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| Erik Prince AP/file |
A legal danger zone for Blackwater
The contractor and other US firms working in Iraq could be subject to prosecution from several quarters.
from the September 21, 2007 edition
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Blackwater reportedly has received more than $500 million in US government contracts, mostly in Iraq but also for other assignments. Its employees come from many countries, including Fiji and Bulgaria, both of which have lost Blackwater men in Iraq.
It is known to hire "testosterone-filled and aggressive" men, says an active-duty Army officer now stationed in Baghdad's Green Zone. "The Iraqis hate them," the officer says, referring to Blackwater specifically.
From the start, the firm has had connections to high-ranking Republican officials. Its vice chairman is Cofer Black, State Department coordinator for counterterrorism during President Bush's first term. Blackwater founder and former Navy SEAL Erik Prince has been a major donor to Republican committees and candidates.
But those connections are unlikely to help in current circumstances, even if Blackwater is allowed to stay in Iraq.
"Blackwater and other security firms will not be able to function effectively if they must adhere strictly to the letter of Iraqi law," says Loren Thompson, military analyst at the Lexington Institute. "Iraq is in the midst of a brutal insurgency in which few of the players pay any attention to the law. Waiting for the police to show up isn't a viable option in today's Iraq."
Can Blackwater and other firms continue to operate in Iraq if their employees are subject to Iraqi law, as Iraqi officials want them to be?
They possibly would face more restrictive rules of engagement and aggressive prosecution by the Iraqi government, says Dina Rasor, coauthor of the book "Betraying Our Troops: The Destructive Results of Privatizing War" and a longtime investigator of military spending. "Even though many of the Blackwater employees may be willing to work for an approved company, they may think twice about operating under laws that the Iraqi government can enforce. They may not want to face Iraqi jail."
In any case, the problem of oversight remains. Defense Department spending on contracts rose nearly 80 percent over the past decade, while the number of Pentagon employees tracking such contracts dropped by some 40 percent, says Peter Singer, a foreign policy specialist at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "Basically you have more and more contracts with less and less people overseeing them," he says.
No matter how Blackwater's situation in Iraq turns out, a sound legal regimen for holding contractors accountable is still needed. Says Lanigan, "Right now, we don't have that."
• Gordon Lubold in Baghdad contributed.
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