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Woensdag, 9 April, 2008

Door Kate Randall

De afdeling van de Staat van de V.S. heeft zijn contract met Over de hele wereld Blackwater vernieuwd om veiligheid voor Amerikaanse diplomaten in Bagdad te verstrekken. De beweging komt aangezien FBI nog een incident in September 2007 onderzoekt waarin 17 Iraakse burgers door wachten van de veiligheidsfirma werden neergeschoten.

Commentaar gevend op de contractvernieuwing, zei Gregory Starr, waarnemende hulpStaatssecretaris voor diplomatieke veiligheid, „ik ga niet vooruitlopen op wat FBI in zijn onderzoek gaat vinden. Het is complex. Ik denk de van de overheidsbehoeften van de V.S. beschermende diensten.“ Hij voegde toe, „hoofdzakelijk denk ik zij [Blackwater] een zeer goed werk.“ doen

Contract moet het van vijf jaar van Blackwater, dat in 2006 is begonnen met, elk jaar worden vernieuwd en om op 7 geplaatst te verlopen Mei. De afdeling van de Staat kondigde vorige Vrijdag aan dat het voor een ander jaar worden uitgebreid. De overheid van Irak, die stijgende openbare druk onder ogen heeft gezien om de veiligheidscontractant te verbieden, werd niet geraadpleegd voorafgaand aan het besluit.

De Iraakse Eerste Minister Nouri al-Maliki antwoordde boos aan het nieuws. „Zij begingen een slachting tegen Irakezen en tot nu toe is deze kwestie niet opgelost,“ hij vertelde CNN. „Geen gerechtelijke actie is gevoerd, is geen compensatie gemaakt.“

Hij voegde toe, „ik zou zeggen dat de kant van de V.S. niet zich zou moeten bewogen hebben om het contract te vernieuwen alvorens de nog te behandelen kwesties met dit bedrijf worden gebeëindigd. Ik vind dit besluit zonder de goedkeuring van de Iraakse overheid.“ werd genomen

De woordvoerder Sean McCormack van de Afdeling van de staat verwierp de opmerkingen van Maliki, en om het even welk concept Iraaks gezag om op de verrichtingen van de veiligheidsfirma's toezicht te houden. „Eerst en vooral, het fundamenteel een besluit voor ons is, over hoe te nemen wij onze mensen beschermen,“ hij zei. Het „gezag en de verantwoordelijkheid met het nemen van die soorten besluiten moeten met ons verblijven.“

Meer dan zes maanden na het dodelijke incident in het Vierkant van Nisoor van Bagdad op 16 September is niemand van de veiligheidswachten in kwestie geladen met betrekking tot het ontspruiten. In het kader van een voorziening die als „Orde 17 wordt bekend,“ gevestigd in 2004 onder de Voorlopige Instantie van de Coalitie, worden de buitenlandse contractanten verleend volledige immuniteit van vervolging in Iraakse hoven, de zelfde bescherming die aan het militaire personeel van de V.S. wordt geboden.

This order has been utilized to shield US soldiers and officers involved in atrocities perpetrated against Iraqis—such as the November 2005 massacre of 24 civilians in Haditha—from prosecution in Iraqi courts.

An Iraqi investigation as well as an American military report released in the aftermath of the Nisoor Square incident determined that the killings were unprovoked. Numerous witnesses to the atrocity described a horrifying scene in which vehicles were shot up with bullets and victims were gunned down as they tried to run away.

The FBI, which took over the investigation from Diplomatic Security investigators for the State Department, has yet to release its findings. When it does, it will be up to the US Justice Department to determine whether or not to file any charges. FBI officials speaking to the New York Times last November held open the possibility that at least three of the civilian deaths may have been justified.

It was also revealed late last year that the State Department offered “limited” immunity to the mercenaries involved in the incident in the immediate aftermath of the shootings. This means that any statements they may have made—and any evidence gathered as a result—cannot be used against them in any future prosecutions. As a result, the Justice Department may decide not to charge the security guards, or may be unable to present the evidence needed to convict them.

Also, while the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act permits prosecution of contractors working abroad for the US military, it does not necessarily apply to contractors working for the civilian-led State Department, making it unclear from a legal standpoint whether the mercenaries can be prosecuted in US courts.

In one of the interviews with the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service in the aftermath of the shootings, obtained by ABCNews.com, agent “Paul,” a turret gunner, described numerous instances in which he opened fire and gunned down civilians. “I engaged the individuals and stopped the threat,” he recounted. He claimed he had come under fire from both small arms and an AK-47.

Preliminary reports from the FBI probe, however, have confirmed earlier findings that the shootings were unprovoked. Three witnesses interviewed by the FBI, who spoke to the Los Angeles Times after their questioning, said they told the FBI that they did not see anyone fire on the security guards.

One of those questioned was Mohammed Hafidh Abdul-Razzaq, 37, whose 10-year-old son Ali was killed in the massacre. Hafidh said he never saw anyone fire on the security convoy before his son was shot and killed as he sat in the back seat of his car. He described the shooting rampage to the Christian Science Monitor as “a nightmare. I saw them shoot at people who were dead over and over again.”

While the events of September 16, 2007 are the most well publicized incident involving private security contractors, they are not an aberration. According to the State Department’s own records, Blackwater guards were deployed on at least 1,873 missions in 2007 alone, and fired their weapons in 56 cases.

The behavior of these agents is in line with the US military rules of engagement, which call for “escalation of force” to be used against a perceived threat. Countless thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed at checkpoints, on the streets and in their homes on the basis of this military code of conduct.

The operations of Blackwater and other security contractors are an essential component of the US occupation of Iraq. Blackwater has government contracts totaling at least $800 million to provide security to US State Department officials.

An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 mercenaries from Blackwater Worldwide, DynCorp International and Triple Canopy are presently in Iraq. The decision of the State Department to renew Blackwater’s contract underscores US government plans to grant them continued authority to operate with impunity in the occupied country.

See More:USA News Warfare 

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 at 10:21 pm and is filed under Business News, War & Terrorism News, General . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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