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October 6, 2008

State Dept. Outsources Investigations of Contractor Crimes
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The State Department is coming under new scrutiny for outsourcing to
private firms the task of investigating other private contractors for
criminal activity in Iraq. ABC News reports the Bureau of Diplomatic
Security is now relying on a company called US Investigations Services
(USIS) to handle the bulk of its probes. The most controversial
investigation surrounds the killings of seventeen Iraqi civilians by
employees of the military firm Blackwater Worldwide in Baghdad’s Nisoor
Square. The one-year anniversary of the Nisoor Square massacre passed
last month with not a single criminal charge to date. According to ABC
News, eight USIS employees comprise the majority of the Federal
Investigations Unit, the government body formed to probe contractor
crimes.



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