If Lt. Calley had been a government contractor, he would not have been prosecuted for the 1968 My Lai Massacre.
Now see, Lt. Calley was, as all US Servicepeople are, covered by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which selectively removes certain Constitutional protections of the individual. Some of these protections that get removed are arguably bad, like no free speech, and some of them are arguably good, like NO TURNING INTO A RAGING HOMICIDAL MANIAC WITHOUT GOING TO PRISON, at least for a while.
But you see, if you are a government *contractor,* UCMJ does not apply to you. And it doesn’t hurt if Gary Bremer and the Coalition Provisional Authority give you a gold-plated Do The F*** What You Want pass, either.
The five Blackwater guards who killed the 17 Iraqi civilians in what they called “self-defense” (the guards called it that, not the civilians, who remain strangely silent about the whole matter) were covered by a beautiful Catch-22 that worked in their favor (the guards’ favor, that is). And if Lt. Calley had been a mercenary, he could have used it too.
The government’s prosecution of the Blackwater killings has been a Huge Fail, and the guards will likely get off scot-free, because, according to the NYT’s reportage, the Catch-22 is:
“The issue was that the guards, as government contractors, were obligated to give an immediate report of what they had done, but the Constitution prevents the government from requiring a defendant to testify against himself, so those statements could
not be used in a prosecution.”
So what’s the lesson, boys and girls? KILL ALL THE WITNESSES. Because if nobody reports on it except *you,* you can’t be prosecuted.
If Joe Heller were still alive, he could have gotten another whole novel out of this one paragraph.
I thought that DOD contractors were covered by the UCMJ (or at least that they are now). In any event those Blackwater scum were contracted by State.
You are exactly correct, x111e7thst, about UCMJ applying to contractors: http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2007/0112defenseindustry_singer.aspx
The key quote: “Like any new law, it depends on two things: Interpretation and will to implement. That is, it doesn’t necessarily kick into action and how it kicks into action depends on much.”
Two problems arise: 1. Judges hate to set precedents and much prefer to rely on previous decisions. 2. Anyone trying to implement this risks a CLM, Career Limiting Move, on his record.
Besides the usual friction between Foggy Bottom and The Pentagon, too.
If I were a Blackwater attorney, I would argue that the CPA’s Pass and the State Dept’s contract would void UCMJ applying.
After having thrown the guards under the bus, of course.
They killed 17 in 23,900,720.
Lighten up….
Yes, it’s fucking funny as shit. Iraqi civilians die by the thousands and tens of thousands and it’s “regrettable collateral damage” when it’s not just “meh”. Yet we hurry to spend billions of dollars to ensure that NOT A SINGLE US Murrican life is lost in an airplane to terrorisms.
Here is another idea. Why not spend those billions bringing our infant mortality rate down till its as low as Sweden’s. Save a lot more lives that way than by installing new scrotal scanners or whateverthefuck .
Rate in Sweden approx 3 per 1000 live births
Rate in US approx 7 per 1000 live births.
@x111e7thst
Don’t stress. It’s all gonna change when our Chinese overlords take charge.