by Marines, but if it''''s carried out by the Marines, then the Bush regime can''''t give out billions of tax payer dollars to preferred companies and corporations.

Wait until after January next year - I can''''t even imagine how big the kick back checks are going to be. And once Cheney and Bush are out of office, they won''''t have to release their financial statements anymore, so we''''ll never, ever be able to find out about it.

Posted by hungry1968
----------------------------------------------------

You''re the one that is Stupid, It''s clear you have NO IDEA what they do there. I''ve had my a$$ saved by a blackwater team also. Blackwater does everything from PSD to Intel gathering.

Just like Swwils said, they are Necessary because they can cut through a big deal of red tape to get regular military out of jamms. Why do you think that Generals prefer to use blackwater escorts rather than military escorts? It''s no that hard to figure out.

[feelfree1]

Thank you Mitch.

###

Down with FASCISM!!!

Down with the New World Odor!!!!

[feelfree1]

Down with pirates!

Down with Blackwater/Dyncorp/Triple canopy/KBR!

Down with the regime!!!!!!

Enough is enough!!!