U.S. Justice Department opens investigation of alleged bribery in Iraq

From Washington comes word that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating allegations that Blackwater Worldwide, the largest outside contractor for the military in Iraq, paid officials of the government in Baghdad to allow the company to keep operating there. The department's fraud section opened the investigation late last year, according to the New York Times. The Iraqi government wanted Blackwater, since renamed Xe Services, expelled from the country following the shooting deaths of more than a dozen civilians in a Baghdad intersection in 2007. Company guards were protecting a diplomatic convoy when they opened fire in Nisour Square, apparently believing they were under attack. The shooting outraged the Iraqi public and led the government to order company employees out of the country. The last reportedly left in May. Five of six former guards allegedly involved in the incident were charged with manslaughter and other charges, but the case against them was dismissed in December out of concern that their rights had been violated. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said the government would appeal that dismissal. A sixth guard pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for his testimony. The existence of the bribery investigation was confirmed by three current and former U.S. officials, the newspaper said. The investigation appears to have started after a Times report that Blackwater officials had authorized $1 million in payments to Iraq officials to retain their support in the post-Nisour Square incident environment. If true, such payments would violate federal law barring U.S. companies from bribing officials of other countries. Investigators are working with the U.S. State Department and with federal prosecutors in North Carolina, where a grand jury has been reviewing the Blackwater contracts, the Times said.

Latest Blackwater revelation tries the nation's soul

Just in case anyone had any doubt about the seriousness of the Bush administration decision to use private contractors instead of soldiers to conduct the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, the latest revelations might very well convince them. According to the New York Times, employees of Blackwater Worldwide -- the Reston, Vir., private security company hired by the Pentagon to protect diplomats in Iraq -- took part in covert CIA raids and assassinations, and might have had a role in the agency's controversial and morally suspect rendition program. Officials at Blackwater, which renamed itself Xe Services following the fatal shooting of 17 unarmed civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square in 2007, have consistently denied involvement in covert CIA activities. But those denials are under attack in the U.S. Congress and in a U.S. court, where investigations are revealing a disturbing pattern of involvement far beyond what the military or the company have admitted to. Citing interviews with unnamed current and former Blackwater employees and military officials, the Times said security contractors appear to have participated in CIA-authorized raids in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2004 and 2006 and might have played roles in flying detainees to secret prisons operated by the CIA in other countries. The fact that information is still so scarce should give pause. While some clandestine operations can be expected, particularly in times of war, it is generally understood that these affairs are being carried out by highly trained military operatives, not outside contractors whose training and abilities are unknown and, as such, highly suspect. Do residents of the United States want military operations conducted by companies largely made up of foreign nationals with no allegiance to their country nor commitment to its values? Do the residents of the United States want military operations conducted outside the protection of U.S. law and the control of U.S. officials? Residents may have to make that decision soon, because the House Intelligence Committee is presently investigating Blackwater's role in the C.I.A. assassination program revealed this year and promptly eliminated by new agency director Leon Panetta, and a grand jury in North Carolina is investigating allegations of illegal conduct by Blackwater in Iraq, the Times said. Among the facts still to be discovered is whether CIA, military or White House officials approved the participation of outside contractors in these covert activities.