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The New York Times | Prosecuting Blackwater    [

    State Official, Brother Are Called for Hearing
    By Elizabeth Williamson
    The Washington Post

    Saturday 17 November 2007

    State Department Inspector General Howard J. Krongard and his brother Alvin will be summoned before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform early next month to assess the truthfulness of some of Howard Krongard's statements to the panel, committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) announced yesterday.

    Krongard told the committee Wednesday that he was unaware his brother was an advisory board member for Blackwater Worldwide, a State Department contractor under investigation in connection with the fatal shootings of Iraqi civilians by its security guards.

    Krongard retracted that statement later during the hearing and recused himself from all matters involving Blackwater, saying he had clarified his brother's involvement in a telephone conversation with him during a recess.

    But his testimony was further contradicted by Alvin "Buzzy" Krongard, who told committee staff members Thursday that the inspector general had specifically asked him about his involvement with Blackwater before the hearing and knew of his plans to join the board, according to a memo released by Waxman.

    Late yesterday, Alvin Krongard resigned from the Blackwater advisory board, according to Blackwater founder and Chairman Erik Prince.

    "In light of the unfortunate and distracting public attention to allegations that Buzzy's membership on our Advisory Board has created an 'Apparent Conflict of Interest' for his brother, State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard, Buzzy has tendered his resignation, and I have reluctantly accepted it," Prince said in a statement, which added that the brothers have "not been close for years."

    Howard Krongard went before the oversight committee Wednesday to answer charges that he had thwarted investigations of the construction of a new U.S. embassy in Baghdad and of Blackwater employees involved in weapons smuggling in Iraq.

    Early in the hearing, Krongard called lawmakers' assertions that his brother Alvin was a Blackwater board member "ugly rumors." But when subsequently confronted with paperwork by the committee, he said he had called his brother and acknowledged the connection.

    In a memo to oversight committee members yesterday, Waxman said Alvin Krongard told committee staffers that he watched his brother's testimony on television and that "you could have blown me over" when he heard his brother deny knowledge of his Blackwater connection.

    Waxman said he plans to hold another hearing the week of Dec. 3, "to provide members the opportunity to assess whether the Inspector General provided truthful testimony to the committee."

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    Prosecuting Blackwater
    The New York Times | Editorial

    Friday 16 November 2007

    A report in The Times this week says that the FBI is reaching the same horrifying conclusion as the Iraqi authorities: that the deadly September shooting spree by Blackwater security guards in Baghdad was unjustified and violated the American government's rules for the use of deadly force. The question is, what is the Bush administration going to do about it?

    David Johnston and John M. Broder reported on Wednesday that federal investigators found no evidence to support claims by Blackwater officials that Iraqi civilians had fired on the guards. Investigators concluded that 3 of the 17 deaths may have been justified because the guards might have perceived an imminent threat. The other 14 amounted to sheer recklessness, they said.

    This is hardly surprising, considering the "spray and pray" tactics favored by many of these contractors. But the incident has fed Iraqis' fury at the American occupation and made it even harder for American officials to insist that Iraq's leaders respect their own citizens and the rule of law.

    The mess provides yet another argument for the swift and orderly exit of American troops from Iraq and the even swifter withdrawal of all the private armies Washington employs there. Any contractors who committed crimes must also be quickly brought to justice.

    The legal path will not be easy, but there are options. The government could seek to prosecute the guards under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, or MEJA, which extends American criminal law to contractors overseas. Or it could try to court-martial the guards under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which was amended last year to cover contractors accompanying the armed forces in the field.

    It could also offer a plea deal - including some prison time - to any guards found to have recklessly violated deadly force rules. The guards may be a lot more interested if Washington makes it clear that it is ready to waive the immunity from Iraqi prosecution, granted to contractors by the American occupation government three years ago.

    None of these options is foolproof. MEJA applies to contractors that accompany American armed forces, while the Blackwater guards were working for the State Department. Using the military code would face the same problem and would have to contend with Supreme Court opinions from the 1950s and 1960s barring the courts-martial of civilians.

    A judge must decide on the applicability of these laws. For that to happen, either the Justice Department or the Pentagon would have to decide to prosecute - so far neither has shown any interest.

    Contractors have been involved in some of the most shameful incidents in this war, including the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. But not one contractor has been prosecuted for crimes against an Iraqi. That shameful record cannot be allowed to stand.