October 09, 2007
Contractors Fight Could Pose True Test Of Iraqi Sovereignty
Iraqi police are reporting that two women have been killed by private security guards for a civilian convoy in central Baghdad. The incident comes two days after the Iraqi government issued a report finding a Sept. 16 attack that killed 17 civilians and wounded 22 others was unprovoked.
Worrisomely for the Bush administration, the Iraqis seem determined to prosecute the Blackwater USA guards involved in that shooting, potentially setting a precedent for all future incidents, including today's.
According to a congressional report, Blackwater alone has been involved in nearly 200 shootings in the past two years. Iraqis have long complained of callous or brutal treatment at the hands of contractors. So far, the worst that has happened to any of the private guards employed by the U.S. is being firing.
The Iraqis now argue that a law shielding U.S. contractors from the Iraqi justice system is null and void. In a statement, the government vowed to take "judicial measures to punish the company," and according to AP, is demanding the U.S. cancel all contracts in Iraq with Blackwater as well as $8 million each for the victims' families.
The Iraqis are frustrated that the Blackwater guards are safe from prosecution under U.S. law. Contractors hired by State are not subject to the Uniformed Code of Military Conduct, a loophole some lawmakers have vowed to fix. In the meantime, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government is drawing up legislation that would bring all contractors within reach of the Iraqi judicial system -- a potential deal-breaker for U.S. contracts going forward.
Foreign contractors now outnumber total U.S. forces in Iraq, and private guards are increasingly taking charge of escorting U.S. convoys. With the announcement that British troop levels will be halved to 2,500 by next spring, what was already clear is now even more so: privately run armed forces will be picking up the load as coalition forces draw down. The Economist notes that contractors make the U.S. presence in Iraq possible -- a point not lost on the contractors themselves or by U.S. military commanders.
The firm involved in today's incident has not been identified, but the Iraqis insist the shooters were foreign. Photos of the bloodied car in which the women were shot to death as they neared a checkpoint will only inflame tensions.
Few if any private firms would willingly subject themselves to criminal prosecution in foreign courts, so letting the Iraqis have their way seems out of the question. But can the Bush administration stop the parliament from passing and enforcing its own laws? Without being able to administer justice itself, the scuffle over private security firms puts the U.S. in a real bind. The State Department last week began taking extra oversight measures for Blackwater employees pending an FBI investigation, but that will do little to sate a long-frustrated Iraqi government -- let alone the families of civilians killed in the crossfire.
Photo by Flickr user markk2.
Posted at 2:20 PM
Posted to:
Bush Administration, Iraq, Middle East
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