Blackwater Likely to Be Cut Out of Iraq

A private military contractor gestures to colleagues flying ovehead in a helicopter as they secure the scene of a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq in this Tuesday, July 5, 2005 file photo. U.S. and Iraqi officials are negotiating Baghdad's demand that security company Blackwater USA be expelled from the country within six months, and American diplomats appear to be working on how to fill the security gap if the company is phased out.(AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic, file) (Marko Drobnjakovic - AP)

The team of State Department management experts and outside specialists is expected to recommend greater oversight of security contractors and better coordination of their work with military forces, two officials said.

It is practically impossible to eliminate private security contractors altogether in Iraq because there are not enough department security agents to fill the gap, officials said.

Blackwater and two other contractors share a $571 million annual contract to protect diplomats and others in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and other countries. The Iraq share of the contract accounts for about $520 million, although not all goes to Blackwater.

The review also looked at the rules of engagement for department escorts and whether there is anything unique to Blackwater's training, operations and corporate culture that made mistakes in judgment or civilian deaths more likely.

It is not clear whether the review will extend to consideration of an idea floated by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to consolidate management of security contractors that work in Iraq for numerous U.S. government agencies, including the Pentagon and State Department.

Gates discussed the idea with Rice during a joint meeting last week in Moscow, a State Department official said.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Gates thinks "it is worth exploring" whether one chain of command should oversee all private security contractors in Iraq. Morrell said it would be going too far to say that Gates is advocating this approach.

In the Sept. 16 incident, Iraqi officials say Blackwater guards opened fire without provocation in Baghdad's Nisoor Square and killed 17 Iraqi citizens.

The Iraqi government is demanding that Blackwater be expelled from the country within six months.