Blackwater gets new Iraq contract from U.S.


MSNBC News Services
updated 1 hour, 17 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department has agreed to renew Blackwater USA's license to protect diplomats in Baghdad for one year while the FBI investigates a 2007 incident in which the company's guards are accused of killing 17 Iraqis.


Assistant Secretary of State Gregory Starr told reporters Friday that because the shooting of Baghdad civilians is still under investigation, there is no reason not to renew the contract when it comes due in May. Blackwater has a five-year deal to provide personal protection for diplomats, which is reauthorized each year.


Iraqis were outraged over a Sept. 16 shooting in which 17 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.

A measure issued by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority in 2004 prevents foreign security contractors from being prosecuted in local courts. It is unclear whether they could be prosecuted under U.S. law.


After the incident, the State Department changed several elements of the contract, including tightening up rules of engagement, putting cameras on all convoys and having a diplomatic security officer ride along with the detail.


Starr said Blackwater was operating with the agreement of the Iraqi government and he did not know when the FBI's investigation of the incident would be completed.


Asked whether the Blackwater Baghdad deal could be scrapped if the FBI investigation found wrongdoing, Starr said: "We can terminate contracts at the convenience of the government if we have to."
"I am not going to prejudge what the FBI is going to find in their investigation. I think really, it is complex. I think that the U.S. government needs protective services," he said.


"Essentially I think they do a very good job. The September 16th incident was a tragedy. It has to be investigated carefully," he added.
"I am concerned (about the Iraqi response) and yet at the same time there have only been about three incidents, three escalation of force incidents, since Sept. 16," he said.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23961119/




Um... All of the complaints about Blackwater shooting up innocent people, and all the investigations into them for their insane operations in Iraq, and they get a renewed contract???

They know where to send their donations.

anyone find the "subtle" hints in JEricho between Ravenwood and Blackwater. Think of the name....Ravens are black, and woods, nature, water....

Ravenwood = Blackwater as Jennings & Rall = Halliburton/KBR

I very much enjoyed the timely and "subtle" references between both. Either that, or these elements of war are just so commonplace and human that they're too easily reflected through art. But that's depressing, I'd rather believe it was intentional.

They know where to send their donations.Yeah they do (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g3QAZmTtl6_UvJ44D8MkqL526Y3wD8VQNSV01).
The study found that more Republicans than Democrats hold stock in defense companies, but that the Democrats who are invested had significantly more money at stake. In 2006, for example, Democrats held at least $3.7 million in military-related investments, compared to Republican investments of $577,500.
...
Kerry, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is identified as earning the most — at least $2.6 million between 2004 and 2006 from investments worth up to $38.2 million.

Iraqi official: Blackwater staying on 'is bad news'


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. State Department's renewal of Blackwater's contract to provide security in Iraq "is bad news," an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said.
http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/WORLD/meast/04/05/iraq.blackwater/art.blackwater.getty.jpgA woman passes a burned car in Baghdad where Blackwater guards killed 17 in September.

http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/base_skins/baseplate/corner_wire_BL.gif

Blackwater guards shot and killed 17 people, including women and children, last September, prompting an outcry and protest from Iraqi officials.
"This is bad news," al-Maliki adviser Sami al-Askari said. "I personally am not happy with this, especially because they have committed acts of aggression, killed Iraqis, and this has not been resolved yet positively for families of victims."

About 25,000 private contractors from three companies protect diplomats, reconstruction workers and government officials in Iraq. Under a provision put into place in the early days of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, security contractors have immunity from Iraqi law.
Al-Askari said he would push for the Iraqi government to contest the contract renewal.

"The U.S. government has the right to choose what contractors it chooses, but Iraq should also have the right to allow or ban certain contractors from operating on its territory," he said.
Al-Askari said there is a general mood of displeasure within the Iraqi government because of the contract renewal.

Another al-Maliki adviser, Sadeq al-Rikabi, said the contract would be temporary since the U.N. mandate under which the United States operates in Iraq (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Iraq) will expire at the end of the year, to be replaced by a bilateral agreement under negotiation.
"No doubt, the role of the U.S. military and contractors will be agreed on" in the new arrangement, al-Rikabi said.
Blackwater is one of three contractors working under a "task order" to provide security services in Iraq. The other two are Triple Canopy and DynCorp.

The State Department contract must be renewed every year and is up for renewal next month. In effect, Blackwater's contract will roll over for another year, said Greg Starr, who heads the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service.
Starr said new rules and an agreement between the State Department and U.S. military have improved coordination and the supervision of contractors.
Blackwater must work under the rules of the Iraqi government, he said.

The FBI (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation) is in charge of the U.S. investigation of the September incident, in which survivors and victims' family members contend Blackwater guards started shooting without provocation.
Blackwater says its employees were returning fire after coming under attack from armed insurgents, but an Iraqi investigation called the killings "premeditated murder."

Starr said the U.S. government, in particular U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, will take a close look at the FBI's investigation report, "and then we decide whether it is consistent with U.S. goals and policies to continue the contract."
It will be important to see whether the FBI finds Blackwater itself criminally responsible, or merely a few of its employees, Starr said.

"We can terminate contracts for the convenience of the government if we have to," he said. "I am not going to prejudge what the FBI is going find in its investigation. It's complex. I think the U.S. government needs protective services."
Starr said only three additional "escalation of forces" incidents have happened since the new rules of engagement were set up.

"I am up to this point very satisfied with the changes we have seen," he said. "Essentially, I think they do a very good job. The September 16 incident was a tragedy; it needs to be investigated carefully. The results of that will come out eventually and we will decide how we will proceed."

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell declined to comment, referring all questions to the State Department

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/04/05/iraq.blackwater/index.html

Blackwater is all around bad news for everybody. A disgusting stain on our nation.

They need to be reigned in as they have a high potential of turning into our own version of the Mehdi Army. The power they wield and can potentially wield is tremendous and too hard for most to resist abusing.

Starr said the U.S. government, in particular U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, will take a close look at the FBI's investigation report, "and then we decide whether it is consistent with U.S. goals and policies to continue the contract."
It will be important to see whether the FBI finds Blackwater itself criminally responsible, or merely a few of its employees, Starr said.

This is code for...."It entirely depends on how much they will contribute to various senatorial and congressional campaigns along with them continuing the various million dollar consultant contracts from those senators and members of congress' children or spouses that they use"