Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill

Blackwater Book Launch Set for March 21 in NYC

Blackwater Author Jeremy Scahill Appears on CNN Report on Blackwater Congressional Hearings

Watch Andrea Koppel's story on the February 7 Congressional hearing featuring Blackwater USA and the families of four of its contractors killed in Fallujah on March 31, 2004.

Blackwater USA Takes Congressional Hot-Seat as Landmark Hearing Probes Mercenary Firm’s Role in Iraq

On Wednesday February 7, Blackwater USA found itself in the Congressional hotseat as Rep. Henry Waxman launched the opening salvo in what could be a very long Congressional road for the Bush administration's mercenary company of choice. For the first time, Blackwater was forced to face the families of four of its contractors ambushed and killed in Fallujah on March 31, 2004. The families of the four men have filed a ground-breaking wrongful death suit against Blackwater, alleging the company cut corners in the pursuit of greater profits, sending their loved ones into Fallujah under-staffed, under-armed and in Pajero jeeps instead of fully-armored vehicles. Blackwater founder and CEO Erik Prince had been invited to testify but instead sent an emissary, Blackwater legal counsel Andrew Howell. On February 8, the day after the hearing, Jeremy Scahill--who was in Washington for the hearings-- appeared on the national radio and television program Democracy Now! to discuss developments in the case. Also on the show was Katy Helvenston, who is suing Blackwater. Her son, 32-year old Scott Helvenston, was one of the contractors killed in Fallujah. READ THE TRANSCRIPT, WATCH THE PROGRAM.

Congress Begins Blackwater Investigation

In Washington DC this week, the Democratic Staff Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) will begin what some analysts and Capitol Hill operatives are saying will be a series of investigations into Blackwater USA. The hearings kick off on Tuesday when former Iraq administrator L. Paul Bremer III appears before the committee. Bremer, who served as the proconsul in Baghdad from 2003-2004, was protected by Blackwater under an initial $21 million no-bid contract. Blackwater subsequently won a $300 million State Department contract to provide diplomatic security and has guarded Ambassadors John Negroponte and Zalmay Khalilzad, as well as several regional occupation offices in Iraq. On Wednesday, the hearings will focus in on the high-profile ambush of a Blackwater convoy in Fallujah on March 31, 2004. Four Blackwater contractors were killed, their bodies burned and hung from a bridge. That event marked a turning point in the war that sparked multiple U.S. sieges of Fallujah and emboldened the Iraqi resistance that haunts occupation forces to this day. Appearing at the hearing will be the mothers of the four contractors killed. They have filed a ground-breaking wrongful death lawsuit against Blackwater. Also asked to appear is Blackwater's secretive CEO and founder, Erik Prince. Congressional sources, however, are predicting that Prince will send a representative instead of appearing himself. READ JEREMY SCAHILL'S ARTICLE ON THE LAWSUIT: "BLOOD IS THICKER THAN BLACKWATER." At issue will also be the system of subcontracting in Iraq and who exactly the four Blackwater contractor's were working for the day they were killed. In addition, representatives of the massive war contractors KBR and Fluor, as well as military officials will testify. Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), chair of the Senate Foreign Rleations Committee, have both indicated in recent days their intent to investigate private armies and other war contractors.