Blackwater E-Mail Outlines Gear Shortage

Surviving family members of four Blackwater contractors killed in Iraq testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007, before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Iraq contracts. From left are, Rhonda Teague and Donna Zovko. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook) (Dennis Cook - AP)

"Yes we did," Howell replied.

"Have you skimped on equipment?" asked Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah.

"We have not skimped on equipment, no sir," Howell said.

The hearing became emotional when Kathryn Helvenston-Wettengel, mother of slain Blackwater guard Stephen Scott Helvenston, read a statement on behalf of the families. She stopped several times to collect herself.

The three men killed in addition to Helvenston _ a former Navy SEAL _ were Wesley Batalona, a former Army Ranger represented by his daughter Kristal; Michael Teague, formerly in an Army helicopter unit, represented by his widow Rhonda; and Jerry Zovko, a former Army Ranger represented by his mother Donna.

The families have sued Blackwater, contending that was the only way they could learn the circumstances of the killings.

Howell said the U.S. military had classified the incident and he could not discuss the details.

The Blackwater attorney and several Republican lawmakers said the families were improperly trying to argue their case in a congressional hearing rather than a courtroom.

Helvenston-Wettengel said the security guards were denied armored vehicles, heavy weapons and maps for their convoy routes, and that the rear gunners were removed from vehicles to perform other duties.

"Blackwater gets paid for the number of warm bodies it can put on the ground in certain locations throughout the world," she said. "If some are killed, it replaces them at a moment's notice."

Helvenston-Wettengel said her son was alive when Iraqis tied him to his vehicle and dragged him through the streets. He eventually was decapitated.

Howell said lawyers for the family members were using the hearing for their own purposes, and that it should not delve into an "incomplete and one-sided exploration of a specific battlefield incident."

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said he did not believe the testimony was germane to a house committee scrutinizing U.S. companies with Iraq contracts.