US steps up oversight of Iraq contractors

The US government took steps on Tuesday to increase the oversight of private contractors hired by the State Department to guard diplomatic personnel in Iraq. The new measures include quickly setting up panels to investigate shooting incidents and cultural sensitivity training, said Patrick Kennedy, an ambassador tasked with reviewing procedures following a deadly shooting in Baghdad in September. Kennedy's panel found that private security contractors used by the State Department have undermined the confidence of the US military and the Iraqi government and public. The firms "operate in an overall environment that is chaotic, unsupervised, deficient in oversight and accountability, and poorly coordinated," the panel said in its report released Tuesday. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ordered new measures be put in place based on the panel's recommendations. The State Department will set up "go teams" that can quickly move to investigate shooting incidents to hold the firms accountable. The department will also work to improve coordination and communication with the US military. The moves follow the September 16 incident involving the firm Blackwater USA, whose guards opened fire in a Baghdad neighbourhood and killed 17 civilians. Blackwater maintains that the diplomatic convoy it was protecting came under fire from armed militants, an account strongly disputed by the Iraqi government. Based on initial findings, Rice last week had already directed US government security agents to begin accompanying private armed guards that protect the convoys. In addition, US officials will start recording radio traffic with protective convoys, mount video cameras in vehicles and begin archiving electronic tracking of vehicle movements. The data will allow US authorities to more thoroughly investigate shootings. The US and Iraqi governments are conducting separate investigations into the shootings. Blackwater, and two other companies, DynCorp and Triple Canopy, have State Department security contracts in Iraq. dpa mm aw