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Blackwater Operated Outside U.S. Military Rules

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By STEVE FAINARU, The Washington Post

Published: September 21, 2007

WASHINGTON - Blackwater USA, the private security company involved in a Baghdad shootout last weekend, operated under State Department authority that exempted the company from U.S. military regulations governing other security firms, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials and industry representatives.

In recent months, the State Department's oversight of Blackwater became a central issue as Iraqi authorities repeatedly clashed with the company over its aggressive street tactics.

Many U.S. and Iraqi officials and industry representatives said they came to see Blackwater as untouchable, protected by State Department officials who defended the company at every turn. Blackwater employees protect the U.S. ambassador and other diplomats in Iraq.

Blackwater 'has a client who will support them no matter what they do,' said H.C. Lawrence Smith, deputy director of the Private Security Company Association of Iraq, an advocacy organization in Baghdad that is funded by security firms, including Blackwater.

The State Department allowed Blackwater's armed teams to operate without an Interior Ministry license, even after the requirement became standard in Defense Department security contracts.

The company was not subject to the military's restrictions on the use of offensive weapons, its procedures for reporting shooting incidents or a central tracking system that allows commanders to monitor the movements of security companies on the battlefield.

'The Iraqis despised them because they were untouchable,' said Matthew Degn, who recently returned from Baghdad after serving as senior U.S. to the Interior Ministry. 'They were above the law.'

A Blackwater spokeswoman referred questions to the State Department about how it is regulated.

Richard Griffin, assistant secretary for diplomatic security, said in a statement that State Department security contractors routinely are briefed on rules for the use of force. When a shooting incident occurs, he said, it is reviewed by the U.S. Embassy's Regional Security Office. 'Anyone who fails to live up to our standards will be removed from the contract,' Griffin said.

This week, the State Department announced that it will form a joint commission with the Iraqi government to examine issues related to private security.

In Baghdad, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki promised that Blackwater guards will be held accountable for recent shootings he called 'a big crime.' Iraqi officials have threatened to expel Blackwater from Iraq over the incident, in which 11 Iraqis were killed Sunday.

Interior Ministry officials say they have received information on six previous cases in which Blackwater guards opened fire on civilians, more than any other company.

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