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Congress reining in private contractors
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Issue
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| Contributor | Servo |
| Last Edited | Servo Oct 03, 2007 04:59pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Website - Yahoo News |
| News Date | Wednesday, October 3, 2007 10:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Congress is moving to close a loophole in the law that has left private security contractors in Iraq like Blackwater immune to criminal prosecution, despite warnings by the White House that expanding the law could cause new problems.
The House was expected to pass legislation on Wednesday by Rep. David Price, D-N.C., that would extend criminal jurisdiction of U.S. courts to any federal contractor working alongside military operations. Senate Democratic leaders said they planned to follow suit as soon as possible and send the measure to President Bush.
The legislation comes amid a string of allegations involving Blackwater USA employees hired by the State Department to protect diplomatic personnel in Iraq. In one case, a drunk Blackwater employee left a Christmas eve party in Baghdad and fatally shot the guard of one of Iraq's vice presidents. The contractor was fired, fined and returned home to the United States, but no charges have been filed.
More recently, Blackwater guards were involved in a Sept. 16 shootout that left 11 Iraqis dead. The FBI is currently investigating the incident. |
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