Erik Prince, chairman of Blackwater USA, testifies before a Congressional committee.
Photo by Lisa Chiu

By LISA CHIU

Erik Prince, head of the private security company Blackwater USA, testified before a congressional committee Tuesday, amid federal investigations into a Sept. 16 shooting by his employees in Baghdad that left 11 Iraqis dead.

Members of the House Committee on Government and Oversight Reform planned to question Prince about the shooting, but chose not to due to a last minute request by the FBI, which has opened an investigation into the incident.

Instead, lawmakers grilled the former Navy SEAL about previous incidents involving Blackwater security, including a 2004 flight operated by Blackwater Aviation that crashed in an Afghan canyon. The crash killed the flight crew and three U.S. military personnel.

The committee chairman Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., said investigations show that the crash was caused by reckless conduct by the pilots who acted “like cowboys” and mistakes by Blackwater for hiring unqualified and inexperienced pilots.

“I disagree with the contention that they acted like cowboys,” Prince said. “We provide a reliable service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yes, accidents happen, but we’ve flown thousands of flights since then.”

Prince said his company was hired to fill a void to perform small missions involving airstrips that are too small for military aircraft.

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., questioned Prince about a Blackwater employee who was fired for shooting to death an Iraqi bodyguard for Iraqi Vice President Adil Abdul Mahdi. The employee was off-duty and intoxicated at the time of the shooting.

“If this employee was in the military, he would be under a court marshal. If he was a civilian, he’d be arrested and in jail,” Maloney said. “It’s clear to me Blackwater has special rules that within 36 hours of the shooting, he is flown out of Iraq. This caused great tension between the Iraq government and the U.S. military.”

Prince said the employee violated policy and was fined for the shooting. The Justice Department is now investigating.

“I’m not going to make any apologies for what he did,” Prince said. “He slipped away from a [Christmas Eve] party by himself, on his own time. He clearly violated policy. He was fired.”

Prince said that in 2007 his company operated 1,873 security details for diplomatic visits and weapons were discharged in only 56 incidents, or about 3 percent of all movements.

“I believe they acted appropriately at all times,” Prince said of the 56 incidents. “We only play defense.”

He repeatedly said that no individual protected by Blackwater has ever been killed or seriously injured, while 30 security officers have been killed. He also said he would cooperate fully with the FBI investigation.

“This is not about what you do well,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., “The question is: In an incident, where is the accountability and responsibility?”

The committee also heard testimony from Ambassador David M. Satterfield, the State Department’s Iraq Coordinator; Ambassador Richard J. Griffin, assistant secretary for the bureau of diplomatic security; and William H. Moser, deputy assistant secretary for logistics management.

See Prince’s statement on CNN.