The House Oversight Committee today requested the chairman of the controversial private military contractor Blackwater USA to testify before the Committee regarding the mission and performance of Blackwater and its affiliated companies in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Committee Chairman Henry Waxman requested former Navy Seal Erik Prince to appear at the hearing on October 2, to answer the question whether the
govemment's heavy reliance on private security contractors is serving US interests in lraq.
Another question examined at the hearing will be whether the specific conduct of Prince's company has advanced or impeded US efforts.
The contractor has been accused of war profiteering by human rights groups and government watchdogs.
Blackwater USA received no-bid contracts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and "post-Katrina New Orleans" from the current Bush administration, but on September 17, 2007, the Iraqi government said that "it was revoking the license" of Blackwater USA, which has been "accused of involvement in the deaths of eight civilians in a firefight[3] that followed a car bomb explosion near a State Department motorcade, according to Sourcewatch.
Families of the contractors killed in Falluja in March 2004 have sued the private contractor marking the first time a company has been sued for deaths in the line of work.
Blackwater USA Vice Cofer Black was named last week as the chairman of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's counterterrorism policy advisory group.
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