IHT : Accountability on the battlefield

Accountability on the battlefield

October 8, 2007

It is clear by now that the Blackwater guards operating in Iraq have been allowed to run amok with no concern about being held accountable under the law. Congress has begun the process of revoking that dangerous immunity. It needs to quickly pass a strong law, and then it must ensure that contractors are held accountable for lawless actions in war zones.

On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a bill introduced by David Price, Democrat of North Carolina, to rein in contractors like Blackwater USA. The vote was 389-30. The bill would ensure that all contractors working for the U.S. government in a conflict zone are put under the jurisdiction of American criminal courts, and it would require the FBI to deploy units in conflict areas to investigate contractor crimes.

Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, introduced a similar bill in the Senate. Combined with a provision in last year's defense appropriations bill that placed contractors "serving with or accompanying an armed force in the field" under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the new bill could go a long way toward imposing legal accountability on mercenaries.

Obama's bill still must pass the Senate. It is likely to face staunch opposition from the White House, which argues that it would place undue burdens on the FBI and the armed forces. Congress may also have to override a veto. Even if the bill becomes law, Congress would have to conduct vigilant oversight to ensure the Pentagon and the Justice Department enforce it on the battlefield.

The roughly 180,000 private contractors working for U.S. government agencies in Iraq, including some 30,000 heavily armed guards, have been politically expedient for the Bush administration. They plug the holes in an undermanned American force, and their deaths do not count toward the Pentagon's tally of the war's dead.

But by insulating contractors from liability, the administration has placed an unacceptable burden on the American mission, undermining the essential goal of winning Iraqis' trust. Congress's ultimate goal should be to stop the use of contractors for combat-type tasks. Until it does, it is essential that the private forces that remain in Iraq be made accountable for their actions.