Partisan battle rages over Blackwater

As House investigators probe the role of private contractors in the war zone, several GOP members praised Blackwater USA on Tuesday for not letting any lawmakers get killed on their delegations to Iraq.

{mosads}Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) said he was “grateful” for the services of Blackwater, a private security company under intense scrutiny after the alleged shooting of at least eight Iraqis. That incident is being investigated by the Department of State and the Justice Department.

Blackwater is in charge of protecting diplomats, visiting officials and congressional delegations.

“There has been no congressman killed while in Iraq,” said Dan Burton (R-Ind.), at a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on private security contracting.

Burton said that by setting up a hearing focusing on Blackwater, the committee is “rushing” to judgment. McHenry called the hearing “irresponsible,” while Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) offered a motion to adjourn, which failed by voice vote.

Democrats lament how Blackwater is doing its job and how much the company is being paid, pointing out that Blackwater has received more than $1 billion in contracts since 2002.

Meanwhile, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said the committee’s hearing was another way to talk about the war in Iraq being ill-founded, calling it the Democrats’ mantra.

Erik Prince, the founder and CEO of Blackwater, said that in 2007 Blackwater conducted 1,873 security details, out of which 56 involved incidents of weapons being discharged in defense. In 2006, Blackwater conducted 6,500 security missions and weapons were discharged in 1 percent of the missions, Prince said.

“We are not there to achieve firepower dominance,” Prince said during the hearing, adding that nobody under Blackwater’s watch has been hurt or killed.