The cowboys from Blackwater are being tamed. The US House of Representatives has passed a bill which will make it possible to prosecute security contractors in the US for any wrong doings in Iraq. The decision was near unanimous, 389 to 30. Only 30 republicans voted against the bill; such was the concern amongst US lawmakers about the wild shooting by the Blackwater boys at al-Nisoor square, which killed many Iraqi civilians. The US Senate too is going to come up with a similar legislation.
This law will clear-up the grey areas in the regulations governing private security contractors. At present those of them working for the Department of Defense come under the ambit of US law. But those involved with the State Department, like Blackwater in Iraq, are free from any legal control. The state department itself has acknowledged that there are gaps in existing legislation and has promised to look into the matter.
The noose is tightening all around Blackwater. The FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] has said it would prosecute Blackwater if their findings tally with what the Iraqi government is saying. It is saying that Blackwater guards fired without any provocation and it was lying about being fired upon.
The Iraqi report is supported by an anonymous US military official in Iraq. He says,
The civilians that were fired upon, they didn’t have any weapons to fire back at them. And none of the IP or any of the local security forces fired back at them
State Department has hinted that Blackwater guards could face legal proceedings. The Pentagon is reviewing its relations with private contractors. It has stopped issuing weapons permit till it thoroughly examines who has got what weapons and how they are being used.
The only two parties who are unhappy with all the increasing pressure on security contractors are Blackwater [for obvious reasons] and the White House! Blackwater is dragging its feet in revealing details about the al-Nisoor shootings citing national security.
The White House has made weak arguments that the new legislations will lead to a deluge of litigation, which will hamper workings of the FBI and US military. It has also said the bill’s scope of U.S. jurisdiction was vague and would lead to “complex prosecutions.” But no one is buying their arguments.
