Blackwater CEO Erik Prince completed his testimony, and now State Department officials are explaining the scope of their contract with Blackwater.
Ambassador David Satterfield, Condoleezza Rice’s special adviser on Iraq, wanted to emphasize “how seriously” Secretary Rice takes investigating the September 16 incident. He announced that Ambassador Patrick Kennedy — a longtime diplomat and intelligence official — is opening a separate investigation into State’s broader practices in Iraq, including “how we provide security for our employees, including the rules of engagement” and the relevant laws that apply.
Unfortunately for Satterfield, the next State representative, Richard Griffin, the assistant secretary for diplomatic security — whose bureau hired Blackwater in Iraq — didn’t appear as eager to shed light on an arguably antecedent incident: the December 2006 shooting by a drunken Blackwater employee of a guard for Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi. Why, Waxman wanted to know, did the State Department facilitate the departure of the Blackwater contractor from Iraq?
“It’s not appropriate for me to comment,” Griffin said, citing an ongoing investigation by the Justice Department. (In which, it’s worth saying, no charges have yet been brought.) That individual “no longer had reason to be in Iraq” was about all that Griffin would say. “The area about what laws are available for prosecution is very murky,” he added. “Lack of clarity is part of the problem.”
So, Waxman asked, was there any question among state officials whether a potential crime had occurred? “That’s your judgment as to what happened,” Griffin said. “I was not there. That’s why the Justice Department is investigating.” Griffin added that he doesn’t know what State has told the Justice Department about the incident.
