IRAQ
License to Kill? License Revoked.
Yesterday, the Interior Ministry of Iraq announced that it was revoking
the license of Blackwater
USA, a private American company that provides security to
government and private officials in Iraq such as Amb. Ryan
Crocker. Employees of the firm were involved in Baghdad shootout
that killed
at least nine civilians, including a mother and her child. Details
of the shootout are murky. The shooting began after a car bomb
exploded near a State Department motorcade in central Baghdad.
Blackwater and U.S. officials say the security contractors then exchanged
fire with armed attackers, but "three people who claimed to have
witnessed the shooting" told McClatchy that "only the
Blackwater guards were firing." Regardless, the incident has sent
shockwaves through Iraq. "We have canceled the license of Blackwater
and prevented
them from
working all over Iraqi territory," said Interior Ministry spokesman
Abdul-Karim Khalaf. "We will also refer those involved to Iraqi
judicial authorities." A senior Iraqi official, however, told Time that
"as far as the license being permanently revoked, 'it's
not a done deal yet.'" Additionally, it is unlikely
that Iraqi courts would have the legal ability to hold the
contractors accountable. While Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
called Iraqi Prime Minister Mouri al-Maliki yesterday to offer
condolences and the promise of a "fair
and transparent investigation," one American official in Baghdad
told The New York Times that "this incident will be the
true test of diplomacy between the State
Department and the government of Iraq."
THE FALLOUT: Approximately 1,000
Blackwater employees are currently operating in Iraq. If the Iraqi government is able
to successfully kick Blackwater out of the country, the move would deal
"a blow
to U.S. government operations in
Iraq by stripping" many "diplomats, engineers, reconstruction
officials and
others of their security protection." "There is simply no way at all
that the State Department's Bureau of
Diplomatic Security could ever have enough full-time personnel to staff
the security function in Iraq. There
is no alternative except through
contracts," said Crocker in his Senate testimony
last week. The Iraqi government has also said that it will "review the
status of all private security firms operating in the country" to
"determine whether such contractors were operating in compliance with
Iraqi law." The total number of private contractors in Iraq is
estimated between 126,000 and 180,000,
which includes 20,000
to 50,000 private security guards. The expulsion of Blackwater from
Iraq would be a boon for Iraqi politicians as "newspapers
in Iraq on Tuesday trumpeted the government's decision." Maliki is
expected to "gain political capital from the move
against unpopular foreign security contractors" while the national
government as a whole would be given a political "boost."
PRIVATE
CONTRACTOR'S DARK PAST: "Visible, aggressive" private
contractors have "angered many Iraqis, who consider them a
mercenary force that runs roughshod over people in their own
country." At Abu Ghraib, "the U.S. Army found that contractors
were involved in 36
percent of proven abuse incidents," but "not a single private
contractor named in the Army's investigation report has been charged,
prosecuted or punished." Though many other private security firms are
operating in Iraq, Blackwater is perhaps the most visible. On March 31,
2004, four
contractors working for Blackwater were brutally killed in
Fallujah. After images of their mutilated bodies were shown hanging
from a bridge, the American military laid siege to the city, resulting
in some of the most intense fighting of the war. In Dec. 2006, a
Blackwater employee allegedly drunkenly
killed a guard for the Iraqi Vice President. Instead of being held
accountable in Iraq, the contractor was smuggled
out of the country and fired by the company. This past May,
"Blackwater guards were involved
in shooting incidents on consecutive days in Baghdad." In total,
Interior Ministry officials say they have "received reports of at least
a half-dozen incidents in which Blackwater
guards allegedly shot civilians, far more than any other company."
LEGAL GREY AREA: "A Blackwater
employee is not going to be subject to Iraqi courts," says Scott
Silliman, director of the Center on Law, Ethics, and National Security
at Duke University. The day before the Coalition Provisional Authority
ceased to exist, L. Paul Bremer, the chief American envoy in Iraq,
issued CPA
Order 17, which "granted American private security contractors immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts." Though "the Iraqi
government has contested
the continued application of this order," they are restrained from
"changing or revoking CPA orders," so the order is still in effect. It
is unclear what U.S. laws would govern the actions of private security
contractors operating in a foreign country. Though "uniformed military
personnel are subject to the Uniform Code of
Military Justice, and 'persons serving with or accompanying an armed
force in the field' are technically subject as well," the application
of the UCMJ to these private contractors would likely
face constitutional challenges. The Military
Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 2000 covers civilians working
for the Department of Defense, but even this would be insufficient to
cover Blackwater employees involved in Sunday's shootout, since they
are actually employed by the State Department.
CONGRESS NEEDS TO ACT: Yesterday,
House Oversight Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) announced that "the
Oversight Committee will be holding hearings to
understand what has
happened and the extent of the damage to U.S. security
interests." In addition to investigating this specific incident,
action needs to be taken that explicitly clarifies what laws govern
private contractors and how they can officially be held accountable for
their actions. In fall 2006, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) added a clause
to the 2007 Defense bill that "changed the law defining UCMJ to cover
civilians
not just in times of declared war but also contingency operations."
But "no Pentagon guidance has been issued
on how this clause might be used by JAGs in the field." Graham's clause
also didn't
not extend to contractors not working for the Defense Department.
Rep. David E. Price (D-NC) "has proposed legislation that would make
all contractors, whether they work for the State Department or the
Defense Department, to be subject
to prosecution under U.S. law."
ETHICS -- INVESTIGATION
INTO ROVE'S CORRUPTION IN
JEOPARDY DUE TO FUNDING: In April, the Office of Special
Counsel (OSC) launched
a six-member task force examining "the firing of at least one U.S. attorney, missing White
House e-mails, and White House efforts to keep presidential appointees
attuned to Republican political priorities." The probe -- the most
"broad and high-profile inquiry" in the OSC's history -- focused on the
activities of Karl Rove and White House political operations that
allegedly violated
the Hatch Act, which bars federal officials from partisan political
activity while on the job. Scott Bloch, head of the
OSC, began the investigation promising to "leave no stone
unturned," but has now gone over budget.
"Without a last-minute infusion of nearly $3 million, the
special task
force may be unable to pay its staff and buy the kind of technical
assistance it needs." The office Bloch heads is actually "a
White House office, and the House of Representatives apparently told
Bloch to go
ask for the extra money from the White House."
ENVIRONMENT -- IPCC: GLOBAL WARMING BEING FELT 'ON EVERY
CONTINENT,' 'SOONER THAN EXPECTED': A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change concludes that "hundreds
of millions of people in
developing nations will face natural disasters, water shortages and
hunger" due to climate change. The report warned that global warming's
effects are already being felt "on every continent, and sooner than
expected." "Professor Martin Parry, who chairs the working group, said
today that he was pessimistic about the chances of keeping the increase
in global average temperatures below 2C," which would severely damage
the environment. "Africa
will be one of the areas worst hit"
by climate change; by 2020, "the report warns, up to 250
million
Africans may be left short of water, while access to sufficient
food is
'projected to be severely compromised by climate variability and
change.'" Coinciding with last month being the "second
warmest August on record," the IPCC stated that "[d]eveloped
regions like the US and
southern Europe are likely to experience more
severe summer heatwaves."
CONGRESS -- SENATORS REINTRODUCE
HABEAS CORPUS RESTORATION ACT: Yesterday, Sens. Chris Dodd
(D-CT) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) reintroduced
the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act as an amendment to the defense authorization bill. The act would
restore
the right of habeas corpus to so-called enemy combatants, which was stripped
by last year's Military Commissions Act. "I take a back seat
to no
one, when it comes to defending our national security. ... But
there is a right way and a wrong way to win the fight we are in,"
Dodd said. Though the bill enjoys bipartisan
support, some conservatives are determined to fight the
measure. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) explained
yesterday that "we don't allow enemy combatants to
continue their war against us through the judiciary, through
litigation." As the New York Times wrote, "There
is nothing conservative about expressing contempt for the Constitution by denying judicial procedure to prisoners who happen not to be
Americans."
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The White House has "told
nearly a dozen Cabinet secretaries to send letters to Capitol Hill" rejecting Congress's proposed new funds for their agencies. The "carefully scripted letters" warn lawmakers
that their moves could harm "agency operations" and the "integrity of
the budget process." Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) responded that he was "disappointed"
in their "rhetoric."
A week after he told U.S. lawmakers about "progress" in Iraq, Gen.
David Petraeus will be in Britain today, briefing
Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO), who previously "has not supported Congress
using its ability to stop war payments in order to force President Bush
to change direction," said yesterday that Congress should look at
cutting off funds. "If it could be done then I think we
ought to take a look at it," Salazar said.
Thirteen senior House members "have been served with subpoenas from defense
attorneys representing Brent Wilkes, the former defense contractor
charged with bribing imprisoned ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.). None
of the lawmakers will comply with the subpoena."
The Senate will vote today on a bill to provide the District of Columbia with voting
rights. The legislation, which has passed the House,
would give D.C. a full voting member of the U.S. House while also providing
Utah an additional seat.
A day after Iraqi officials ordered Blackwater USA to leave the
country, the government has announced that it will "review
the status of all private security firms operating in the country."
Salon writes that Iraqis who seek redress for the deaths of the
civilians at the hands of U.S. contractors in a criminal court are out
of luck.
Because of an order promulgated by the former Coalition Provisional
Authority, "there appears to be almost no chance that the contractors
involved would be, or could be, successfully prosecuted in any
court in Iraq."
And finally: "Fashionistas all over Capitol Hill hailed Rep. Al
Green Monday for rocking his cell phone earpiece during remarks on the House floor. The fashion-forward Texas Democrat
may or may not be the first ever lawmaker to sport such a device during
remarks on the floor, but he certainly turned heads from C-Span viewers
everywhere." See the photo HERE. |
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An "unprecedented 195 companies received the top
score of 100 percent" in Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index,
which measures LGBT-positive practices in businesses.
TEXAS: State
officials challenge a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act
"requiring jurisdictions with a history of discrimination at the polls
to seek permission from the Justice Department" before making any
changes.
CALIFORNIA:
Federal judge tosses out "lawsuit filed by California that sought
to
hold the world's six largest automakers accountable for their
contribution to global warming."
HEALTH
CARE: New federal study shows "huge variations" in personal health
spending among states.
THINK
PROGRESS: International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed El
Baradei fights off drumbeat for Iran war, warns pre-war Iraq failures
are being repeated.
TV
NEWSER: Ratings for Sen. Jack Reed's (D-RI) pro-withdrawal response
beat
President Bush's stay-the-course speech on two major outlets.
CLIMATE
PROGRESS: 2007 was the second warmest August in U.S. history.
THE
BLOTTER: Investigation of White House politicization jeopardized by
underfunding.
"I've known Jim Jones for 30 years. It's not what he's saying."
-- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), 9/16/07,
on whether retired Gen. James Jones said political reconciliation must
occur before security progress in
Iraq
VERSUS
"Political reconciliation is the key to ending sectarian violence in
Iraq."
-- Jones, 9/6/07,
Report of the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq
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