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Above the Law: Private Contractors
One in thousands. That would be the number of private contractors prosecuted so far amid numerous reports of abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan. Human Rights First recently released a report saying the Justice Department and the Defense Department have often foregone investigations involving private contractors. In a press conference launching the report last week, Congressmen David Price said, "There was little in the way of standards for hiring and training security contractors. There was no oversight of their activities. And most glaring of all, there was absolutely no legal accountability for misconduct." While more than 60 U.S. military personnel have been court marshaled through the current military criminal justice system, only one contractor has been prosecuted. The new report was based on interviews, court records, government reports, declassified documents and other sources. It also looked at more than 600 SIRs (Serious Incident Reports) from a six month period in 2004-2005. “The Justice Department bears primary responsibility for this inaction," the report said. "Today most private security contractors operate in an environment where systems of criminal accountability are rarely used. This has created a culture of impunity." Private contractors currently outnumber U.S. forces in Iraq, with approximately 180,000 contractors and 160,000 troops. Officials actually testified Thursday that they were under prepared to deal with the increasing number of contractors. “Frankly, we were not adequately prepared to address this unprecedented scale of our dependence on contractors." said deputy undersecretary of defense for logistics and materiel readiness, Jack Bell. Special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction Stuart W. Bowen Jr. and director of defense capabilities and management for the Government Accountability Office William M. Solis testified that “not enough trained service personnel are available to handle outsourcing to contractors in the wars.” Retired Army Gen. David M. Maddox, a member of an Army-appointed commission studying the contractor effects in Iraq said “about half of the military officers and Army civilians in the contracting field are certified for their current positions.” The Defense Contract Audit Agency has reported $10 billion of $57 billion in contracts “is either questionable or cannot be supported because of a lack of contractor information needed to assess costs." The Bush Administration clearly sees no problem with the current situation. The New York Times reported Friday that the Administration is pressuring Baghdad to give "broad authority to conduct combat operations and guarantee civilian contractors specific legal protections from Iraqi law." This request comes after public outcry over an incident in September, 2007 in which Blackwater USA allegedly shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians when unprovoked. I just finished watching the State of the Union address in which Bush once again promised to bring home approximately 20,000 more troops. With over half the U.S. presence in Iraq constituted by private contractors, one has to wonder whether those troops will be replaced by more contractors. Already the group cannot be controlled nor trusted. A military officer with a Stryker Brigade in Iraq reported a contractor to the Government Accountability Office who mishandled security screenings. The officer was forced to use his own personnel to complete the task. As stated previously, only about of the contractors are even certified for their positions. Not only are contractors above the law, half of them are ill equipped to carry out their responsibilities. Let’s just hope this doesn’t become a fully private war, it’s already half way there. If the Bush Administration gets what it wants it is unlikely the repercussions will every reach our TV screens. No country aiding the U.S. in Iraq has immunity from the law, why should an under qualified, privately run group of people be? |
IPS News
| The Raw Story
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This intel was contributed by The Rift
The Rift
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May, 2012
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