Press Release
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jennifer Kohl |
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Calls on State Department to Start Holding Private Companies Accountable
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Washington, DC—At a hearing today before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform examining private military contracting, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), a senior member of the Committee, released the following statement:
“Blackwater and similar private security companies have created a shadow military of mercenary troops in Iraq that are not accountable to the U.S. government or to anyone else. The questionable and careless practices of these companies, which have in the past mistakenly been attributed to U.S. military, are endangering the credibility of our troops during a time when cooperation with the Iraqi people and government is critical for the success of our mission.
“We have received numerous reports showing controversial actions taken by the company—independent of the September 16 shooting incident in Baghdad that killed 11 Iraqi civilians, wounded 14 others, and resulted in efforts by the Iraqi government to ban the company from operating in Iraq—including attempting to cover-up a shooting that killed an innocent Iraqi bystander. Furthermore, despite a contract with the State Department permitting them to use force only for defensive purposes, Blackwater reports firing the first shot in over 80 percent of the 195 ‘escalation of force’ incidents. I find these reports very troubling.
“I am equally troubled by the vacuum of legal accountability in which these contractors are operating. This is perhaps best illustrated by the incident on Christmas Eve, 2006, when an intoxicated Blackwater contractor shot the Iraqi Vice President’s security guard—the equivalent of shooting a Secret Service member here—and walked away with nothing but a slap on the wrist: a small fine, the termination of his contract with the company, and a paid plane ticket home. Even more disturbing, when the U.S. military was blamed for the incident in the Iraqi press, Blackwater did nothing to clarify the record.
“We cannot afford such carelessness and misplaced blame, particularly when we are trying to win the trust and cooperation of the Iraqi people. This undermines the ability of the U.S. military to complete its mission in Iraq—a war it should not even have entered. While it is encouraging that the FBI will be investigating the September 16 incident, it is too little, too late. The State Department must step up its accountability efforts by setting standards by which these private contractors must operate and implementing just penalties for misconduct by contractors.”
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