The decision today by Secretary of State Rice, to implement "rules" relative to private security agencies operating in Iraq, clearly rejects suggestions by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates that security contractors be placed under military control. U.S. military commanders and officers in Iraq have sharply criticized the contractors, and North Carolina-based Blackwater in particular, for behaving like "cowboys" and undermining U.S. objectives for bringing stability to Iraq according to today's Washington Post
I have a question: If Iraq had a Military Commissions Act as we do here in the United States, could people serving in Blackwater and other "security" companies be categorized as illegal alien enemy combatants? If so, it would follow that these American Citizens would then be subjected to a legal system that excludes the protections of the Geneva Convention, denies Habeas Corpus and the right to a civilian attorney, and could leave them imprisoned for years without a right to a speedy trial. In reality, as the law now stands in Iraq, murder by these contractors could arguably be above any law.
In terms of Iran, VP Cheney and President Bush seem to be proceeding with the rhetoric that will lead us into some type of military conflict with Iran. The propaganda is not meant to sway the European Community, as both Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney are stating, but to convince us, as Americans, that we must use military force against Iran. We must respond to this war mongering in order to stop the momentum at its earliest stages.
I firmly believe that this Administration is intent on military action against Iran, not to protect Iraqi civilians or our troops, but to protect the oil industry in the southern part of Iraq--prior to their leaving office.
As a U.S. Senator, my voice would be loud and clear on this issue. The beating of the drums of war must be silenced by rational dialogue and aggressive diplomacy.
Ed O'Reilly
Democratic Candidate for the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts
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4 comments:
Coalition Provisional Authority proconsul Paul Bremer's purported 2004 exemption of Blackwater and other mercenaries from obedience to Iraqi law is a sordid aspect of the unprovoked, criminal U.S. invasion of another sovereign nation.
Armed to the teeth, those U.S. mercenaries, and subject to neither U.S. military discipline nor Iraqi law? If that made them illegal enemy combatants, they can apparently be criminal defendants in Iraqi courts now.
The Iraqi cabinet today reportedly revoked Bremer's shameful order. (http://www.americanprogressaction.org/progressreport, 24 Oct. 2007,
"Think Fast."
The Blackwater fiasco is just part of what the U.S. has done wrong in Iraq. Ed O'Reilly has the right of it. We must stop this warmongering President and Vice-president from taking their disastrous show on the road to Iran.
Maureen Dowd in today's NYTimes (24 Oct 2007) says: "Cheney seems to enjoy giving the impression that he is loony enough to pull off an attack on Iran..." She compares him to Nixon and Kissinger who used the notion of Nixon being a madman to scare the Soviets. This is what we are up against: madness.
[see: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/24/opinion/24dowd.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin ]
Thanks to Ed for calling it like it is: warmongering; but this time aimed at scaring Americans and making us cave in to the madness.
Yes, it seems that the Secretary of Defense won out over the Secretary of State after their meeting.
How did this happen in the first place? I mean there had to be someone suggesting such a lack of law. I wonder how much in campaign donations is given each year by contractors such as Blackwater?
Does anyone know?
Ed
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