Contractors in war zones lose immunity

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- An estimated 100,000 employees of US defense contractors working in Iraq are no longer immune from military prosecutions, because of a little-noticed provision in a 2007 defense spending bill aimed at holding private contractors accountable for crimes committed in war zones.

For the past three years, an unprecedented number of private contractors in Iraq have performed jobs previously reserved for the military, with immunity from military rules that govern troops and from criminal prosecution in Iraqi courts.
...
"Basically 100,000 contractors woke up to find themselves under the Uniform Code of Military Justice," said Peter W. Singer , a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who specializes on civilian military contractors.....
Previously, the code applied to "persons serving with or accompanying an armed force in the field" only during a war, which US courts interpreted to mean a war declared by Congress. No such declaration was made in the Iraq conflict. Now, Congress has amended the code to apply to persons accompanying an armed force during a "declared war or contingency operation."
...
But the provision might also have unintended consequences, if the military chooses to use its new power to court-martial civilians. For instance, the language in the law is so broad that it can be interpreted as saying that embedded journalists and contract employees from foreign countries would also be liable under the military code. Other punishable offenses under the code include disobeying an order, disrespecting an officer, and possession of pornography -- far less serious than the crimes that Congress envisioned when drafting the bill.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2007/01/07/contractors_in_war_zones_lose_immunity/?page=2

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. two words:

ABOUT TIME!

[RC]

2. Ahh, no. Read it again.

This is way to broad and sets a precedent. Civilians can be court marshaled.

[A Simple Game]

3. I you want to profit from a war,

you should have to play by the rules of war. Simple, if you don't like the rules, don't play the game.

I would go even further, I would include the guys sitting behind the desks at home making the decisions.

Bad people as contractors make us look just as bad as bad people in the military.