Grand Jury Investigation: It’s not just Blackwater

The grand jury investigating the September massacre of civilians by Blackwater guards is also investigating several other “private security firms.” According to the Washington Post:

FBI investigators have reportedly concluded that the killing of 14 of the 17 civilians was unjustified under State Department rules on the use of force. But the case is muddied by the question of what laws, if any, apply to security contractors operating under military, State Department and civilian contracts.

Because massacring civilians is one of those areas of legal mud. The question is whether laws applying to private contractors working for the Defense Department also apply to contractors working for the State Department. And although the military has brought charges against numerous official service personnel, they have brought none against private security contractors. Because whether or not mass murder is legal depends on who is doing the mass murdering, and for whom they work. The current grand jury investigation indicates that might soon change.

The Iraqi government has said it knows of at least 20 shooting incidents involving security contractors, with more than half a dozen linked to Blackwater.

The problem, of course, is that legal mud.

For instance, contractors were immunized from Iraqi laws under a June 2004 order signed by the U.S. occupation authority. That ruling remains in effect.

Because the U.S. occupation authority believed what everyone working for the Bush Administration believes: some people are above the law. And that belief apparently remains. That ruling remains in effect?!

In addition, investigations are complicated by questions about evidence, jurisdiction and the availability of witnesses.

And we can all stop and ponder the meaning of the words “availability of witnesses.” Any guesses?

“If they’re going to try to indict, they’ve got a lot to overcome,” said Patricia A. Smith, an Alexandria lawyer who represents two former employees of Triple Canopy, a private security firm based in Herndon, in a civil lawsuit. The former employees say they were wrongfully terminated after reporting that their Triple Canopy team leader fired shots into the windshield of a taxi for amusement last year on Baghdad’s airport road.

For amusement.

The two former guards lost their case, but are appealing. The company was ruled to have acted “inappropriately,” and three guards were fired, including, of course, the two who reported the shooting. But no investigation was conducted. By any legal authority. Neither U.S. nor Iraqi. Smith says that as far as she knows, no subpoenas have even been issued. Undoubtedly, more legal mud.

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  1. we worked on this a bit on Monday as well and I’m planning another essay for tomorrow night.  If anyone wants to help research this further just add comments with your findings here or here

    and I’ll do my best to include it into the meta.

    • snud on November 20, 2007 at 17:35

    Bush was in on Plame – not that we didn’t already know that but we got to hear it from The Scotty Show!

    I believe Shrub’s daddy would call him “The most insidious of traitors” – but I’m sure Nancy will still find even this unimpeachable… somehow.

  2. who have seemingly skated on their charges lately have also been aided by lack of evidence and witnesses outside of the individuals involved and being charged.

  3. reminds me of the old westerns….where the sheriff would come to town to establish the rule of law. It seems like folks thought Iraq was some kind of Wild Wild West.

    Not surprising of course with a cowboy President….in fact, the very reason that Cowboy Presidents are bad!

  4. the corporations like the former better because they aren’t publicly accountable.

  5. The End of America.  Scary, scary stuff, and I think, you all won’t find it surprising.  She lists ten steps of fascism.  Here they are – where do you think the US is?

    Invoke external and internal threats

    Establish secret prisons

    Develop a paramilitary force

    Surveil ordinary citizens

    Infiltrate citizens groups

    Arbitrarily detain and release citizens

    Target key individuals

    Restrict the press

    Cast criticism as espionage and dissent as treason

    Subvert the rule of law

    Now can we impeach the whole lot of them, Nancy? Next, can we try them for treason?

    Thank you.

  6. seems to be ass backwards. Everything from subpoenas, to executive power is buried in the endless parsing, shifting and twisting of the minute of the law. The spirit and meaning and intent is so obscured that those other then lawyers, are left with just the empty shell of what once ruled. Thomas Paine, must be rolling. The law itself is buried 20 feet underground as the joke goes, and deep down the lawyers are not nice guys.      

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