This article originally provided by Yahoo

September 20, 2007

["Joint Commission" is First Step in Bushevik Effort to Keep Blackwater in Iraq]

US, Iraq agree on joint commission on Blackwater shooting

Iraq and the United States agreed to set up a joint commission to examine security of US government officials in Iraq following a deadly shooting involving private security firm Blackwater, the State Department said Wednesday.

"The commission's goal is to make joint policy recommendations, including specific suggestions for improving US and Iraqi procedures regarding government-affiliated personal security details," department spokesman Tom Casey said.

The crisis was sparked when Blackwater guards escorting US embassy officials opened fire in a Baghdad neighborhood on September 16, killing 10 people and wounding 13.

Iraqis say that civilians were killed, while Blackwater insists the convoy came under attack from insurgents.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to ease his concerns on Monday, but Maliki on Wednesday called for US officials to replace Blackwater. The White House has not commented on that demand.

"The United States regrets the loss of life," said Casey. "And we reiterate our commitment, again, to a comprehensive and transparent investigation of the incident and to full participation by the US in activities of this commission."

He added: "There is the individual incident itself, and then there's the broader question of security and safety issues that are related to personal security detail operations in Iraq."

The US embassy in Baghdad has barred its officials from traveling by land outside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone amid fears of attacks after Sunday's shooting.

But Casey stressed "that the US embassy is fully functioning, that it's able to carry out its needed activities."

The commission, which will be co-chaired by US and Iraqi officials, "is not conducting a specific investigation into this incident," he said, but the shooting "will be a significant portion of what it deals with."

He added that the commission will "receive the results of the US investigation on this" shooting and consider them when making its recommendations.