Read the report in full

The American private security company responsible for protecting United States diplomats in Iraq has been accused of nearly 200 shooting incidents, including the killing and injuring of innocent Iraqis.

In a devastating report published by the US Congress on Monday, Blackwater USA reportedly covered up killings and had to sack 122 guards for misconduct while earning more than $1 billion (£500,000) in government contracts since 2001.

The allegations will form the basis of tough questioning this afternoon when Erik Prince, the chairman and founder of Blackwater, goes before the congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Blackwater came under mounting criticism last month when its guards were accused of killing 11 Iraqi civilians and wounding 14 others while escorting American diplomats in a convoy through central Baghdad. The shooting is now the subject of an FBI criminal investigation as well as a probe by the US State Department, which employs Blackwater to guard its diplomats. The authorities in Baghdad have demanded that the company be withdrawn from Iraq.

Blackwater says that Mr Prince, a former member of the US Navy Seals (special forces), was looking forward “to setting the record straight”. The company insists that in the latest incident its guards were acting in self-defence after being ambushed by insurgents.

But according to the congressional report, civilian casualties and damage to property appear to be part of a pattern in Blackwater’s behaviour in Iraq, where it has been operating since August 2003.

The report stated that:

- Blackwater had been involved in 195 shooting incidents since 2005, more than double the number recorded by two other security companies employed by the State Department in Iraq

- the company records show that its guards caused 16 Iraqi casualties and 162 incidents with property damage

- 122 Blackwater employees, about one seventh of its workforce in Iraq, had their contracts terminated for weapons-related incidents, alcohol and drug abuse and other misconduct.

“The Blackwater and State Department records reveal that Blackwater’s use of force in Iraq is frequent and extensive, resulting in significant casualties and property damage,” said the report, released on Monday.

“Blackwater is legally and contractually bound to only engage in defensive uses of forces to prevent ‘imminent and grave danger’ to themselves and others. In practice, however, the vast majority of Blackwater weapons discharges are pre-emptive, with Blackwater forces firing first at a vehicle or suspicious individual prior to receiving any fire.”

In October 2005 a Blackwater guard in Mosul opened fire on a suspect car, killing an Iraqi civilian who was standing nearby. The convoy moved on and the man was left dead in the middle of the road.

In November 2005 a Blackwater convoy travelling in Bahgdad collided with 18 Iraqi civilian vehicles in the course of a short round trip through the city.

The report also “raises serious questions” about the behaviour of the US State Department, which is accused of attempting to pay compensation to victims and “put the matter behind us” rather than controlling Blackwater’s activities.

In one incident in December last year a drunken Blackwater contractor shot and killed an Iraqi guard employed by the country’s Vice-President. Within 36 hours the Blackwater employee had been flown out of Iraq. The Iraqi guard’s family was paid $15,000 (£7,500) compensation but no action was taken against Blackwater or its employee. A State Department investigation is still under way nine months after the incident.

The congressional report also suggests that employing Blackwater guards is far more expensive that using American soldiers as guards. The company charges the US Government $1,222 (£611) a day, or $445,000 (222,500) a year. This is more than six times the cost of an equivalent American soldier. Blackwater has earned more than $1 billion from the US Government since 2001.

The Democrat-controlled Congress is clearly hoping to embarrass the Bush Administration with the revelations about Blackwater. The report claims that Mr Prince has close ties to the Republican Party. He served as a White House intern under President Bush’s father in the late 1980s. He has contributed more than $160,000 (£80,000) to Republican organisations and has employed two senior former members of the Bush Administration.

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