Richard Griffin was appointed to his post being in charge of security for United States diplomats in Iraq on June 2005. After the heavy criticism came from how the firms such as Blackwater USA have been supervised in Iraq, Richard Griffin has resigned. He had left his post the day after the department decided to strengthen oversight on how the private security firms are supervised.
One of the factors that harsh criticism stems from is the incident involving Blackwater USA resulting in the deaths of several Iraqi civilians. At the moment, foreign private security contractors are immune from prosecution under Iraqi law. However, that law was implemented by the interim government that is now defunct. Iraqi officials see that the law shouldn’t apply anymore.
At the moment, Iraq’s government are planning and preparing a bill that would make foreign private security firms accountable in the country from a local standpoint. It is said that the bill was being talked about and will be submitted soon to the Iraqi parliament.
Blackwater USA is the one private security firm that is under the international eyes of scrutiny for its role in the death of seventeen civilians in Baghdad the last month. Operatives of Blackwater insist they fired upon self-defense. Iraqi civilians and police accuse Blackwater of being “trigger-happy.”
The US State Department explains that there is an important need for stronger and tougher oversight on how private security firms operate in Iraq.