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Ear to the Ground

Congress Tries to Close Blackwater Loophole

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Posted on Oct 5, 2007

The House voted 389 to 30 to pass a bill that would make private contractors working for the U.S. government in Iraq subject to United States law. It’s the second time Congress has attempted to apply some sense to the legal vacuum created by the Bush administration and its Coalition Provisional Authority, which pushed through what amounts to blanket immunity for mercenaries.


BBC:

Currently the legal status of private contractors working independently of the US military in war zones is unclear and legally untested.

Private firms working for the Department of Defence are subject to existing US legislation, but those private firms such as Blackwater working for the state department are not.

Democratic Representative David Price, who sponsored the bill, said it was hard to believe such a “gaping hole” existed in US law.

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By msgmi, October 6, 2007 at 9:22 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Condi is becoming a liability to the neo-CON inspired administration. Her knees are starting to buckle over the Blackwater caper(s). She’s feeling the heat. King George and big Duke Dick don’t appreciate members of the inner tent with weak stomachs. Condi could be history as her loyalty to the party becomes more questionable.

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By cann4ing, October 5, 2007 at 10:41 pm Link to this comment

There is a real simple means to get Blackwater, and the US, out of Iraq.  All Congress has to do is block all further funding.  Those funds don’t go to the troops.  They go to Halliburton, Blackwater and the other war profiteers, which all feed at the public trough.  All it takes is either a simple majority in the House or 41 votes in the Senate to put an end to this fiasco.  Cut off the funds and these greedy SOBs will flee like rats from a sinking ship.  There are more than enough Democrats to accomplish that without seeking a single Republican vote.  All that is lacking is political courage—Oops!  Come to think of it, given the lack of intestinal fortitute displayed by the so-called “Democratic leadership” since November 2006, that type of simple but meaningful change just isn’t in the cards.

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By DennisD, October 5, 2007 at 7:20 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

As if it makes a difference, our justice system is as easily bought as any other. Oops, did I just drop a $100,000 bill into your honor’s re-election slush fund or was that already in there. Now about that case on your docket…...

This is what “our” Congress excels at, passing useless legislation that accomplishes nothing. And the band plays on.

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By QuyTran, October 5, 2007 at 11:07 am Link to this comment

This corrupt company has to be disbanded. There’s absolutely no reason for it to exsist.

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By dale Headley, October 5, 2007 at 9:57 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

This one has Condi Rice worried - so worried that she is quickly moving to implement a plan to more closely monitor the actions of Blackwater.  Significantly, though, she has not called for legal liability for Blackwaer misdeeds.  Erik Prince will not stand for his company being held responsible for any murders his employees commit; that’s why he donates so much of his money to Republicans, including Bush.  If he is forced to adhere to U.S. laws, he just might stage a coup.  And he has the army to do it, especially with are real army occupied elsewhere.

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By Mariam Russell, October 5, 2007 at 9:47 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Tut, Tut, Mary…..You, as a patriotic citizen of the late Republic called the United States Of America, are bound to believe it when you are told that our universities and military schools are turning out incompetents by the millions. We are constantly stumbling into one mess right after the other (and leaving millions of bodies in our wake) in our never ending quest to bring “democracy” and “prosperity”, and, you know, all the wonders of “Predator Capitalism” that have been so good for the populations where we have managed to install it, to our fellow man….....including the “fellow men” here within these borders.


I keep advocating the razing of these institutions and starting over, but, as yet, have little support.

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By felicity, October 5, 2007 at 9:45 am Link to this comment

Same old, same old ‘follow the money.’  Blackwater’s domestic political clout has been key to its success. It’s owned by Erik Prince, a reclusive right-wing evangelical Christian who has served as a major bankroller of the campaigns of George Bush and his allies. Who says there’s no quid pro quo between campaign money and the politicians it benefits.

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By SuGee, October 5, 2007 at 7:03 am Link to this comment
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Even if a law is passed by both houses of our legislation, our War Criminal in Chief will either veto it or attach a signing statement. which says that the Emperor can’t be stopped.

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By mary, October 5, 2007 at 6:24 am Link to this comment

The idea that this “loop hole” in the law was an oversight is preposterous and just anoher manpulation by this admin and those who allow this kind of lawless behavior. Every time I think things can’t get more ridiculous, they do…..

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By warren schaich, October 5, 2007 at 5:47 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Finally, some attempt to bring this criminal policy of this administration, of ignoring the slaughter of Iraqis by hired guns, under the rule of law. Have we ever seen such blatant criminal mentality as we are now witnessing in the US governments’ policies domestically and in Iraq. We should all be rereading George Orwell’s 1984 for a taste of what is happening to us now and what to expect in the near future. Warren Schaich

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