Blackwater chairman defends Iraq role

Investigations continue into Blackwater
David Satterfield, the Iraq coordinator for the State Department, said the U.S. and Iraqi ministry established a commission to examine use of contractors in Iraq. A separate U.S.-led panel, staffed with several independent advisers, is reviewing the security practices of diplomats.

“The secretary of state has made clear that she wishes to have a probing, comprehensive unvarnished examination of the overall issue of security contractors working for her department in Iraq,” he said.

Waxman expressed frustration at the State Department representatives for not providing more information about Blackwater and its conduct in Iraq.

“We’ve had a better response from Blackwater then we’ve had from the State Department in getting information,” Waxman said to Satterfield. “Does that bother you as much as it bothers me? Or do you have to find out whether you feel that way or not?”

Waxman also cited a November 2004 crash in Afghanistan of a plane piloted by Blackwater pilots as an example of what he said is the company’s cavalier attitude about how it operates.

The crash of flight “Blackwater 61” killed the Blackwater crew and three U.S. military passengers. According to information gathered by Waxman’s staff, the Blackwater pilots lacked experience flying in Afghanistan, yet were joy riding through a valley before crashing into a canyon wall.

'No FAA in Afghanistan'
Prince acknowledged pilot error led to the crash, but said his company’s aviators often fly missions in difficult conditions. He said the military violated its own rules by loading people and explosives on Blackwater 61. But Blackwater flew the mission anyway because that’s what its government customer wanted.

“There is no FAA in Afghanistan,” he said.

Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, the committee’s top Republican, said the State Department is “trying to get it right,” but its oversight of security contractors “seems to have some blind spots as well.”

There’s little data on contractor performance, Davis said, “so it’s impossible to know if one company’s rate of weapons-related incidents is the product of a dangerous ‘cowboy’ culture or the predictable result of conducting higher-risk missions.”

Davis said concentrating on Blackwater won’t answer questions about the use of security contractors.

“Nor are we likely to learn much by focusing on one sensational incident still under investigation,” Davis said.

Prince: 'We're not hiding anything'
Prince would not discuss his company’s finances, although he did say his salary was more than $1 million in 2006. Blackwater is a “private” entity, Prince said, and disclosing profits and losses would give his competitors an unfair advantage.

“We’re not hiding anything,” he said.

Blackwater, founded in 1997 by Prince and headquartered in Moyock, N.C., is the largest of the State Department’s three private security contractors, with nearly 1,000 personnel working in Iraq. The others are Dyncorp and Triple Canopy, both based in Washington’s northern Virginia suburbs.

Blackwater has had more shooting incidents than the other two companies combined, according to Waxman’s report.

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