State Department renews Blackwater contract for one year

The most controversial private security contractor in Iraq will be allowed to continue guarding diplomats in Baghdad for at least the next year.

Ignoring pressure from critics on Capitol Hill and unhappy Iraqi leaders, State Department officials announced Friday they have extended the department's contract with Blackwater Worldwide of Moyock, N.C.

The company is under investigation by the FBI after its guards reportedly opened fire in a crowded Baghdad square on Sept. 16, 2007, killing 17 Iraqi civilians and injuring two dozen others. Blackwater claims its guards were operating in self defense while witnesses said the private contractors were unprovoked.

Until the FBI concludes its investigation, and the U.S. Embassy in Iraq subsequently weighs in on Blackwater's presence in the region, the company's services are still required, said Gregory Starr, acting assistant secretary of State for diplomatic security.

"I'm not going to prejudge what the FBI is going to find in their investigation," Starr said. "I think, really, it's complex. I think that the U.S. government needs protective services. You know, I've been there to Baghdad many times. Essentially, I think they do a very good job."

The State Department can terminate Blackwater's contract at any time, Starr said.

Blackwater signed a five-year personal protective services contract in 2005 to guard diplomats and infrastructure in the Iraqi capital and in Hillah, the latter portion of which is not up for renewal yet. The Baghdad contract includes a base year and four option years that must be reviewed annually.

The new one-year task order will expire in May 2009 and is worth an estimated $240 million. Two other U.S. firms, DynCorp International of Falls Church, Va., and Triple Canopy of Herndon, Va., also operate under the Worldwide Personal Protective Services umbrella contract.

A Blackwater spokeswoman declined to comment on the contract, referring all inquiries to the State Department.

The department's decision garnered an immediate rebuke from top Iraqi officials, who argue that Blackwater has yet to answer for last year's shooting in Nisoor Square.

"They committed a massacre against Iraqis and until now this issue has not been resolved," Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told CNN on Sunday. "No judicial action has been taken, no compensation has been made. I would say that the U.S. side should not have moved to renew the contract before the outstanding issues with this company are finalized. I feel this decision was taken without the approval of the Iraqi government."

But, Starr said, until proved otherwise, Blackwater is operating under the rules of the Iraqi government.

"There have been only three incidents -- three escalations of force incidents since Sept. 16 -- since we looked very closely at the rules of engagement [and] since the United States surge started working," Starr said. "I think the level of violence went down. And I am, up to this point, very satisfied with the changes that we've seen. So am I concerned? Sure. But I'm also very pleased at the level of effort that they put to resolve any issues."

Last year, an independent review panel recommended that State provide greater accountability, oversight and discipline to its private security force. The panel called for members of the department's security force to accompany each diplomatic convoy in Baghdad and to install audio and video recorders in all private security vehicles.

The State and Defense departments also signed a memorandum of agreement, outlining the rules of engagement for private security contractors.

Of the nearly 1,400 guards operating under the WPPS contract, Blackwater provides about 70 percent of the staffing -- roughly 1,000 armed guards, according to a July report from the Congressional Research Service. DynCorp's 150 guards protect facilities and infrastructure in the relatively secure northern Kurdish region while Triple Canopy's 250 employees operate in southern Iraq.

Last year, Blackwater earned nearly $600 million in federal contracts.