By Marlene, Tiffany and Jose
Three days after the deadly shooting Sunday in Baghdad in which employees of private security firm Blackwater killed as many as 20 Iraqi civilians, the White House remains tight-lipped on the incident.
Press secretary Dana Perino decline to comment on behalf of Pres. George W. Bush, saying she has not yet discussed the matter with him.
Perino referred all other questions on the shooting to the State Department, which also announced Wednesday the creation of a joint U.S.-Iraqi commission to investigate Sunday’s events.
Blackwater employees opened fire on Iraqi civilians Sunday, allegedly in response to a car bombing that threatened the security of U.S. officials.
“We are in a very dangerous situation over there, and civilians who are working for either the State Department or other agencies need protection,” Perino said
Equally unclear at this point, Perino said, is who will now protect U.S. officials in Iraq, given that Iraqi officials responded to the event – as well as long-time complaints from Iraqis that U.S. contractors routinely open fire on civilians without provocation –by revoking Blackwater’s license to operate in Iraq.
“This company should be punished. We are not going to allow it to kill Iraqis in cold blood. We have frozen all its activities and a joint panel has been formed to investigate the incident,” Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said.
See the press briefing transcript here.
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