Posted by
Always To The Right on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 1:36:19 PM
The status of forces agreement (SOFA) between Iraq and the US kicks into effect on January 1, and with it a significant shift in the relationship
between the two countries. Although US forces will still secure the
Green Zone in Baghdad where government and diplomatic compounds are
located, the Iraqis will have authority over it rather than the
Americans for the first time since the March 2003 invasion. The Iraqis
are delighted, but some Americans are less so
One change that the Iraqis wanted will create problems for American contractors — and perhaps indirectly for Barack Obama:
Until now, all American contractors have avoided Iraq’s
jurisdiction under a rule issued by the CPA in 2004 that said
contractors were “immune from Iraqi legal process.”
That arrangement has been deeply unpopular with the Iraqi public
since September 2007, when guards from the Blackwater company opened
fire and killed 14 Iraqis in Baghdad, according to the U.S. Justice
Department. Five of the guards were indicted on manslaughter charges
this month.
The SOFA explicitly ends that immunity for contractors working for
the military or Defense Department. The agreement says nothing about
contractors such as Blackwater that work for civilian agencies such as
the State Department — and it is unclear how much their operations
would be affected, if at all.
Blackwater and other contractors strenuously objected to that part
of the agreement. They do not wish to rely on Iraqi notions of justice
and jurisprudence, especially in certain areas where their contractors
have operated to protect American interests. The State Department has
warned the Pentagon and the White House that the Iraqis will almost
certainly use that new authority quickly and that American citizens
will soon find themselves under arrest in Iraq, which would force the
departure of security contractors and others.
Blackwater does a significant amount of work in personal protection,
and they usually hire retired or inactive service members for these
tasks. (Full disclosure: a friend of mine worked for a security
company in Iraq.) Their presence allowed the US to complete its
mission with better security while deploying fewer troops by paying
volunteers to serve through the private sector. The wisdom of that
policy has been under debate and will continue to generate controversy,
but the fact is that their sudden departure will require a greater use
of American troops to replace them.