Blackwater era ending in Iraq

The troubled Blackwater era ends in Iraq on Thursday as another firm takes over the once-dominant company's security services contract in Baghdad.Triple Canopy, a Herndon, Virginia-based company, picks up the expiring contract of Blackwater, which changed its name to Xe a few months ago. The State Department decided in January to not renew Blackwater/Xe's contract.That followed a refusal by the Iraqi government to renew the firm's operating license because of a September 2007 shooting in which the Iraqi government says security guards -- then employed by Blackwater -- killed 17 Iraqi civilians.As part of a contract to protect American diplomats and other employees around the world, the State Department hired Blackwater for a multi-year assignment in Iraq, renewable once a year. Blackwater/Xe, one of three security firms working for the United States, had one of the biggest security contracts in Iraq, providing security for the sprawling U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.