Bill makes Iraq workers face trial

WASHINGTON – In a move to bolster oversight of private security firms in Iraq, the House overwhelmingly passed legislation Thursday that would make all private contractors working there and in other combat zones subject to prosecution in U.S. courts for any criminal acts.

The bill was approved 389-30 and is the latest fallout from a Sept. 16 incident in Baghdad in which employees of the private security company Blackwater USA are accused of killing at least 11 Iraqis in what some witnesses said was an indiscriminate and unprovoked shooting.

Even before the House voted, the White House expressed strong opposition to the bill. But Democrats hailed the measure, which was introduced last January but languished until the recent high-profile event, as an important step to close a loophole that they said allowed some contractors to work with near impunity under an unclear set of rules.

“There is no clear chain of command for contractors, little in the way of standards for training and vetting personnel, and no legal accountability for misconduct,” said Rep. David Price, D-N.C., the main sponsor of the legislation.

Despite the Bush administration’s deep antipathy to the legislation, Senate Democrats are expected to introduce a similar measure, one that has been drafted by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

The White House opposes the idea of putting contractors under the jurisdiction of civilian courts, arguing that it would insert civilian investigators into an area better covered under military law.

Most contractors working for the U.S. government fall under the American judicial system, but private security employees, including those working with the North Carolina-based Blackwater, are in a sort of legal limbo.

Personnel working for the Defense Department in both Iraq and Afghanistan are subject to the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act. Those employed by Blackwater, which has long had a reputation on the Iraqi street of being a band of rogue mercenaries, work for the State Department, so it is uncertain whether they fall under MEJA.

The legislation passed in the House, if it were to become law, would help close that possible loophole, but it could not be retroactively applied.