September 17, 2007
Blackwater Incident Highlights U.S. Dependence On Contractors
One question immediately comes to mind following the Iraqi government's decision to give U.S. contractor Blackwater USA the boot: Can they do that?
Iraq's government is pretty much sovereign in name only, despite what anyone says, because of its existential dependency on the United States. The U.S. relies heavily on contractors like the North Carolina-based Blackwater, which provides security for American diplomats there, including Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
If the U.S. wants those services continued, the trick will be to dissuade the Iraqis from revoking Blackwater's contract without appearing to have bullied them into a reversal.
Rice phoned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki today, the State Department said, in response to alarming reports that Blackwater contractors had fired on Iraqi civilians yesterday, killing eight and wounding 13. The department has launched an investigation in concert with Multinational Force-Iraq.
According to the U.S. Embassy, the Blackwater guards escorting a State Department convoy through western Baghdad opened fire only after they were fired upon and a car bomb exploded nearby. Local Iraqi TV accounts reported there was an exchange of rounds, but two Iraqi witnesses said the contractors took aim unprovoked, the Los Angeles Times reports.
A Washington Post employee who witnessed the incident reported that helicopters belonging to a security company began firing into the streets.
Rice conveyed to al-Maliki Washington's regret for the incident, and assured him that the State Department investigation would sniff out and punish any use of excessive force by the contractors.
"She has expressed her personal apologies and the apologies of the government of the United States. She confirmed that the United Sfates will take immediate actions to prevent such actions from happening again," read a statement from al-Maliki's office. Blackwater, one of the more prominent private contractors supporting the U.S. mission in Iraq, has still not publicly commented on the incident.
Earlier, the Interior Ministry pulled Blackwater's license to operate in Iraq. "It has been revoked," said ministry spokesman Abdul Kareem Khalaf. "They committed a crime. The judicial system will take action." It was unclear if the ministry reversed itself on the firm's operating license following Rice's phone call.
The frequently tense relationship with private contractors in Iraq is one borne of necessity. Some firms have taken advantage of that by bilking millions out of the U.S. government, particularly during the time of the Coalition Provisional Authority. (See Vanity Fair's rundown of contractor graft.) Last week, Crocker told lawmakers that the billions spent on contractors was justified because the U.S. government simply did not have adequate resources for its operations in Iraq.
The U.S. military has also become heavily dependent on contractors. During his confirmation hearings in January, Lt. Gen. David Petraeus told Congress that "tens of thousands" of security contractors would fill in the gaps as U.S. troop levels decrease over the next year. By some counts, 70 percent of all intelligence spending goes to private contractors, and 40 cents of every dollar of federal spending goes to contractors. (FedSpending.org keeps track of contract spending.)
U.S. service members in Iraq have complained about private security contractors, who aren't bound by the same rules and often aren't American, behaving like mercenaries. Many of the contractors are ex-military who are drawn to the work by the lucrative pay. At the same time, contractors have accused U.S. troops of detaining and abusing them without cause.
The Washington Post's Walter Pincus examined a military "help wanted" ad for contractors today. In 2005, FOX News' Liza Porteus examined tensions between U.S. troops and private contractors in Iraq in a four-part series.
Posted at 5:04 PM
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Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military
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