Obama proposes getting tougher on military contractors

By Ed Tibbetts | Wednesday, October 03, 2007

TODAY:  (Updated at 2 p.m.) IOWA CITY — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama proposed cracking down on military contractors in an appearance here today, criticizing the Blackwater USA security firm that was the target of a congressional hearing Tuesday.

Obama, a senator from Illinois, called for greater oversight and a special FBI office to investigate contractor abuses in remarks to more than 700 people at the Iowa Memorial Union here.

“We cannot win the fight for hearts and minds when we outsource critical missions to unaccountable contractors,” he said.

Blackwater personnel were involved in a shooting in September in Iraq in which several civilians were killed. The incident is under investigation.

The head of Blackwater, Erik Prince, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Tuesday that his firm has acted appropriately in its operations in Iraq.

In his speech here, Obama cited an allegation involving a Blackwater employee accused of being intoxicated when he shot and killed a security guard of an Iraqi official last year. The senator said the worker was then “whisked out of the country.”

“This is outrageous,” Obama said.

In his testimony yesterday, Prince said the worker was fired.

The senator also cited a report by the Brookings Institution that said “the use of private military contractors appears to have harmed rather than helped the counter-insurgency efforts of the U.S. mission in Iraq.” Obama said the Bush administration has not demanded accountability.

After his remarks here, Obama was headed to another town hall meeting in Washington, Iowa. He is spending several days in Iowa this week to highlight the fifth anniversary of a 2002 speech that he gave opposing the Iraq war. He was an Illinois state senator at the time.

Obama’s visit comes the same day as a new poll, conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News, that says rival U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has opened up a 33 percentage point lead. The national poll of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents shows Clinton with 53 percent, while Obama is at 20 percent. John Edwards was in third with 13 percent.

Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at (563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com. Comment on this article at qctimes.com.