Blackwater Illustrates the Achilles' Heel of Using Contractors in Hostile Zones

Tomorrow, Representative Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Governmental Reform, will hold hearings on Blackwater, the largest of the private security firms in Iraq. There will be many issues discussed and debated. The committee recently issued a report on the failures of the company when they sent out four of the employees on that ill-fated trip to Fallujah which ended with parts of those employees hanging from a bridge in 2004. As I illustrate in my book, this incident, which was shown on national television, forced a strong response from the Army and they stormed Fallujah, killing many of our troops, many civilians and forced the town to empty, causing the suffering of refugees.

Now we have the current situation where the State Department is reliant on Blackwater for their security to moving around the country and even in Baghdad but the Iraq government wants Blackwater out because of the most recent, alleged trigger-happy incident in a Baghdad intersection. The U.S. has kept Blackwater working for them despite the strained relationship with the Iraq government who had ordered the company out of their country.

Blackwater may stay or even be replaced by another company, but their American employees may not. If these private security companies are put under Iraqi law, many of the employees, mainly American employees may quit rather than face the possibility of an Iraqi jail. Their Wild West days may be over and the prospect of being arrested by the angry Iraq justice system could drive them out of the country. The military personnel, who used to do this protection work of diplomats around the world, are under strict rules of engagement and cannot quit. The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) prevents them from doing so. Since the U.S. decided to outsource much of this war without a lot of thought and study of the consequences, they have put themselves in a very vulnerable position in a war zone; the contractors and their employees, have a constitutional right to quit and walk out of a bad situation. This leaves the Pentagon and the State Department in a tight spot.

The Congress has tried to put a Band-Aid on this problem but saying that contractors are under UCMJ by law, but many military legal experts will tell you that it won't pass a constitutional test. Unless you take the oath of the Armed Services and voluntarily give up some of your constitutional rights under the UCMJ, you have the right as an American citizen, to quit any job that you want. There may be some civil contract consequences but is it not a crime like a dereliction of duty or refusing a direct order is for a U.S. soldier. The industry is pushing the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) law as a remedy but that applies to criminal acts, not quitting a job, and only to contractors with the Department of Defense.

So what does the State Department do for protection in this situation? These private security companies may be able to get some foreign nationals hired to guard our diplomats but do we really want to turn the delicate protection of our diplomats over to foreigners with little American oversight in this day of terrorist infiltration? I'm not sure that Condi Rice wants to put her diplomats and even herself in that situation in volatile Iraq. Erik Prince, the head of Blackwater, will be testifying at this hearing. I would like to see his answer to this daunting question.

Many issues have been raised in the media and Congress about the problems with contractors in Iraq, a group I call the war service industry. But with all the research and interviews I have done for my book and my Follow the Money Project over the past three years, I have yet found anyone who can seriously address the Achilles' heel of private contractors. What do you do if the contractors and/or their employees just say no and quit? We have seen it in Iraq and it has hurt our military mission and our troops. Now it threatens our diplomatic mission as well. This unintended consequence of using contractors in a hostile zone needs to be explored by Waxman's committee and others in Congress. Perhaps he should ask Dr. Rice about this dilemma if she will show up to testify.

Comments

[TheWesternBreed]

Rummy's Renegades....our privatized GOP army.

[CarmanK]

BlackWater is an embarassment to America. They have shown the the people of Iraq and the world, what a truly "ugly American" is. Funding mercenaries is a rich man's way of getting someone else to fight their battles. While our troops fight with honor and low wages, these hired guns act in our name and murder innocents. End the war. Not another taxpayer dime to Halliburtan, Bechtel or BlackWater. They deliver tainted goods, shoddy workmanship and murder for hire. Congress doesn't have to defund the troops, just demand accountability and return of the billions of taxpayer dollars paid for incomplete work.

[radiclib]

How dare you question anything our President does? So what if we are spending millions of dollars on a reckless band of hired killers with less decorum than a gang of bikers?

Plenty of wealthy people are doing quite well in this deal. They are friends and supporters of G.W. Butch. Money talks. Shut up and keep moving.

[CarmanK]

Not another taxpayer dime for Halliburtan, Bechtel and BlackWater. They have shamed America. They took money from American taxpayers and "the willing" and delivered bad water to our troops, can't build a school free of sewage in the hallways and are mercenaries that kill innocents. We have to fund the troops we do not have to feed the greed, hegemony and sloppy workmanship of Halliburtan, Bechtel and BlackWater.

[realpolitic]

I am tired of Condi Rice's lies. She lied before the war on Saddam's weapons capabilities. She has tried to shield Blackwater from oversight and investigation by Congress. She is simply a Bush functionary.

Her character, as with many who work for Bush, is suspect. My question is, have the Bush acolytes always been that way, or has an association with Bush somehow corrupted them?

[thinkbig]

Just to be helpful:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071001/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[realpolitic]

How can our diplomatic personnel be effective in talks with Iraqi's when they are being guarded by the very personnel (Blackwater) who Iraqi's feel indiscriminately murder their brothers and sisters?

[Joeseo]

I doubt Rice would appear. If she does you can bet we all will be treated to Corporate rhetoric ad nauseum.

BlackwaterUSA is a threat to our Freedom. It is also a Corporate Failure requiring unending Congressional legislation to escape responsibility and accountability.

Condi is a racial Corporate token. Waxman shouldnt waste his time.

[GenericBlogger]

I don't agree with the Iraq War but now that we are there, we have to make the best of it. War is ugly, brutal, violent, and lethal.

One unintended consequence of removing the contractors is the reinstatement of the draft to fill in the voids. Many forget this point when criticizing the role of contractors.

The situation with Blackwater is tragic but this event has a political not a judicial dimension.

Some of our enlisted military were accused of killing innocent civilians, some were tried and convicted, some were acquitted. The military was responsible for Abu Graib not contractors. Killing innocent civilians is not a tragedy exclusive to contractors.

The Iraqi government is quick to criticize us but what are they doing to secure their own country? Was taking the month of August off for a vacation one of their solutions?

[dinarasor]

It is true that the use of contractors may have made it so that the government does not have to have the unpalatable draft. However, if we are going to make this type of commitment to a war, shouldn't the politicians have to take the heat for a draft rather than overpay contractors who put our troops who volunteered at risk?

[GenericBlogger]

I agree with you. Unfortunately those who planned the war, if planned is a suitable word, have proven themselves to be inept and corrupt.

The problem isn't just limited to Dubya's neocon goons, the problem appears to be structural and without sufficient checks and balances. Despite the extensive use of democratic principles in our political system, it's still too easy for one person, the president, to manage or mismanage a war.