Rice Orders New Measures for Security in Iraq
It appears that the days of little oversight of private security contractors in Iraq are ending.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced today an overhaul of U.S. security practices, introducing new measures that will allow the State Department to keep a tighter rein on contractors hired to protect government convoys.
The Associated Press reports that Rice accepted preliminary recommendations of an internal review board calling for "Diplomatic Security agents to accompany every convoy, the installation of video cameras in security vehicles, audio recordings of radio traffic between the embassy and such convoys and improved coordination and communication between convoys and the U.S. military."
This announcement comes the day after members of the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation holding U.S. contractors overseas accountable to U.S. law.
Rice ordered a review of security procedures after a Sept. 16 shooting involving Blackwater security guards that killed several Iraqis. Blackwater has denied its employees did anything wrong, but the Iraqi government has said the security contractors fired first. The Washington Post quotes a senior U.S. military official who says that military reports "indicate that [Blackwater] guards opened fire without provocation and used excessive force against Iraqi civilians."
12:56 PM ET | 10- 5-2007 | permalink

