Alden Pyle lives: “I hope we can put this unfortunate matter behind us quickly.”

So said a State Department official in response to the murder of an innocent Iraqi bystander by a Blackwater USA “operator.” The official suggested that Blackwater pay the victim’s family $5,000 to hasten the putting.

(Quoted in a new report on Blackwater by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which also includes this indictment:

The Blackwater and State Department records reveal that Blackwater’s use of force in Iraq is frequent and extensive, resulting in significant casualties and property damage. Blackwater is legally and contractually bound to only engage in defensive uses of force to prevent “imminent and grave danger” to themselves or others. In practice, however, the vast majority of Blackwater weapons discharges are preemptive, with Blackwater forces firing first at a vehicle or suspicious individual prior to receiving any fire.

Thanks to the data included with the report, “vast majority” can be specified exactly: Blackwater shot first 163 out of 195 times, or 84%.)