Blackwater faulted by FBI in killings
A probe found guards were unjustified in 14 of 17 Iraqi deaths, U.S. officials said.
WASHINGTON - The FBI has concluded that the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians by Blackwater security contractors in Baghdad on Sept. 16 was unjustified under State Department rules for the private guards, U.S. officials said yesterday.
The shooting deaths of three other civilians in the same incident may have been within guidelines for the use of deadly force, officials said.
FBI investigators who spent two weeks in Baghdad last month have briefed prosecutors on their findings, but a formal document laying out the key elements of the case has not yet been sent to the Justice Department. The department will make the final decision on whether to pursue legal proceedings against Blackwater personnel.
The investigators found no evidence to support Blackwater's public statements that guards shot only in response to gunfire directed at them. The Blackwater guards were attempting to stop traffic at Baghdad's Nisoor Square to allow an expected U.S. diplomatic convoy to pass.
The FBI's findings were first reported Tuesday night by the New York Times.
FBI investigators concluded that the killing of three of the 17 Iraqis could have fallen within the deadly-force guidelines: two people in a civilian car that moved forward after a warning and a third unidentified man standing nearby. Some of the other 14 people whose deaths were determined to be unprovoked were apparently shot while trying to flee the area, officials said.
Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said yesterday that the company would hold employees accountable "if official findings conclude that someone was complicit in wrongdoing." She said that the probe was still under way and that key people involved had not spoken with authorities.
The four or five Blackwater guards who allegedly fired their weapons did not speak to the FBI during the investigation in Baghdad because "at the time they did not have legal counsel," Tyrrell said. Blackwater has since provided legal advice.
The guards were questioned immediately after the shootings by agents of the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which supervises their contract to protect civilian U.S. officials in Iraq. Those interviews, however, were conducted under legal protections against self-incrimination and cannot be used by the FBI.
And although investigators are confident of their overall findings, other problems hamper the probe. Investigators arrived more than two weeks after the shooting and could not reconstruct the crime scene, bodies of some victims could not be recovered, and shell casings at the scene could not be definitively tied to the shootings.
Any prosecution is also complicated by the uncertainty of applicable laws. Although security contractors working for the Defense Department can be held liable under military statutes, it is unclear whether State Department guards are covered. The White House opposes legislation to extend U.S. law to all contractors, which was approved by the House and is pending in the Senate.
After the Sept. 16 shootings, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ordered diplomatic security agents to accompany all diplomatic convoys and directed that video and audio recordings be kept of their operations. She also approved increased training and supervision for contractors and improved communication and coordination with the military.