Oct 18, 2007 2:18 am US/Eastern
Blackwater Likely To Be Out Of Iraq
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
A State Department review of private security guards for diplomats
in Iraq is unlikely to recommend firing Blackwater USA over the deaths
of 17 Iraqis last month, but the company probably is on the way out of
that job, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
Blackwater's work escorting U.S. diplomats outside the protected
Green Zone in Baghdad expires in May, one official said, and other
officials told The Associated Press they expect the North Carolina
company will not continue to work for the embassy after that.
It is likely that Blackwater does not compete to keep the job, one
official said. Blackwater probably will not be fired outright or even
"eased out," the official added, but there is a mutual feeling that the
Sept. 16 shooting deaths mean the company cannot continue in its
current role.
State Department officials spoke on condition of anonymity because
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has not yet considered results of
an internal review of Blackwater and the other two companies that
protect diplomats in Iraq.
Department officials said no decisions have been made and that Rice has the final say.
They gave admiring appraisals of Blackwater's work overall, noting
that no diplomats have died while riding in Blackwater's heavily armed
convoys.
President Bush did not directly answer a question Wednesday about
whether he was satisfied with the performance of security contractors.
"I will be anxious to see the analysis of their performance," Bush
said at a news conference. "There's a lot of studying going on, both
inside Iraq and out, as to whether or not people violated rules of
engagement. I will tell you, though, that a firm like Blackwater
provides a valuable service. They protect people's lives, and I
appreciate the sacrifice and the service that the Blackwater employees
have made."
A panel that Rice appointed to review the contractors will report to
her as soon as Friday, and Rice's announcement of what to do next
probably will follow quickly, one department official said.
A transition from Blackwater would take time.
The company employs more people and has more equipment than its two
competitors in Iraq. Any outside company that might replace Blackwater
would have to provide trained U.S. citizens, with security clearances.
That may mean that if Blackwater leaves, competitors hired some of its
workers.
Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said, "We will follow the lead
of our client. If they want us to stay we will stay. If they want us to
leave we will do so."
The team of State Department management experts and outside
specialists is expected to recommend greater oversight of security
contractors and better coordination of their work with military forces,
two officials said.
It is practically impossible to eliminate private security
contractors altogether in Iraq because there are not enough department
security agents to fill the gap, officials said.
Blackwater and two other contractors share a $571 million annual
contract to protect diplomats and others in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel
and other countries. The Iraq share of the contract accounts for about
$520 million, although not all goes to Blackwater.
The review also looked at the rules of engagement for department
escorts and whether there is anything unique to Blackwater's training,
operations and corporate culture that made mistakes in judgment or
civilian deaths more likely.
It is not clear whether the review will extend to consideration of
an idea floated by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to consolidate
management of security contractors that work in Iraq for numerous U.S.
government agencies, including the Pentagon and State Department.
Gates discussed the idea with Rice during a joint meeting last week in Moscow, a State Department official said.
Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Gates thinks "it is worth
exploring" whether one chain of command should oversee all private
security contractors in Iraq. Morrell said it would be going too far to
say that Gates is advocating this approach.
In the Sept. 16 incident, Iraqi officials say Blackwater guards
opened fire without provocation in Baghdad's Nisoor Square and killed
17 Iraqi citizens.
The Iraqi government is demanding that Blackwater be expelled from the country within six months.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
