Blackwater under scrutiny in Iraq (US Embassy Protects Them from Scrutiny)

[RamboLiberal]

Habib Sadr was sitting at his desk when the shots rang out. A sniper had just shot three security guards outside his office at the government-run Iraqi Media Network.

With the fatally wounded guards lying by their checkpoint, a security convoy rolled into the neighboring Justice Ministry compound. Sadr believed the sniper was with them. The incident, he said, was a brutal introduction into the world of private security contractors.

An internal investigation by Sadr's department found that Blackwater USA. was responsible. But seven months after the Feb. 7 shootings no one has been charged.

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A U.S. diplomat confirmed that Blackwater guards carried out the shooting, but said he did not know the results of the State Department security office's inquiry. He raised concerns that the investigation into the North Carolina-based firm was being conducted in too secretive a manner.

"Because they are security, everything was a big secret," the official said, referring to the relationship between the U.S. Embassy's security office and Blackwater. "They draw the wagon circle. They protect each other. They look out for each other. I don't know if that's a good thing, that wall of silence. When it protects the guilty, that is definitely not a good thing."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-shootings21sep21,0,7119637.story?coll=la-home-center


MEMORY: Shakir Ismail holds a photo of his daughter Suhad, who was shot dead in Baghdad, a witness says, by a security detail in February. He believes the shooters were Blackwater guards.