A report reveals that private US security firm Blackwater had allocated USD1 million to Iraqi officials to buy their support and silence criticisms leveled against the firm after a fatal Baghdad shooting in 2007.
In an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday, four former executives revealed that in December 2007 Blackwater's then-president, Gary Jackson, approved the payment of a one-million-dollar bribe to Iraqi officials in a bid to hush-down condemnations.
In September 2007, Blackwater agents opened random fire on pedestrians with machine guns and rocket launchers, killing 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square in an 'unprovoked' attack.
The bloody incident drew worldwide condemnation, prompting the Iraqi government to refuse to extend Blackwater's license. The company later changed its name to Xe Services LLC in an attempt to distance itself from the 2007 incident.
However, despite its controversial records in Iraq during the Bush administration, the shadowy US-based paramilitary security company has continued its ongoing relationship with Washington under President Barack Obama.
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