Military Control of Contractors Pushed

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The New York Sun

WASHINGTON — Congress is moving to put all armed contractors operating in combat zones under military control, acting on a Pentagon recommendation that could run into resistance at the State Department.

The Senate this month included such a requirement in its 2008 defense authorization bill. Senator Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters yesterday he is confident the House will go along with the idea and include it in a final bill sent to President Bush.

Secretary of State Rice was to testify today about the subject before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

She has ordered new rules for the private guards who are hired to protect American diplomats. They include increased monitoring and explicit rules on when and how they can use deadly force. The steps were recommended by a review panel that Ms. Rice created after a deadly September 16 shooting involving Blackwater USA guards.

Ms. Rice also called for better coordination with the military, but did not explicitly act on a suggestion by Defense Secretary Gates that combatant commanders have control over the contractors.

Mr. Levin, Democrat of Michigan, said he was not sure if Ms. Rice expressly opposed the idea. “Whether she likes it or not, we expect to get this language” to emerge in the compromise with the House.

“It’s not slapdash” and “is something we’ve been working on a long time,” Mr. Levin said.

The Blackwater shooting provoked an outcry from the Democratic-led Congress and the Iraqi government, which is demanding that it have the right to prosecute the contractors.

In more fallout, the State Department’s security chief resigned yesterday.


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