Blackwater Heir Wants to Keep State Dept. Security Contract; Company at Work in Afghanistan

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Blackwater Heir Wants to Keep State Dept. Security Contract
Despite Eviction From Iraq, Company at Work in Afghanistan

By Spencer Ackerman 8/10/09 6:00 AM

Even as a wrongful-death lawsuit moves forward against the controversial private security company formerly known as Blackwater, the firm seeks to renew its contract with the State Department to guard diplomats when the deal expires next year. And the State Department shows no signs of ruling the company out of competition, despite a high-profile incident in 2007 that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

“We welcome the chance to bid on any program,” said Stacy DeLuke, a spokeswoman for the private security company Xe, which changed its name from Blackwater earlier this year, using an acronym for the Worldwide Personal Protective Services contract. Asked if the company was under any restrictions from the State Department following its September 2007 shootout in Baghdad’s Nisour Square — in which its employees shot a family in a car approaching their guards and then opened fire on other cars attempting to flee the scene — DeLuke replied, “I don’t think there have been any restrictions.”

In 2005, the State Department issued a four-year contract, valued at $560 million per year, to provide on-the-ground security for its diplomats in dangerous areas around the world with three leading private security companies: Blackwater, Triple Canopy and DynCorp. The U.S. military does not consider the provision of security for diplomats in war zones to be its job. The State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which controls the WPPS contract, possesses a workforce of about 1450 special agents, leading it to rely on contractors for security, according to a 2007 investigation by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).


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While Xe may no longer be operating in Iraq, it is the only private security company guarding State Department employees in Afghanistan, according to a department official who would not speak for attribution. “Right now in Afghanistan, it is simply U.S. Training Center,” the official said, referring to a company owned by Xe.

Already, Xe has come under criticism for aggressive actions in Afghanistan reminiscent of its Iraq behavior. In May, off-duty security guards employed by a company subsidiary drunkenly fired upon a car in Kabul, injuring two civilians. Last month, McClatchy reporter Nancy Youssef observed State Department officials in Kabul riding in “security details outfitted with huge SUVs and pointed weapons,” alarming the city’s residents. Those details would have been operated by Xe.

The need for increased diplomatic security in Afghanistan is expected to rise as the State Department increases its presence in the war-plagued country. A recent report prepared by the Congressional Research Service found that the Obama administration plans to double its U.S. civilian personnel in Afghanistan to 900 officials, a substantial portion of which will be provided by the State Department.

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http://washingtonindependent.com/54342/blackwater-heir-wants-to-keep-state-dept-security-contract