Blackwater chief fires back at Congress

WASHINGTON -- Grilled for four hours in a contentious congressional committee hearing Tuesday, Blackwater USA Chairman Erik Prince gave little ground to critics who paint his company as an out-of-control, unaccountable private army that is hurting U.S. efforts in Iraq .

It was an unprecedented public performance by the reclusive former Navy SEAL whose 10-year-old company has taken center stage in a growing debate over the privatization of warfare.

Prince conceded that “more can and should be done to increase accountability, oversight and transparency” of Blackwater and the other companies that have tens of thousands of armed security contractors operating in Iraq – a private force never before seen on such a scale in an American war zone.

But he insisted that the Moyock, N.C.-based company has operated responsibly in a hostile environment and has done everything in its power to discipline individual contractors who behave irresponsibly.

In the end, it appeared no minds were changed in the highly charged, largely partisan debate. Prince’s Republican-connected company was defended by most of the committee’s Republican minority and vociferously attacked by the Democratic majority.

The Democrats also had harsh words for the State Department, which employs about 1,000 Blackwater contractors to guard its diplomatic staff in Iraq.

“The committee’s investigation raises as many questions about the State Department’s oversight of Blackwater as it does about Blackwater itself,” said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform .

Citing repeated instances in which Blackwater contractors have killed Iraqis and faced no repercussions besides being fired and flown home, Waxman said it is hard not to conclude that “the State Department is acting as Blackwater’s enabler.”

Conspicuously absent Tuesday was any detailed discussion of the catalyst for the hearing: the Sept. 16 shooting incident involving Blackwater contractors in Baghdad that left at least 11 Iraqis dead. The Iraqi government has labeled the incident an unprovoked attack on innocent civilians; Blackwater has said its operators responded appropriately to an insurgent ambush.

Waxman said he had agreed to a request from the Justice Department to postpone any public airing of that event in light of an FBI investigation announced Monday.

Prince said Blackwater welcomes the FBI inquiry.

“To the extent there is any loss of innocent life, ever, let me be clear that I consider that tragic,” Prince said. “Every life, whether American or Iraqi, is precious. I stress to the committee and to the American public, however, that I believe we acted appropriately at all times.”

Several Republican committee members came to the company’s defense. Rep. John Mica of Florida even moved to adjourn the hearing before Prince testified, saying its only purpose was to discredit contractors. The motion was defeated.

Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., acknowledged that Blackwater has acquired a reputation as “a bit of a cowboy ” but praised the company for preventing any deaths or serious injuries to its diplomatic clients.

“That’s a perfect record, and you don’t get any credit for it for some reason,” Shays said.

Several committee members thanked Prince for the protection Blackwater provided them on trips to Iraq.

Responding to data compiled by the committee showing that Blackwater contractors have been involved in nearly 200 shooting incidents in Iraq since Jan. 1, 2005, Prince said it is important to put that number in perspective. He said the incidents amounted to fewer than 1 percent of the company’s convoy missions in 2006 and less than 3 percent of missions so far in 2007.

Nevertheless, “I’m wondering whether Blackwater is actually helping our military or hurting them,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. “Frankly, I’m concerned that the ordinary Iraqi may not be able to distinguish military actions from contractor actions. They view them all as American actions.”

As an example, Cummings cited the fatal shooting by a drunken Blackwater contractor last Christmas Eve of an Iraqi bodyguard to Iraqi Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

In an internal e-mail released by the committee Tuesday, a Blackwater employee reported to a colleague just after the shooting that an Iraqi TV report had erroneously attributed it to a U.S. soldier.

“At least the ID of the shooter will take the heat off us,” the employee wrote.

The shooter was fired and immediately flown home. Nine months later, no criminal charges have been filed.

“I’ve heard a lot of complimentary things about what you all do,” Cummings told Prince. “And I’m sure you do a great job. But it’s not about what you do well. It’s a question of, when things go wrong, where is the accountability?”

Prince replied: “Sir, we fired him. We fined him. But we, as a private organization, can’t do any more. We can’t flog him. We can’t incarcerate him. That’s up to the Justice Department. We are not empowered to enforce U.S. law.”

Prince added that he would be “happy to see a further investigation and prosecution by the Justice Department.”

Under persistent questioning about Blackwater’s finances, Prince said his salary as CEO is more than $1 million a year. But he declined to reveal the privately held company’s overall profit margin, which drew fire from Rep. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn.

“My constituents pay 90 percent of your salary,” Murphy told Prince. “It’s a little difficult for us to fathom how that information isn’t relevant to this committee.”

 Bill Sizemore, (757) 446-2276, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com