[Peace-discuss] Re Blackwater: Rice must not have seen movie: "No End In Sight"

[Jan & Durl Kruse]

  US Looks Into Blackwater Incident

  By MATTHEW LEE –  1 hour ago

  WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department moved quickly Monday to tamp 
down anger and possible repercussions after the alleged killing of 
eight Iraqi civilians in an incident involving a private security firm 
hired to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Iraqi Prime Minister 
Nouri al-Maliki to express regret at the loss of life and promise that 
the results of an internal investigation into Sunday's incident would 
be shared with the government in Baghdad.

"She told the Prime Minister that we were investigating this incident 
and wanted to gain a full understanding of what happened," said deputy 
State Department spokesman Tom Casey. "She reiterated that the United 
States does everything it can to avoid such loss of life, in contrast 
to the enemies of the Iraqi people who deliberately target civilians."

Rice and al-Maliki "agreed on the importance of working closely 
together in the time ahead on a transparent investigation," Casey 
added.

The 15-minute call came after Iraq's Interior Ministry said it had 
revoked the license of the firm, Blackwater USA, to work in the 
country, a move that could severely curtail the ability of U.S. 
diplomats to operate outside the heavily fortified "Green Zone."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington had not been 
informed of the cancellation of the license after the latest in a 
series of incidents in which private contractors working for the United 
States have been accused of misdeeds.

There were conflicting accounts of the incident, in which, according to 
the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, a diplomatic convoy was attacked in 
Baghdad, causing security guards to open fire.

While Iraqis blamed Blackwater for the civilian deaths, the company 
said it acted appropriately "in response to a hostile attack" by armed 
insurgents.

McCormack cautioned against jumping to conclusions, saying: "There was 
a loss of life here. There was a firefight. We believe some innocent 
life was lost. Nobody wants to see that. But I can't tell you who was 
responsible for that."

McCormack had no information about any Iraqi laws Blackwater or its 
employees might be subject to, the chain of command its employees 
answer to, or details of the company's contract with the State 
Department.

He said the probe is being conducted by the State Department's Bureau 
of Diplomatic Security with assistance from the U.S.-led coalition in 
Iraq.

Blackwater, based in Moyock, N.C., is one of three private security 
firms employed by the department to protect its personnel in Iraq. The 
two others, 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.

The moves by the Bush administration appeared unlikely to forestall a 
congressional inquiry into not just Sunday's events but the 
government's increasing reliance on the use of contractors in Iraq.

"The controversy over Blackwater is an unfortunate demonstration of the 
perils of excessive reliance on private security contractors," said 
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight Committee. 
He said his committee would hold hearings to determine "what has 
happened and the extent of the damage to U.S. security interests."

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who has long questioned Blackwater's role 
in Iraq, said the shootings will likely hurt the U.S. mission to 
rebuild Iraq and said Congress should consider regulating the industry.

"Under what law are these individuals operating, and do the Iraqis have 
the authority to prosecute people for the crimes they're accused of 
committing? It's a very murky area," said Schakowsky. "It's still not 
really clear whether they are eligible for prosecution from the Iraqi 
government.

"These are the kinds of things that are very provocative that do impact 
our mission. It's unclear what exactly they're allowed to do. It's a 
very dangerous and explosive situation that's created by these armed 
private security contractors — and particularly Blackwater."

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., the senior Republican on the Senate Armed 
Services Committee, struck a less contentious tone, noting the Iraqi 
government relies heavily on contractors to provide services.

"Having visited now 10 times in Iraq, most recently just two or three 
weeks ago, I know full well the dependence of that nation upon 
contractors — contractors who are trying to refurbish their seriously 
deteriorated oil production facilities, their power lines, their fresh 
water," Warner said.

"Any number of activities today in Iraq are performed by rather a 
courageous band of civilians who have gone over there and assumed the 
same extraordinary risks that men and women in the armed forces are 
experiencing every day," he told reporters on the sidelines of a 
conference in Williamsburg, Va.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6929368,00.html

  Associated Press writers Sonja Barisic in Williamsburg, Va., and Mike 
Baker in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.
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