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US Boosts Oversight for Iraq Contractors
WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday ordered new measures to improve government oversight of private guards who protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq, including tighter rules of engagement and a board to investigate any future killings. The steps, recommended by an independent review panel she created after last month's deadly Baghdad shooting involving Blackwater USA, would also require contractors to undergo training intended to make them more sensitive to Iraqi culture and language.

The changes to rules of engagement would bring the State Department closer to military rules. The State Department's rules for contractors' use of force were more detailed in some respects, but the panel found that the Pentagon had clearer rules for the steps a guard must take after identifying a threat.
Seems like a reasonable set of rules, but I'd like to hear from RB citizens who've lived and worked in similar conditions.
The moves will not have much visible effect on the way private guards operate in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq: They will still escort diplomats in highly armed convoys like the one involved in the Sept. 16 deaths of 17 Iraqis in a Baghdad square.

The State Department will set up panels that include security officials and others to look into each shooting or other use of deadly force by private guards and organize rapid response teams to investigate shooting incidents. The department will also require contractors to have Arabic speakers on hand.

The report also identified a gap that left private guards for diplomats in Iraq outside the direct control of U.S. civilian or military law and outside Iraqi law. ``The legal framework for providing proper oversight of personal protective services contractors is inadequate,'' the report said.
Posted by: Steve White 2007-10-24
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=203598