EXCLUSIVE: New deal for Blackwater

[kpete]

Source: Washington Times

EXCLUSIVE: New deal for Blackwater
Jim McElhatton (Contact)
Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Days after the Baghdad government decided it no longer wanted the company then known as Blackwater in Iraq, the State Department signed a $22.2 million deal in February to keep the embattled contractor working there through most of the summer, contract records show.

The decision keeps Blackwater - since renamed Xe - in Iraq months longer than anyone has suggested publicly, while raising questions about why the U.S. would pay a contractor for work in Iraq if it may not be able to operate there legally.

The State Department has been under pressure from Blackwater critics, including several in Congress, not to renew the company's contracts in Iraq. Much of the concern stems from a 2007 incident that left 14 Iraqi civilians dead and six former Blackwater guards facing manslaughter charges. One of the guards pleaded guilty, but the company was accused of no wrongdoing in the incident.

In late January, the Iraqi government said it would not renew Blackwater's operating license and that the company would have to leave as soon as a joint Iraqi-U.S. committee completes its work on guidelines for the operation of private security companies. State Department officials said they would honor the decision.

Read more: http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/17/new-deal-for-blackwater-bucks-decision-by-iraq/

[YOY]

1. Fuck.

Somebody at the State Department had better had a good excuse for using these mercenary fucks for anything but bullet catching.

Then again 22.2 Million is not a huge amount...it is about 22.2 million too much though.

[cali]

2. This exclusive comes from the Moonie wingnut Times

I think I'll wait to find out more.

[Ian David]

5. Oh. I missed that. n/t

[burythehatchet]

3. The majority of corporate media sucks. Why do we post stuff from sources we KNOW are

the worst of the worst?

[MADem]

7. They buried the key facts way down in the story.

State Department spokesman Noel Clay said the contract modification involves aviation services. "The place of performance is Iraq, but it is totally different than the Baghdad one that expires in May," he said.

....The State Department has given clear indications for months that the Iraqi government might not be renewing Blackwater's operating license.

...Mr. Geisel said his office did "advise the department that they better start planning for when the Iraqis say this is it with Blackwater. And without getting into diplomatic negotiations, I believe the department is planning for this eventuality, which is clearly not too far off."


Basically, they're on the way out, even with the renaming bullshit. They're still there because they've got some contracts that are paid up through May, and they have specific expertise in certain areas. That's about the extent of it.

[Ian David]

4. We should be treating Blackwater / Xe the same way we treated The Michigan Militia. n/t

[Mari333]

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/132171/president_obama,_why_did_you_pay_blackwater_$70_million_in_february/

[babylonsister]

6. U.S. Moves to Replace (Blackwater) Contractors in Iraq

Who to believe, WATimes or WaPo? They're both suspect sources imo. :shrug:

U.S. Moves to Replace Contractors in Iraq
Blackwater Losing Security Role; Other Jobs Being Converted to Public Sector

By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 17, 2009; A07


The decision not to renew Blackwater Worldwide's security contract in Iraq when it expires in early May has left the State Department scrambling to fill a protection gap for U.S. diplomats and civilian officials there.

Two other U.S. security contractors with a far smaller presence in Iraq -- DynCorp International and Triple Canopy -- have been asked to replace the ousted company, according to State Department and company officials. To meet time, training and security-clearance pressures, officials said, one or both of the firms are likely to undertake the task by rehiring some personnel now working for Blackwater.

The Iraqi government refused to issue Blackwater a license to perform security services after a 2007 incident in which company guards on a diplomatic protection mission shot and killed 17 civilians in Baghdad. U.S. prosecutors have indicted five of the guards on charges of manslaughter. Blackwater (which recently changed its name to Xe) still has State Department contracts for air transport in Iraq and security for U.S. diplomats in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, fallout from the shootings -- including a new U.S.-Iraq status-of-forces agreement that places contractors under Iraqi legal jurisdiction for the first time -- has led both the Pentagon and the State Department to create new categories of "full-time, temporary" federal jobs to handle some tasks currently done by contractors.

The Blackwater incident helped fuel a wider debate on the overall cost and conduct of contractors. President Obama last week ordered a government-wide review of federal contracting procedures, saying that his administration "will stop outsourcing services that should be performed by the government."

Nowhere has that outsourcing been larger or more contentious than in Iraq, where contractors have long outnumbered the U.S. military presence, even at its peak of 160,000 troops.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/16/AR2009031602720_pf.html

[Mari333]

8. heres to getting all the contractors out of Iraq forever

or shall I say, hired mercenaries on the taxpayers dime.