Archive for February 3rd, 2009

Blackwater Under Review In Afghanistan

Feb 3, 2009 Industry News

By Sara A. Carter, The Washington Times

The State Department’s inspector general will review services provided by Blackwater Worldwide in Afghanistan, only weeks after the Baghdad government canceled the embattled security company’s contract in Iraq.

Inspector General Harold W. Geisel told the Commission on Wartime Contracting on Monday that his department will begin the performance review in March.

“We are reviewing Blackwater,” Mr. Geisel said.

The commission was established in 2008 with a mandate to provide two annual reports to Congress about corruption and other irregularities involving wartime contractors and related issues. An interim report is due to Congress by May 1.

The seven-member commission is bipartisan and independent. It hopes to prevent the sorts of problems that have plagued U.S. contracting in Iraq from occurring in Afghanistan, according to its Web site. The panel can refer any violation or potential violation of law to the attorney general.

Blackwater drew intense criticism after its guards opened fire in a crowded square in Baghdad on Sept. 16, 2007, killing at least 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians.

A Blackwater security officer has pleaded guilty in U.S. court to voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter. Five other security personnel are awaiting trial next year.

Mr. Geisel told the panel that he was not surprised by Blackwater’s expulsion from Iraq. He “had every reason to believe that [the State Department's] Diplomatic Security was planning for a forced departure from Blackwater in Iraq” prior to the Iraqi government’s announcement.

He added, however, that previous audits conducted on Blackwater showed that the company had an overall “good” performance apart from the incident in Baghdad’s Nusoor Square.

The upcoming review of Blackwater’s conduct in Afghanistan was requested by the Office of Inspector General’s new Middle East Regional Office, which serves as the principal planning and coordinating office for operations from North Africa to the Middle East and Central/South Asia. The office, which has headquarters in Amman, Jordan, called for the review of the security firm last month.

“The fact that adverse action is taken against Blackwater in one country does not mean adverse action will be taken against them in another country,” a State Department official told The Washington Times. He asked not to be named, citing the sensitivity of the subject.

A Blackwater spokeswoman, Anne Tyrrell, said she would not comment on the pending review but that the security company, based in Moyock, N.C., would continue to provide services “at the behest of the U.S. government and will continue to do so for as long as our services are required.”

The company has between 1,000 and 3,000 people abroad at any given time, mostly providing security for U.S. diplomats as well as training and aviation support, Miss Tyrrell said. She would not give the number of employees in Afghanistan but indicated that it was fewer than 1,000. It was not clear who might replace them if they are asked to leave.

The fate of Blackwater’s contract in Afghanistan will depend on the findings of the acquisitions office within the State Department as well as recommendations from the FBI and the U.S. ambassadors to Afghanistan and Iraq, the State Department official told The Times.

The Defense Department’s principal deputy inspector general, Thomas F. Gimble, and U.S. Agency for International Development Inspector General Donald A. Gambatesa also testified Monday before the panel. They said serious problems plague U.S. contracting in both Afghanistan and Iraq because of corruption, inadequate resources and lack of oversight.

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UN peacekeepers up against a tall order in Congo

Feb 3, 2009 Dem Rep Congo

By Alan Doss - Boston Globe

THE CURRENT crisis in the eastern Congo is our highest priority, and the protection of civilians there is our peacekeepers’ most important task. A large number of peacekeepers with the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) are stationed in the Kivu provinces, but even so there are barely 10 peacekeepers on the ground for every 10,000 civilians. Linda Mason has noted some of the limitations this imposes in her Jan. 28 op-ed “A stronger UN role is needed in the Congo.”

In November, the UN Security Council approved the deployment of 3,000 additional military and police personnel for MONUC, and on Dec. 22 it reinforced our authority to use “all necessary means,” including force, to prevent violence from any quarter against civilians and UN staff and humanitarian personnel.

I am urging the early arrival of reinforcements, which will help us provide better protection to the people of the Kivus. But we must be realistic. Even with the much-needed reinforcements, we will not be able to promise security for everyone everywhere in a jungle region that is larger than California with few and often impassable roads. The best protection for all is to end the conflict as quickly as possible.

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Pentagon letter undercuts DOJ in Blackwater case

Feb 3, 2009 Industry News

By MATT APUZZO – Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon wrote in 2007 that Blackwater Worldwide contractors in Iraq are not subject to U.S. civilian criminal laws. That position undercuts the Justice Department’s effort to prosecute five Blackwater security guards for manslaughter.

The letter highlights the uncertainty prosecutors face in bringing charges against contractors involved in a 2006 shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead in a Baghdad intersection. Iraqis are closely watching how the U.S. responds to the shooting, which inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad.

Defense contractors can be prosecuted in U.S. courts for crimes committed overseas, but because of a legal loophole, contractors for other agencies can only face charges if their work assignments supported the Defense Department.

Blackwater works for the State Department. The largest security contractor in Iraq, the company guards U.S. diplomats. Five of its guards face manslaughter and weapons charges for a shooting that prosecutors say was an unprovoked attack on civilians.

Federal prosecutors in Washington are trying to convince a judge he should hear the case. They say the Defense Department mission and the State Department mission are essentially the same: creating a stable, self-governing Iraq.

When Blackwater guards protected State Department diplomats, prosecutors told a federal judge last week, they were supporting the Defense Department’s mission.

But in December 2007, the Defense Department disagreed. In a letter to Rep. David Price, D-N.C., Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England explained how the military handles allegations against contractors.

“I am informed that the Blackwater USA private security contractors working under a Department of State contract were not engaged in employment in support of the DoD mission,” England wrote in the letter, a copy of which was provided by Price’s office.

Thus, England wrote, federal prosecutors don’t have jurisdiction to charge the Blackwater guards. He was writing in response to a letter from Price, who has long maintained that the loophole in the law should be closed.

Defense Department spokesman Chris Isleib said Monday that the views in the letter remain the view of the Defense Department.

Whether Blackwater is covered by what’s known as the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act remains a matter of some debate. Blackwater founder and chief executive Erik Prince said in an interview with The Associated Press that he believed his security guards were covered and could be prosecuted in criminal courts.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina will decide whether the case should go forward. The five guards have asked that the case be thrown out.

The State Department said Friday it would not renew Blackwater’s contract to protect American diplomats in Iraq when it expires in May. The announcement followed the Iraqi government’s decision to deny Blackwater a license to operate.

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