Blackwater in Baghdad

On February 16, 2005, four Blackwater guards escorting a U.S. State Department convoy fired 70 rounds into an Iraqi's car. The guards stated that they felt threatened by the car's approach. The fate of the car's driver was unknown because the convoy did not stop after the shooting. An investigation by the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service concluded that the shooting was not justified and that the Blackwater employees provided false statements to investigators. The false statements claimed that the one of the Blackwater vehicles had been hit by insurgent gunfire, but the investigation found that one of the Blackwater guards had actually fired into his own vehicle. John Frese, the U.S. embassy in Iraq's top security official, declined to punish Blackwater or the security guards, stating that "any disciplinary actions would be deemed as lowering the morale" of the Blackwater contractors.
On Christmas Eve 2006, a security guard of the Iraqi vice president, Adel Abdul Mahdi, was shot and killed while on duty outside the Iraqi prime minister's compound. The Iraqi government has accused Andrew J. Moonen, at the time an employee of Blackwater USA, of murdering him while drunk. Moonen was subsequently fired by Blackwater for "violating alcohol and firearm policy", and travelled from Iraq to the United States days after the incident. United States Attorneys are currently investigating. The United States Department and Blackwater USA had attempted to keep his identity secret. Despite the Blackwater incident, Moonen found subsequent employment. From February to August 2007, he was employed by U.S. Defense Department contractor Combat Support Associates (CSA) in Kuwait. In April 2007, the U.S. Department of Defense tried to call him back to active duty, but cancelled the request because Moonen was overseas.
Five Blackwater contractors were killed on January 23, 2007, in Iraq when their Huges H-6 helicopter was shot down on Baghdad's Haifa Street. The crash site was secured by a personal security detail, callsign "Jester" from 1/26 Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Three insurgencies claimed to be responsible for shooting down the helicopter, although such has not been confirmed by the United States. A U.S. defense official has confirmed that four of the five killed were shot execution style in the back of the head, but did not know whether the four had survived the crash.
In late May 2007, Blackwater contractors opened fire on the streets of Baghdad twice in two days, one of the incidents provoking a standoff between the security contractors and Iraqi Interior Ministry commandos, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials. On May 30, 2007, Blackwater employees shot an Iraqi civilian deemed to have been "driving too close" to a State Department convoy that was being escorted by Blackwater contractors. Other private security contractors, such as Aegis Defence Services have been accused of similar actions. Doug Brooks, the president of the International Peace Operations Association ("IPOA"), a trade group representing Blackwater and other military contractors, said that in his view military would not apply to Blackwater employees working for the State Department. In October 2007, Blackwater USA announced that the company was taking a "hiatus" from membership in IPOA.
A sniper employed by Blackwater Worldwide opened fire from the roof of the Iraqi Justice Ministry, killing three guards working for the state-funded Iraqi Media Network on February 6, 2006. According to the 13 witnesses who were present, the guards had not fired on the Justice Ministry. An Iraqi police report described the shootings as "an act of terrorism" and said Blackwater "caused the incident. Iraqi Media Network concluded that the guards were killed "without any provocation. The U.S. State Department, based on information obtained from Blackwater guards, who said they were fired upon, concluded that the team's murderous actions "fell within approved rules governing the use of force.