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Panel touts unified command over security firms

A panel recommended that the US government impose unified control over private security guards working for the US in Iraq. The idea has already been floated by US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

The review panel found poor communication among diplomats and military officials and too little oversight of contractors like Blackwater USA, two people familiar with the report's findings said on Monday.

The US State Department risks another incident like the Sept. 16 Blackwater fatal shootings of 17 Iraqi civilians unless it quickly installs closer management of the private armies guarding diplomats in Iraq, the independent panel privately told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Those familiar with the report said the panel, named by Rice in the aftermath of the Sept. 16 killings, made no specific recommendations about what should happen to Blackwater, whose guards were escorting an official from the U.S. Embassy when they fired on civilians in a Baghdad square. The killings have outraged Iraqis and focused attention on the shadowy rules surrounding heavily armed private guards.

"There needs to be unity of effort so that whatever's moving in the battle space is coordinated, and it needs to be understood, especially, by the military out in that battle space," one person said.

Those familiar with the recommendations in the report spoke on condition of anonymity because Rice has not yet decided what changes she will make.

The recommendations would apply to management of all private security contractors in Iraq and recognize that it is impractical to eliminate such protection altogether. The military has resisted assuming responsibility for guarding large numbers of US officials and the State Department's own security force is too small and already stretched too thin.

The group's closely held report also identified a gap that left private guards for diplomats in Iraq outside the direct control of US civilian or military law, and outside Iraqi law, a US official said. It was not clear whether the report recommends placing private contractors squarely under US civilian law, but Congress already has acted to place such guards under military law when working for the Pentagon.

The Iraqi government is demanding that Blackwater be expelled from the country within six months and that its employees be subject to Iraqi law.

One person familiar with the report said the group did not focus on the specific events of Sept. 16 but looked instead at the rules of engagement, responsibilities and oversight for all security contractors.

The group told Rice she cannot wait for the results of a separate FBI inquiry into the Blackwater shootings but should act within days or weeks and with a sense of urgency, the person said.

Rice agreed, the person said.

The group, led by a State Department official, presented its findings to Rice on Monday. She is expected to act on them this week.

The group strongly recommended that Rice coordinate her next move with the Pentagon and she plans to speak with Gates soon, a State Department official said.

The panel included a retired senior diplomat, a retired four-star general and an intelligence expert.

Gates has already suggested consolidated control of security contractors working for numerous US government agencies and discussed the idea briefly with Rice before the State Department's review was completed.

A separate Pentagon review recommended the US military have more control over contractors in Iraq and that private guards fall under the Universal Code of Military Justice in some cases, Gates has said.

He said new guidelines for military commanders in Iraq probably will increase the number of private security contractors who will face prosecution or discipline for violence.
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