Top executives at Blackwater Worldwide approved secret payoffs of about $1 million to buy the silence of Iraqi officials after the security firm’s guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians, four former company officials told The New York Times this week. The shootings, which took place in Baghdad in September 2007, sparked an international outcry over the use of private contractors like Blackwater in war zones.
It is not known if any money actually changed hands, or to which Iraqi officials it may have been directed. Bribing foreign officials is illegal under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. A spokesman for Blackwater, which is now called Xe Services, called the charges “baseless.” Five Blackwater guards involved in the shooting face federal manslaughter charges.
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