Not Able to Protect Ourselves Overseas Anymore--a Bush Legacy
Security Firms in Iraq Face New Rules Rice Convened Group After Blackwater's Sept. 16 Gun Battle
By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, October 24, 2007; A01
Private security contractors will continue to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq but will operate under closer supervision by U.S. Embassy officials and with clearer accountability for their actions, according to new rules approved yesterday by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Neither the U.S. military nor the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service is prepared to assume responsibility for guarding diplomats and other official U.S. civilians, according to a Rice-appointed review panel that recommended the changes. Instead, communications among the military, the embassy and the Iraqi government will be improved and a joint committee will investigate and judge all contractor incidents "involving the use of deadly force."
. . . it implicitly agreed with criticisms that the program is poorly conceived and sup…