The Blackwater Blame Game

It appears the Iraqi Interior Ministry’s efforts to remove Blackwater from Iraq has picked up allies in the US Congress:

Blackwater USA triggered a major battle in the Iraq war in 2004 by sending an unprepared team of guards into an insurgent stronghold, a move that led to their horrific deaths and a violent response by U.S. forces, says a congressional investigation released Thursday.

The private security company, one of the largest working in Iraq and under scrutiny for how it operates, also is faulted for initially insisting its guards were properly prepared and equipped. It is also accused of impeding the inquiry by the Democratic staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. [Richard Lardner & Mike Baker, AP]

So why is the US Congress holding hearings on something that happened over three years ago?  If this is so important how come these hearings were not held long ago?  It just so happens that many in the US Congress are just as eager as the Iraqi Interior Ministry to have Blackwater removed from Iraq.  If Blackwater is removed from Iraq that would mean US troops would have to take over the security duties which could impact President Bush’s promise to withdraw up to a brigade worth of troops by December. 

This is why bringing up something that happened in 2004 is of political significance now.  The problems with what happened with the Blackwater security team in 2004 is well known and it doesn’t take a Congressional investigation to determine that four guys driving in a truck through Fallujah in 2004 was not a good idea.  Now other incidents involving Blackwater are also being investigated:

The United States has not made conclusive findings about the five incidents, including the Sept. 16 deaths of at least 11 Iraqis, and a State Department official said Friday that investigators are not aware of any others.

The five, plus another incident that apparently did not kill anyone, were previously identified by Iraqi authorities. For now, those incidents are at the core of the review ordered by Rice last week, a State Department official said. [Anne Gearan & Matthew Lee, AP]

I am all for holding security contractors accountable but what is going on now is completely for political reasons.  Reports of unaccountable security contractors have been coming out of Iraq for years, but now Congress wants to do something about it?  To be fair the State Department and the Pentagon should have done something long ago about the legal status of security contractors to prevent the Iraqi Interior Ministry and opportune US politicians from jumping on this issue for political reasons long ago.