SOFA in Iraq affects security contractors
[Blackwater in Najaf in 2004 -courtesy of NYT, Risen article, 12/03/08]
The New York Times has an editorial on this new accountability for contractors. Previously, they weren’t included in a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). This is the new battlefield however.
James Risen (NYT) reported on the SOFA being a source of concern for contractors in Iraq:
The thousands of American contractors in Iraq who have been above Iraqi law since the war began are suddenly facing a new era in which their United States passports will no longer protect them from arrest and imprisonment.
On a related topic, last night I went to hear Steve Fainaru talk about his new book, Big Boy Rules: America’s Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq. He’s a Pulitzer award winner for his reporting on security contractors there. I interviewed him by phone for my thesis. It was good to meet him. He got asked about the SOFA. No one seems to know exactly how much this SOFA will affect the presence of PSCs in Iraq but everyone agrees that they are here to stay.
One thing about Steve’s book that struck me: his decision to categorize private security as “mercenaries”. I know this will annoy some in the industry. It actually isn’t factually correct either, any contractor who is a citizen of a country in the coalition there is not technically, legally a mercenary. I’m not a big fan of their presence there and how they were allowed to avoid legal accountability and government oversight for so long (the DoD PSCs were reigned in to a greater extent by October 2004 than any other PSCs until September 16, 2007), but even I don’t call them mercenaries.
Wonder why he did? Could be the publisher thought it would sell more books, but I don’t think Steve would have gone along if he didn’t believe it himself.
