Report: Blackwater Skimped on Security Before Fallujah Ambush

[BurtWorm]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/20055.html


By Joseph Neff and Jay Price | McClatchy Newspapers


Democrats in Congress released a scathing report Thursday on the 2004 massacre of four Blackwater contractors in Fallujah, charging that the company rushed unprepared into a sloppy mission, skimped on security to save money and stonewalled when Congress tried to investigate.

The report ratchets up the pressure on Blackwater, already under intense scrutiny for a Sept. 16 shooting incident in Baghdad that left 11 Iraqis dead.

Blackwater founder Erik Prince, who's seldom seen in public, is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, whose majority staff issued Thursday's report. The committee, led by Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, will likely grill Prince about the Fallujah and Baghdad incidents and the company's effect on the war in Iraq.

Thursday's report, based on government reports and internal Blackwater documents, said:

_ Blackwater, a for-profit company, opted to use unarmored vehicles to save money and cut essential personnel from the mission. An internal Blackwater report said Blackwater's contract paid for armored vehicles but "management in North Carolina ... made the decision to go with soft skin due to the cost."

_ Blackwater ignored the warnings of a British security firm, which had twice turned down the exact same mission "due to the obvious risk of transporting slow-moving loads through such a volatile area."

_ Blackwater impeded the congressional investigation by claiming that key documents were classified. The documents weren't secret, despite an attempt by Blackwater's general counsel, the Pentagon's former top auditor, to try to persuade defense officials to classify them after the fact.

Blackwater didn't respond to requests for comment Thursday.

....

[eleny]

1. Thanks for the heads up about Prince testifying to the committee!

Recommended. :thumbsup:

[BurtWorm]

2. I'd be curious to watch that myself.

(Thanks for the rec.)

[eleny]

4. I wonder if this new hearing will be on C-Span

Dorgan's Dem hearing was on mercenaries wasn't but I caught it live on the net. And that video is available on the committee site. This issue is heating up and Waxman's hearings can draw a crowd.

You're welcome. :D

[EnviroBat]

3. Yeah, he's seldom seen in public because someone just might

do the world a favor a spray his brains all over the sidewalk. A boy can dream can't he?