As troubling as the details of Blackwater USA’s record in Iraq are, members of Congress should be equally concerned about the State Department’s apparent lack of oversight of the company. Rather than investigate instances when Blackwater employees have killed Iraqis, the department has suggested paying the families to “get the case behind us quickly.” If the United States plans to continue to use large numbers of private companies to supplement the work of its armed forces in Iraq and elsewhere, it must have higher standards for contractor behavior and a strong government oversight system for ensuring these standards are met.

Neither seemed to be in place with regard to the contractors employed by the State Department in Iraq.The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform began a review of Blackwater after a Sept. 16 incident when the company’s men opened fire on a crowd in Baghdad, killing at least 11 Iraqis. The committee’s Democratic staff found “there is no evidence in the documents that the Committee has reviewed that the State Department sought to restrain Blackwater’s actions, raised concerns about the number of shooting incidents involving Blackwater or the company’s high rate of shooting first, or detained Blackwater contractors for investigation.”

The staff found that although the company’s contract says it can engage only in defensive use of force, Blackwater employees fired the first shots in 85 percent of the incidents where shooting was involved. Company employees have shot bystanders and caused traffic accidents without remaining at the scene to check on the well-being of the Iraqis involved.

The head of Blackwater, Erik Prince, told the House committee Tuesday that none of its protectees had been killed, a sure measure of the company’s success, he said. While this is one measure of success, not unnecessarily killing Iraqis and inflaming anti-American sentiment is another.

Unfortunately, the State Department does not appear to understand this. In two instances when Iraqis were killed under questionable circumstances by Blackwater employees, the department urged a quick payment to the family to make the problem go away, according to the House committee. In one instance, when a guard for the Iraqi vice president was killed by a Blackwater contractor, the U.S. Embassy first suggested compensation of $250,000. The Diplomatic Security Service said this was too high and would cause Iraqis to “try to get killed so as to set up their family financially” and the sum was dropped to $15,000.

Based on its review, the committee asked a very important question: “Is Blackwater’s presence advancing or undermining U.S. efforts in Iraq?” A corollary is whether lack of State Department oversight allowed the company to get to this place. If so, lawmakers should be prepared to strengthen that oversight.