Pam Spaulding has an excellent piece referencing some of the Blackwater questions I posted below.
And a TWN reader who also happens to be one of America’s most distinguished former Ambassadors raised questions about the applicability of international law to the Blackwater case:
Excellent questions. In particular, on what basis would a contractor be exempted from the normal requirement for non-discriminatory employment practices? I can’t see any legal basis for applying “don’t-ask-don”t-tell” to private employers.
I also don’t see any basis in international law for exempting privately employed individuals from the application of the law, including the laws prohibiting crimes against humanity, regardless of what Jerry Bremer may have decreed when ruling Iraq. If the Iraqis won’t prosecute them for murder, reckless mayhem, and related crimes, I imagine the international criminal court could do so.
Makes sense to me.
— Steve Clemons
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