Five years into a war led in large part by highly-paid mercenaries, the Bush administration has finally decided a measure of accountability might be in order. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has ordered private contractors to conform to a series of new, tougher rules of engagement in the wake of the Sept. 16 slaying of 17 Iraqis by Blackwater USA employees.
This incident was not the first involving the most infamous band of hired guns in Iraq, but the violent reaction of the Iraqi people and subsequent withdrawal of the company’s license in the country has moved our government to re-assess the free reign these privatized soldiers operate within.
Under the new provisions, cameras are to be installed on all Blackwater vehicles, and every convoy will be ordered to carry a diplomatic federal agent, as well as an Arabic speaker. Rice accepted 11 of an investigatory panel’s 19 recommendations after the assault, but it may be too little, too late. This broad evaluation of security in Iraq has garnered at least one casualty in the State Department already; Richard J. Griffin, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, resigned after the panel announced its preliminarily findings.
This war is unlike others in our brief history for many reasons, but the use of contract killers in lieu of legitimate Army personnel is certainly one of the most glaring differences. Private contractors outnumber our armed forces in Iraq at an astounding 180,000 to 160,000. Given the sheer volume, the Iraqi people and their government are right to be outraged at the complete lack of oversight attached to these private soldiers on the ground.
In the wake of the Sept. 16 assault, there was actually a question as to whose law these men and women are operating under. United States? Iraqi? Military? What kind of industrialized nation hands someone an AK-47 and hopes for the best?
Government officials insist that the dissolution of these big business armies in Iraq would wreak havoc on the work of stabilization and reconstruction. But if their presence serves to ease the burden on our military by doing the same work, then logic would indicate they should follow the same rules.
This country is in the midst of a pseudo-debate over the exact definition of humiliating torture, while a world away the same administration that approves of waterboarding torture has given sovereignty to heavily-armed mercenaries with virtually no assumed liability. There are rules of engagement for a reason; the men and women of the United States Armed Forces follow them or face the consequences. It should be no different for private contractors.
The 20 percent or so that still support this president’s handling of Iraq may salivate over war profiteering, but to me, this is not the way we fight a war — any war. These incidents speak to the larger failings in Iraq. We cannot simply toss out our humanity to win at all costs, or that scant billion-dollar Blackwater contract will end up costing us dearly.
