Blackwater

Blackwater USA is a private military company founded in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark. It has alternatively been referred to as a security contractor or .a mercenary organization by numerous reports in the international mediaBlackwater is based in the U.S. state of North Carolina, where it operates a tactical training facility that it claims is the world's largest. The company trains more than 40,000 people a year, from all the military services and a variety of other agencies. The company markets itself as being "The most comprehensive professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations company in the world." Iraq involvement In 2003JBlackwater attained its first high-profile contract when it recieved a$21 million no-bid contract for guarding the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, Administrator L. PaulBrerngrJnJagJqiJjjnonths Since June 2DM7Blackwater has been paid more than $320 million out of a $1 billion, five-year State Department budget for the Worldwide Personal Protective Service, which protects U.S. officials and some foreign officials in conflict zones. In 2006, Blackwater won the remunerative contract to protect the U.S. embassy in Iraq, which is the largest American embassy in the world. It is estimated by the Pentagon and company representatives that there are 20,000 to 30,000 armed security contractors working in Iraq, and some estimates are as much as 100,000, though no official figures exist. For work in Iraq, Blackwater has drawn contractors from their international pool of professionals, a database containing "21,000 former Special Forces operatives, soldiers, and retired law enforcement agents," overall. Between 2005 and September 2007, Blackwater security staff was involved in 195 shooting incidents;_m 163 of those casissJilackwater _ personnel fired first. 25 members^fstafFhave been sacked forviolations of Blackwater's drug and alcohol policy and 28 more for we.ap_ons-related incidents". Incidents  On March 31, 2004, Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah attacked a convoy containing four American private military contractors from Blackwater USA who were conducting delivery for food caterers ESS. The four armed contractors were attacked and killed with grenades and small arms fire. Then-bodies were hung from a bridge crossing the Euphrates.In the fall of 2007, a congressional report found that Blackwater intentionally "delayed and impeded" investigations into the contractors' deaths.  In late May 2007, Blackwater contractors, "opened fire on the streets of Baghdad twice in two days... and one of the incidents provoked a standoff between the security contractors and Iraqi Interior Ministry commandos, U.S. and Iraqi officials said."[27] And on May 30, 2007, Blackwater employees shot an Iraqi civilian deemed to have been "driving too close" to a State Department convoy being escorted by Blackwater contractors.[40] [27] Killing of Vice-presidential guard On Christmas Eve, 2006, a security guard of the Iraqi Vice-president, Adel Abdul Mahdi, was killed by Andrew J. Moonen, a former employee of Blackwater USA, who is accused by the Iraq government of murdering him while drunk. Moonen left Iraq days after the killing, returning home to Seattle, Washington in the United States, where the United States Attorneys are currently investigating. [43] The United States State Department and Blackwater USA had attempted to keep his identity secret.[44] Baghdad shooting controversy On September 17, 2007, Blackwater's license to operate in Iraq was revoked, resulting from a highly contentious incident that occurred the previous day during which seventeen (initially reported as eleven) Iraqis were killed. [45] The fatalities occurred while a Blackwater Private Security Detail (PSD) was escorting a convoy of U.S. State Department vehicles en route to a meeting in western Baghdad with United States Agency for International Development officials. The US State Department has said that "innocent life was lost"[46] while U.S. military reports indicate Blackwater's guards opened fire without provocation and used excessive force.[47] The incident has sparked at least 5 investigations, with the FBI now saying it will begin a probe.[48] The US House has passed a bill that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to prosecution by U.S. courts and Senate Democratic leaders have said they plan to send similar legislation to President Bush as soon as possible.[49] Evacuation of Polish diplomat In spite of the fallout from the September 16 shooting, Blackwater helicopters were dispatched to evacuate the Polish ambassador following an insurgent assassination attempt on October 3, 2007.[50] Footage of the aftermath was carried by the Euronext network.[4] Legal status The legal status of Blackwater and other security firms in Iraq is a subject of contention. Two days before he left Iraq, L. Paul Bremer signed "Order 17"[51] giving all Americans associated with the CPA and the American government immunity from Iraqi law.[52] A July 2007 report from the American Congressional Research Service indicates that the Iraqi government still has no authority over private security firms contracted by the U.S. government.[53] On September 23, 2007, the Iraqi government said that it expects to refer criminal charges to its courts in connection with a shooting involving Blackwater guards.[54]