Blackwater's Iraq Contract Renewed Despite Investigations

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.

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.

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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.

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Associated Press writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.

Comments

[jungfookid]

That's weird. I remember hearing Jeremy Scahill on Moyers talking about how there was an "understanding" Blackwater would not be getting a new contract after that big shooting in Baghdad (among many many other things). I guess the admin just said screw it and brought them back in again. They're not even trying to hide their shame anymore.

[VivaZapata]

reward for a job well blundered

[groucho]

Well why not? They are protecting our freedom by torturing and raping the "enemy" and their female counterparts.

[dora rice]

you can't reason with leftist bozos.....

[debwarot]

Nor, it would seem, can one reason with dora.

[daingel]

Courtesy of John Yoo.

[Blurp]

Yay Thugs! Hired Killers!

[dora rice]

THE ONLY REASON WHY THEY ARE THUGS IN YOUR EYES , BECAUSE THEY MAKE A DAMM GOOD SALARY. YOU PROBABLY ONE OF THISE SLOBS WHO BUYS A TV, FRIDGE, WASHER, IN THE CHEAPEST PLACE YOU CAN FIND. CHEAP GETS WHAT CHEAP IS. BLACKWATER MEN LAY THEIR
LIFE ON THE LINE EVERY DAY AND WORK BEHIND THE SCENE TO MAKE IT EASIER ON THE ARMY. I AM AN OLD LADY AND FOREIGN BORN. SO GET SOME GUTS IN YOUR PANTS AND QUIT WHAILING AND WHIMPERING. A BLACKWATER MAN CAN SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT FROM 1600 YARDS. SO SHUT UP AND CRAWL BACK INTO YOUR TRAILER.

[socks1]

No, the reason I object to a mercinary army, is that it is not under the control of the regular army and has no loyalty to anyone but the one that pays their checks, not Congress or the American people, in any way.

A private army for hire is dangerous to anyone not committed to the same cause of the corporation that funds them. And I do not believe that ordinary citizens---that have to abide by the laws of the land--- should be subjugated to a corporate army that does not have to obey the laws of the land.

[catharsis271828]

Hey dora, there are a lot of veterans like me who know what kind of mercenary thugs these Blackwater idiots really are. They don't even do any real fighting over there, they just spray and pray everytime they have a round go off over their heads and then they call real soldiers to save their ass. I've got news for you, if your blackwater heros ever want to help your buddy "W" or Cheney with a coup tell them to go ahead and try it. For every mercenary thug out running around there are a hundred vets like me who would love to show them some real combat. They will find out the hard way what happens when you try and take away the liberties from regular working class american veterans just like the Hession mercenaries did at Princeton and Trenton. By the way dora, get your finger off the caps lock.

[glesslib]

So, Dora, which is it? Do you work for Blackwater or do you have a relative working for it? Either way, if I were you , I would be very worried. After wars are over, new administrations start picking through the rubble and prosecuting the murderers and maimers. Trust me on this one.

[daingel]

Why do you hate our troops?

[groucho]

What in the world makes you think because they get an expensive fridge they are great people? That has got to be one of the worst non sequiturs all day. AND IN CAPS. My feeling is if you feel discussion and oversight is not a function of this citizenry, you should go somewhere you will feel more aligned with the people. This is what democracy is, you don't get to choose which parts of that system you will adhere to How about reading over the Constitution and Bill of Rights and get back to me?

[calirighty]

Some of you people need to do a little research before you go popping off about something you know NOTHING about. First of all Blackwater USA was founded in the early 1990's during the CLINTON administration. Their first contract was given to them during the CLINTON administration. Second of all, Blackwater is NOT employed by the U.S. Military. It is employed by the U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT. The U.S. State Department has it's OWN annual budget and is NOT to be confused with military spending. Finally, Blackwater is NOT just a mercenary company. They are a private security company. I heard NO ONE complaining about Blackwater security details guarding Bourbon St. following Katrina. I also hear NO ONE complaining about Blackwater developing protocols for security in the event of a major California earthquake. People keep complaining about the "pay difference" between Blackwater employees and regular military. Well guess what? Blackwater employees are NOT former military. These people were all former cream of the crop special forces operators. They are all experts in their various specialties. Not only that Blackwater weapons and equipment are NOT provided by the U.S. Government. That us why there is a difference in pay. So if you people want to be critical that's fine. But at least be educated in the subject you are complaining about.

[aristippe]

"Blackwater is NOT just a mercenary company." It's a mercenary company and more!

[totalliberal]

Wow, expert killers. I'm so proud of how my taxes are being spent. Oh, and buy the way Duke we pay for the State Department as well.

And no I don't want these 'skin-heads' guarding anything in my country, dolt.

[peacekitten]

take your own advice please, and get educated about such a shady operation as blackwater.

as for confusing sectors of government spending, the neocons have been the masters of it. take a look at social security, the railroad pensions, any one of a number of social programs that got hijacked along the way for other things. this not only violates the law, but leaves a lot of people treading on very thin ice.

and if you didn't hear anyone complaining about blackwater during katrina, you weren't listening very hard. when the company was founded is irrelevant. how they are operating now, funded by the u.s. taxpayer, is very relevant. if their operations were not so nefarious, then the issue of having congress grant them letters of marque would never have been raised, not once but twice. i would remind you that such letters have not been issued by the *congress* (who alone has the power of oversight and the granting of such things) since the days of the civil war, and were issued by the confederate states government, not the government of the united states.

btw, do you think that such things as navy seals, members of delta force and other special ops units are not trained and funded by the military?

again, i suggest you take your own advice about getting educated on a subject.

[Amalek]

One of the factors that seems to be overlooked is that the government spends a fortune training these special forces to be the best fighters in the world. Then Blackwater comes along and offers to double or triple their pay if they will fight for the Republican party instead of the US Army Special Forces or the Marines or the Navy Seals. Blackwater is able to do that because the Republican party does not care how much they pay for the service.

And since they have recruited away all the talent, the Republican party can say they have to hire these mercenaries because the military is stretched too thin and no longer has the right skills - because those skills are now in Blackwater.

Clever folks, them neocons.

[donaldw6]

You do know that most of us are sick of Clinton too, right? But Blackwater didn't really come into its own until Bush and Cheney. And yes, quite a few people did protest the use of Blackwater in New Orleans, and in the California fires. They are mercenaries, and they are employed in such great numbers and at such great expense to all of us so that George didn't have to reinstate the draft.

"Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous, and if one holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor safe; for they are disunited, ambitious and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies; they have neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men, and destruction is deferred only so long as the attack is; for in peace one is robbed by them, and in war by the enemy … They are ready enough to be your soldiers whilst you do not make war, but if war comes they take themselves off or run from the foe; which I should have little trouble to prove, for the ruin of Italy has been caused by nothing else than by resting all her hopes for many years on mercenaries, and although they formerly made some display and appeared valiant among themselves, yet when foreigners came they showed what they were."

-- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

[VivaZapata]

you echoed my Blackwater thoughts verbally and exactly, and the quote from Machiavelli was perfect.

[Clinton]

Second that. Good use of Machiavelli. There's a nice biography just out, too.

[totalliberal]

Wonderful bunch of 'tards' representing our country. Lots of them are not even American but eastern Europeans.­.

Could Bushco have screwed up more?

[ROBOT8]

IF OUR TROOPS HAD THE EQUIPTMENT BLACKWATER DOES ..........­OH YEA! THE REAL PURPOSE OF INVADING IRAQ WAS TO FILL THE COFFERS OF BUSH, CHENEY , ROVE AND RUMSFELD'S FRIENDS...­..........­..........­..........­..........­.......sin­ce bush has been in office.the top 1% of americans earned 21% of american income, an increase of $750 million per household earning $1.2 trillion more this year alone..... while the bottom 50% of americans earned only 12% , meanwhile the middle class is now the working poor......­...... only once in american history has that happened before and at that was the period prior to the great depression. furthermore, america is the only industrialized nation without nationalized healthcare. the biggest lobbyist against nationalized healthcare is the pharmaceutical industry. america now has, more people in prison per capita than any other nation in the world, the biggest lobbyist for longer prison terms on non-violent crimes is the prison industry itself.. generating up t0 $50000 per inmat

[calirighty]

So everyone should not make money because you can't make enough? My wife and I live just fine off of less than $100, 000 year. Why are you so jealous about what others make? Why don't you do something to improve your situation instead of blaming the rich? Yes, the top 1% make 21%. But they also pay 41% of ALL taxes. You don't seem to have a problem with that, now do you?

[Stretchumall]

This After what they did?

http://www.newsweek.com/id/42487

Then, once was not enough!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/world/middleeast/10blackwater.html?pagewanted=print

Let's just Reward them with More Money?

[aristippe]

No oversight. None. Nothing.

[Raisean]

This saddens me... I just don't know what to say at this point...

[huffhuffpass]

Blackwater is better equipped and better paid than our brave young men and women in uniform, what a joke our government is! Politicians all day long praise what a fine job our service people do, but wouldn't use them to protect them in a battlefield? Pull our troops out, bring them home, and let Blackwater remain since they have the resources and investment to do so OR pay our troops who do more risking their lives the same wage as these pirates!!!!!!!!!!! Never thought I'd say this but I'm starting to think this DRAFT thing isn't such a bad idea!!!!!!!!!!

[karela]

They don't get the same pay. Blackwater mercenaries get paid 10 to 20 times more then our sons and daughters. Blackwater guards VIPs and our kids get blown up in roadside bombs.----­----------­-
Also murder suspects are held without bond. Only in a Bush administration would they get multi-billion dollar uncontested war contracts instead. These people are out of control and we're paying for them to committ atrocities in our name. This is the type of thing Obama is talking about when he says that this war in Iraq makes us less safe instead of more safe. If you give people more and more reasons to hate you and the only weapon they have is suicide bombers, then you get more of that. My heart is broken about 4,000 American dead soldiers. It is also broken about a million Iraqi men, women and children who have died in this war where no weapons of mass destruction ever existed. Already, more Iraqis have died then all the English in WWII. I don't think they're going to like us for that.

[SkylarG]

that doesn't even include the millions that had to leave their homes and flee to other countries for safety! Blackwater, in addition to the better pay and better assignments, get SAFER vehicles (you can buy one for yourself from blackwaters website if you have the money)... but for some reason our guys drive around in hummers that explode... But... without blackwater you wouldn't be able to buy a Blackwater Stuffed Teddy Bear to sit on your computer desk! and that would just be a shame

[calirighty]

Yeah. 100,000 is "about a million. You're smoking crack. Those numbers have been proven wrong time and time again.

[the964kid]

Mark Penn represents Black Water - and it looks like he's doing a better job for them then he is for Hillary.

[The5thW]

I like the competition between the KBR taxpayer-trained Shia who joined Sadr at the first shot, and the taxpayer- trained ex military death squads in Blackwater guarding the Emerald city. Too bad Arabic speakers are the only ones permitted to see this trillion dollar show we are funding. There has to be a huge market in betting on the outcome. At least the Romans let the plebs see the the battles they staged for their amusement.­. What was that about getting the terrorists where we want them? Seems like we built ourselves a billion dollar prison in the center of Baghdad for Republican cronies.

[nualak]

Would somebody please tell me who the heck the Blackwater "contract worker's" are protecting and why are there so many Diplomats in Iraq. I thought somebody said this was a war? Last time I looked in the dictionary, I believe it was called an invasion. We are being suckered again by the State Dept. and by Prince Eric of Orange - oops, (he does look like a Germanic prince, don't you think?) did I make a Freudian slip , I meant Eric Prince.

By the way, has the I.R.S started the audit yet, that you and I could expect, if we were hiring thousand's of worker's and not paying any payroll taxes, S. S. taxes, disability taxes, etc. because Eric Prince claims they are private contractor's, not employees, which according to the law cannot be classified as such for more than 6 month's.

Just how greedy is Eric Prince and our own government is complicit in letting this happen.

Where are John Conyers and Henry Waxman when we need them?

[JohnTalbutt]

The U.S. Marines protected our diplomats before Bush gave it to Blackwater to do it for ten times the costs. And anyone who would rather be protected by these cowboy than the U.S. Marines is a fool.

But worse than being just another boondogle for Bush buddies, we now have heavily armed mercenaries operating within the U.S.

I'm scared.

[peacekitten]

you should be scared. what happens when the next katrina hits? how many blackwater mercenaries will be out in the streets for "crowd control" instead of assisting in rescue efforts, which would be the job of the national guard, if they weren't in iraq.

there is little question that this company operates outside the purview of the law. what remains is how to bring down such a shady operation. it should be one of the many pressing issues at the top of the list for the next congress. the one we have now seems to be, with rare exceptions, reasonably hopeless when it comes to enforcing the law.

[Ramirez]

The Marines guard our embassies but they are not bodyguards and they do not protect our diplomats. That job has always been done by contract employees.

[marthlois]

AND LIKE OHIO, THE PEOPLE IN PENNSYLVANIA WILL BE SCREWED BECAUSE YOU ARE CHOOSING NOT TO COVER THE FACT THAT HILLARY'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER IS MAKING DEALS WITH COLUMBIA TO TAKE JOBS AWAY FROM AMERICANS. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THIS COUNTRY?

[JohnTalbutt]

And it is worth your life to be a union man or woman in Columbia. More than 2500 union workers have been killed in Columbia in the past ten years. Yes, they keep the labor cheap to take away our jobs and we help them do it.

http://unionreview.com/another-trade-union-leader-killed-colombia,-why-does-our-administration-insist-colombian-fta%3F