Schakowsky Condemns State Department for Covering Up Blackwater Shootings

SCHAKOWSKY CONDEMNS STATE DEPARTMENT FOR COVERING UP BLACKWATER SHOOTINGS

Washington, D.C.–U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, released the following statement today in response to yesterday's LA Times story about how the State Department tried to conceal details of a Blackwater shooting over two years ago. State Department emails obtained by ABC News reveal that the State Department knew at least two years ago that ambiguities in U.S. law allowed contractors to escape criminal prosecution.

"These emails are very disturbing because they show a coordinated effort by the State Department to intentionally mislead reporters by covering up the details of their investigation into a 2005 Blackwater shooting.

It is clear that we can no longer trust the State Department to watch over or investigate the actions of private security contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. The LA Times story also revealed that the State Department knew at least two years ago about what Secretary Rice referred to as "hole... in U.S. law, but did nothing about it.

Is it the policy of the State Department to allow contractors to get away with murder?

The State Department knew full well that there was no law in place to hold these contractors criminally responsible and they did absolutely nothing to change the law. Even today after dozens of innocent Iraqi civilians have been killed by private security contractors, Secretary Rice is still reluctant to bring those contractors under the military justice system.

I hold the State Department and Secretary Rice responsible for the September 16th Blackwater shootings because the Department had an opportunity to stop this type of reckless behavior at least two years ago. If the State Department had exposed this "hole... in the law earlier, rather than trying to conceal it, the Iraqi civilians that died on September 16th might still be alive today.

By covering up the 2005 incident and ignoring the legal problems, the State Department acted as an enabler by allowing Blackwater to continue its reckless and lethal behavior. At this point, the State Department is so dependent on private security contractors that they cannot be trusted to regulate or hold them accountable for their actions....