Blackwater Banned

I missed the news earlier today that Blackwater's security contractors have now been banned in Iraq. This will probably serve to make American policy in Iraq even less sustainable if the ban is enforced, but it's a no-brainer on the merits. As Mark Kleiman explains: "Blackwater's fighters-for-hire aren't subject to military discipline, which excludes them from the protections of the Geneva Conventions. They're exempt from prosecution in Iraq under rules left over from CPA days. And recklessly killing people in Iraq violates no U.S. domestic law."

Letting people like that wander around the country was a kind of criminal negligence on the part of the Iraqi government and the fact that it took years for this measure to get enacted is fairly shocking. Nevertheless, though Blackwater is the highest-profile contracting firm involved in Iraq, I don't think they're the only one and such unaccountable mercenaries haven't been banned in toto. That that hasn't happened, and that the CPA-era immunity hasn't been repealed, tells you a lot about the imperial character of this venture.

Comments

Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all!

I wrote that a while ago, too.

Posted by Sun Tzu | September 17, 2007 8:34 PM

"That that hasn't happened, and that the CPA-era immunity hasn't been repealed, tells you a lot about the imperial character of this venture."

It actually tells you more about the lack of a reliable Iraqi Secret Service/Diplomatic Security group. Since there isn't one, the Iraqi Prime Minister, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, and other officials rely on contractors for personal protection.

Posted by Fred | September 17, 2007 8:39 PM

In the larger context hopefully this will foster more debate about how healthy a trend the growth of these security firms are for this country and its armed forces.

I certainly won't begrudge any highly trained soldier or guardsmen the opportunity to earn a substantial amount more than he/she would in service, but how sustainable is this trend? Given that services like B-Water and Dyncorp routinely hire the highest trained of our military or ex-military, it makes you wonder what the incentives are for remaining in national service outside of a sense of service.

Posted by Thunderlips | September 17, 2007 8:48 PM

I think we're about to learn how Bush's cronies have more say about what goes on in Iraq than the "democratically elected" government of Iraq has.

Blackwater will probably continue operating in Iraq as long as Bush is in office...

Posted by alphie | September 17, 2007 9:27 PM

Wait until the 3rd or 4th revision of the Patriot Act permits firms such as Blackwater to operate domestically. The U.S. already has privatized a great many prisons. The growing pressure to prevent illegal crossings of our borders would be a prime enviroment for these mercenaries to be presented as a viable alternative to the Border Patrol. The Right thinks terrorists by the hundreds are mixed in with those merely seeking work. Bush once openly mused his job would be easier were he a dictator. His supporters likely think it would also be easier with an army at his disposal not subject to the laws of our land.

Posted by steve duncan | September 17, 2007 9:37 PM

Did the Iraqi government clear this with the White House before announcing it? Ot are they going their own way? We need some reporting here.

Posted by Hal | September 17, 2007 9:47 PM

The Blackwater hired guns answer only to the Emperor. Nobody even thinks the American taxpayers are owed an explanation. Blackwater works for the Emperor, so they are OK. They gun down Iraqis because Iraq is a conquered nation, and these subjugated people live at the sufference of the Emperor, who does not even bother to count their dead.

Posted by HH | September 17, 2007 9:49 PM

Steve, what makes you think that requires revising the Patriot Act? Blackwater has already been operating on the Gulf Coast.

Posted by KCinDC | September 17, 2007 10:06 PM

Are there any international human rights lawyers in the crowd?

If family members of the Iraqis came to the US, could they sue Blackwater under the Alien Tort Statute? Is there a treaty or some aspect of customary international law that would furnish a cause of action?

Posted by StJoe | September 17, 2007 10:12 PM

My guess is that some deal will be made to permit Blackwater to stay. They are too important and widespread. Reportedly, the Iraqi government may not have the legal power to ban them. After all the U.S. State Dept. and others need to be able to contract for security, which the military are too shorthanded to provide.

Posted by chew2 | September 17, 2007 10:42 PM

If Blackwater does not go, then the blow to the Iraqi government's prestige ( such as it is ) will be serious.

With apologies to Atrios and to Tom Friedman, I predict that, unless Blackwater does promptly depart, we will witness serious problems as a direct result in the next six months.

Nevertheless, I agree with the above posters that Blackwater will probably remain.

Posted by Agustus Gloop | September 17, 2007 10:55 PM

"the Iraqi government may not have the legal power to ban them"

This is absolutely hilarious. The US shoots its way into Iraq, killing anyone who resists, and we are now debating if Iraqis have any "legal" power to tell us what to do. As though our emperor is not above every law. According to John Yoo, the Emperor has the right to torture children if he deems it necessary to defend the nation. Paying Blackwater to kill Iraqis is well within his Imperial role as wartime Commander in Chief.

A premeditated war of aggression is an international war crime. Who will arrest our Emperor and charge him with war crimes? Only someone who could pay Blackwater more than the Emperor does could accomplish this.

Posted by HH | September 17, 2007 10:58 PM

Maybe a year ago there was a video clip going around of Bush being questioned by a graduate student (at GW or Hopkins, I think) on exactly this point--that these mercenaries were subject to no law. Bush fumbled around painfully for quite a while but said he would look into it. I guess he forgot.

Posted by nx | September 17, 2007 11:09 PM

It is amazing to me that the Dem presidential candidates don't come out for cleaning up the mess, here. Nothing the mercenaries do is beyond the Army. What is true is that the army does not have an appropriate module and set of pay grades for the kind of experienced soldiers they might need to do what the mercenaries are doing now. Surely, though, the answer is to kick out the mercenaries, defund them ruthlessly, and establish those modules throughout the military. Taking the army back would, actually, be a no-brainer - if the D.C. section of the Democratic party wasn't along for the privatization ride here, as elsewhere. The same clintinoids that thought Ted Olsen would make a great Attorney General no doubt love the mercenary companies. But for someone like Edwards, what is there to lose? This would certainly win points with military personnel, and lose points only with a group that is pretty much the ingrown toenail of the GOP - the reactionary, violent, and racist mercenaries themselves, and their miliblog groupies.

Posted by roger | September 17, 2007 11:11 PM

This is from the NY Times of 9/18:

A Blackwater employee was responsible for the shooting death of a bodyguard for one of Iraq’s vice presidents, Adel Abdul Mahdi, on Christmas Eve last year, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal in May. The Blackwater guard had been drinking heavily in the Green Zone, according to the report, and tried to enter an area where Iraqi officials live. The employee was fired, but left Iraq without being prosecuted, the report said.

Extraterritoriality, like in the Boxer Rebellion. (The Chinese still remember the humiliation, even if we don't.) Also known as Cowboys and Injuns. Shameful, and deeply harmful to US interests.

Why didn't some member of Congress ask General Petreus about the level of private contractors in Iraq, along with the level of US troops?

Posted by Hal | September 17, 2007 11:24 PM

shoot em up!
big bux!
whoo hoo!
wimmen kinda scarce, though

Posted by blackwater | September 17, 2007 11:55 PM

The unfortunate reality is that the U.S. military is heavily reliant on contractor groups like Blackwater to do a lot of the heavy lifting in Iraq. On the other hand, the Iraqi government seems to be really pissed, so the situation could go either way.

Ultimately I feel that these mercenary groups need to be completely eradicated and severed from any connection with the U.S. military, and the sooner the better. Logistical support is fine, but all combat-related duties should strictly be confined to active military personnel. Groups like Blackwater are both dangerously unaccountable and, as a shadowy adjunct to the regular military, a distortion of the true costs and limitations of war.

Posted by Korha | September 17, 2007 11:55 PM

These are the cossacks who work for our czar. Of course, if we succeed in firing them they may do here what the fired baathist army did in Iraq - start freelancing as death squads etc. Yet another reason why Bush and Cheney belong in front of a trial at the Hague.

Posted by jimBOB | September 18, 2007 12:10 AM

If Blackwater does not go, then the blow to the Iraqi government's prestige ( such as it is ) will be serious

Withdraw Malaki's and his cronies Blackwater protection. Give the Sunnis a phone call 1st. That would soon solve the "intransigent elected Islamist Shia allies to Iran" problem.

Then the new Iranian Army, loyal to the State, not sectarian groups - can take over rule and stabilize the country. Ending the idiotic experiment in Bush-Sharansky democracy that has cost America so much.

Yet another reason why Bush and Cheney belong in front of a trial at the Hague.
Posted by jimBOB
The way the world is going, with more Muslim terror, Europe under a demographic Islamic menace, Rising China, revanchist Russia, and looming resoource crises, treason trials for anti-American Lefties are more likely than any Islamist fighters ending up in the Hague.

Posted by Chris Ford | September 18, 2007 2:13 AM

Somehow I don't think that, in real terms, security contractors gone wild are Iraq's most pressing (security) problem right now. But no doubt it's good politics from the Iraqi government's point of view. The occupation is highly unpopular, and being able to say "See, we're kicking at least some American ass" could be helpful to some extent.

Posted by Patrick | September 18, 2007 3:10 AM

Larry Johnson discusses this over at TPM. He feels this is a test to see whether the Iraqi government has any influence at all over what goes on in the country. He believes Blackwater will stay because the Iraqi government is a puppet government.

The posters, especially Howard Berkowitz, explain some things about these guys and how they aren't quite "mercenaries" in legal terms.

For one thing, Iraq can't revoke their license - because there isn't one.

Also, these guys aren't under the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) - because most of them are working for the State Department or some other government agency, not the Pentagon. This isn't clear because apparently there was some discussion of putting them all under the UCMJ at some point.

The other interesting point Berkowitz brings up is that such contractors normally are allowed only personal weapons - not crew-served weapons and definitely not aircraft. But Blackwater in this incident was using armed helicopters to fire into the street where the incident occurred. This indicates that Blackwater is way over the line for normal contractor behavior and begins to fall under the category of "illegal mercenary" wherein international law may apply.

Except of course that apparently NO law applies in Iraq for either the Iraqi government OR the US government.

As others such as Nir Rosen have said, Iraq doesn't exist any more. What we have there is the "stateless area of Mesopotamia" in which anything goes if you have the men and the guns.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | September 18, 2007 3:38 AM

Chris Ford:
the only people who think Europe is under a "demographic Islamic menace" are Americans drowning under right-wing propaganda or racists. As an American living in Europe, I can assure you that this kind of tripe only serves to discredit your other arguments.

Posted by RickD | September 18, 2007 3:59 AM

RickD:
surely the rise of anti-immigration parties must signify something? I am a European living in the US, and I know a lot of people back in Europe are very uncomfortable with the increase in Muslim population. These are definitely not "racists", but citizens concerned with the stagnation and decline of morals in society, the eroding native cultures and the intolerance and violence from radical alienated and unemployed muslim youth.

As for being an American living in Europe, I wonder if you have any idea of what the feelings are of the "common man" so to speak, or if you mostly hang out with intellectuals. I am pretty sure the picture painted is quite different. The European lower classes have come to vehemently dislike Muslims and immigration despite all attempts of the elites at burying the problems under mountains of political correctness and world war II guilt.

Posted by ralph ruben emmers | September 18, 2007 5:55 AM

My contacts are Italian, Dutch, and Swiss. All are scared shitless of how fast the demographic takeover is happening. There are majority Muslim Dutch cities. In Switzerland, from all native in the late 70s, Swiss have seen their population percentage go to 75% in less than 2 generations. And the majority party has said that "Fuck the UN refugee people dumping the 3rd Worlders, particularly Muslims on easy-going Swiss. The Swiss feel their good nature and hospitality has been badly taken advantage of and are at war with Euro-elites. The majority Swiss party now has a poster showing three white sheep kicking out the black sheep.
In Scandanavia, the native men want immigration ended, the crime wave by Muslims ended. Only more liberal Swedish females and Elite lawyers keeps the refugees pouring in.

In Italy, the solution is to pass on the problem. Point the Muslims and Africans in the direction of the UK and Brussels and say they can live on better welfare there than Italy gives...Italy rounds them up, gives them free train tickets out of Italy.

Posted by Chris Ford | September 18, 2007 6:21 AM

RRE - No, those people could never be racists. I mean, xenophobic, racist Europeans? Who ever heard of such a thing?

Posted by tequila | September 18, 2007 6:33 AM

People do realize as of now since blackwater is not allowed outside of the green zone and other us instillations, no usg employees are going outside of them either and thus no (limited though it may be) reconstruction work is going on either. Blackwater is tremendously important in the reconstruction effort.

You could probably pretty easily shift the contracts to dyncorp or triple canopy, but the problem is since July 4th, iraq has actually required visas in the form of a letter from the US embassy, so they can now track who are blackwater employees and kick them all out. This would complicate the matter of staffing these firms up.

Yes security should be a military function, but there are just not enough troops available nor are there enough diplomatic security folks. Hell there are not really enough DS folks to supervise the contractors. It doesn't help that most of the DS people are ex military, but not ex special forces like the contractors, thus it is somewhat hard for them to exert any authority of the blackwater.

Posted by no one | September 18, 2007 7:10 AM

Has anyone pointed out that this is a fairly healthy development within the Iraqi central government. It seems, to me, to show a streak of independence and some genuine concern for the welfare of its Sunni citizens. Sure, it's been a long time coming. But that's still pretty good, no?

Posted by southpaw | September 18, 2007 8:05 AM

citizens concerned with the stagnation and decline of morals in society, the eroding native cultures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormfront_(website)

There you go. Now you can learn all you need about stopping "moral decline"

Posted by jonathan | September 18, 2007 8:31 AM

"There are majority Muslim Dutch cities. In Switzerland, from all native in the late 70s, Swiss have seen their population percentage go to 75% in less than 2 generations."

You've got to be kidding me.

First of all, there are no majority Muslim cities in the Netherlands. According to 2006 demographic data, nearly 50% of the population of Rotterdam are not native to the Netherlands or have at least one parent born outside the country, but Muslims comprise less than 25% of the city's population. In other Dutch cities, the numbers are much lower.

Most of the foreigners living in Switzerland come from other European countries. Estimates of the size of the Muslin population are well under 10%.

I don't doubt, Chris, that you have "contacts" among the xenophobic right-wing fringe in Europe. However, the "facts" they've been sharing with you are a load of bullshit. Please stop spreading paranoid lies.

Posted by LaFollette Progressive | September 18, 2007 9:21 AM

Since the Iraqis apparently lack the legal means to expel Blackwater, doubtlessly they will apply extra-legal means to accomplish same.

Posted by MacMurphy | September 18, 2007 10:04 AM

Actually, Iraq shouldn't have to employ too many legal means to expell blackwater. If a British security company felt called upon to protect British diplomats from some drive by shooting by killing 6 or 7 Americans, I don't think that security company would last 24 more hours in this country. And the U.K. would not protest. There is a power in outrage. Although the military retard set have been especially cultivated by the Bushies, on this one the Bushies should go with the common sense option, instead of the slimy business as usual option.

Posted by roger | September 18, 2007 10:21 AM

I'm sure that the Bush administration will respect the sovereignty of the Iraqi government, and also that they have prepared extensive contingency plans that will allow them to continue to provide the services that Blackwater has been providing. No one will even notice that they're gone.

Posted by Hahaha | September 18, 2007 11:14 AM

jonathan:
your reductio ad hitlerum lacks strength. Most European countries are cultural homogeneous units that are unable to cope with an influx of different mindsets, especially a confident religious one, Islam.
One of the pillars of Islam is Jihad and for example, Imams have been preaching "benign" Jihad, as in taking advantage of the welfare states. This is of course Europe's own fault.

First: A welfare state based on the cultural constraints of locals collapses under open immigration of immigrants who are at best neutral towards the host-country. This feeds anti-immigrant feeling even more.
Second: Elites have pretended that Europe is able to accomdate large amounts of immigrants, while clearly the local population never wanted this. Would you consider Japan "racist" for acknowledging that they are unable to be an immigrant country?
Third: Lack of cultural awareness and peculiarity makes defense of the "home-culture" an awkward business. In the USA immigrants must embrace the constitution, in Europe there are no core binding documents that most people know about, defend, and love.
Fourth: Western Europe is atheist. Muslims are obviously very religious people. This is not a good combination. Interestingly, the very elites who had attacked and destroyed Christian religion in the sixties and seventies now appease Muslims intolerance.

tequila:
I assume you contrast Europe with the USA here. Even a so-called open society such as the US has trouble coping with an influx of Catholic south-American immigrants. Anti-immigrant feeling is on the rise. The USA as an immigrant country is a bit of a joke, it is a country of white European immigrant slave-owners and black former slaves, and recent immigrant waves have not been welcomed by a lot of people.

Posted by RRE | September 18, 2007 4:35 PM