Monday, October 15, 2007

Blackwater asked State Department for reforms 1-1/2 years ago

The State Department's new accountability requirements for Blackwater diplomatic security in Iraq were not pro-active measures as the press has reported. Blackwater CEO Erik Prince tells Charlie Rose on PBS that his company asked the State Department for such accountability measures long ago. He says he has the written documentation to prove it.

Says Prince, in the segment broadcast on October 15: "There was mention that last week about putting cameras in the vehicles, putting additional government staff, diplomatic security agents in the vehicles, and monitoring the radio communications. That’s actually something we’ve asked for in writing a year and a half ago. So we welcome those additional measures."

Prince made a similar statement in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer aired October 14.

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