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For Blackwater USA, rules of engagement are gray

The security company was seen as being untouchable, officials say.

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

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

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 teams to operate without an Interior Ministry license, even after the requirement became standard language 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 American adviser to the Interior Ministry. Degn said Blackwater's armed Little Bird helicopters often buzzed the Interior Ministry's roof, "almost like they were saying, 'Look, we can fly anywhere we want.'"

A Blackwater spokeswoman referred questions about regulation to the State Department.

Richard Griffin, assistant secretary for diplomatic security, said in a statement that State Department security contractors 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.

Lawrence Peter, director of the Private Security Company Association of Iraq, said that while serving as an adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority he wrote the drafts of Memorandum 17, dated June 26, 2004, establishing guidelines for security companies.

The rules on use of force are introduced with the statement: "Nothing in these rules limits your inherent right to take action necessary to defend yourself."

A separate document, CPA Order 17, dated June 27, 2004, granted private security companies immunity from Iraqi law.

The CPA administrator, L. Paul Bremer, left Iraq the next day after transferring authority to an interim Iraqi government.

On the Net:

Blackwater USA: http://www.blackwaterusa.com

[Last modified September 20, 2007, 01:30:37]