Rice Orders Diplomatic Security Overhaul

An internal State Department review ordered by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recommends overhauling U.S. diplomatic security practices in Iraq after the Blackwater USA shooting incident in which 13 Iraqis were killed, a senior U.S. official said Friday.

Rice has ordered the recommendations be followed, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

It seems like a vote of no confidence in Blackwater, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. Rice ordered cameras installed on vehicles, recordings made of radio communications and a state department security agent assigned to every diplomatic convoy in Baghdad.

The State Department is no longer willing to take Blackwater's word.

"She wants to make sure there is a management feedback loop," McCormack told reporters.

The Pentagon is about to order all contracts be rewritten to give the military explicit legal powers over civilian contractors, reports Martin. Until now, it has been unclear who, if anybody, has legal jurisdiction.

One attorney who defended a contractor accused of shooting at Marines in Iraq said, "These guys think they're above the law -- and they're right."

The spokesman would not acknowledge that previous Blackwater and U.S. practices were lacking, but instead noted that under the new orders State will have better management, control and accounting of Blackwater. It's the largest of three private security firms that guard U.S. diplomats in Iraq.

Rice ordered the review of security procedures after the Sept. 16 incident in which Blackwater guards are accused of opening fire on Iraqi civilians while driving through a main square in Baghdad. Blackwater has contended that its guards came under fire first, but the Iraqi government and witnesses have disputed that, saying the private security guards opened fire for no reason.

The United States has not made conclusive findings about the incidents.

Prior to the new orders, diplomatic security agents only accompanied U.S. convoys on an "ad hoc" basis, according to McCormack. Now, at least one agent will be in every convoy, he said.

The State Department has counted 56 shooting incidents involving Blackwater guards in Iraq this year. All were being reviewed as part of the comprehensive inquiry that Rice ordered.

The review is being led by Patrick Kennedy, one of the most senior management experts in the U.S. Foreign Service. Rice also brought in outside experts, including: retired Gen. George Joulwan, a former NATO commander in Europe, Stapleton Roy, a retired veteran diplomat, and Eric Boswell, a former State Department and intelligence official.

Kennedy quoted Rice as saying she wanted his assessment to "be 360 (degrees), to be serious, and to be really probing."