02.14.08
Pentagon wants mercenaries free to murder
The Pentagon is strongly backing the right of US mercenaries to murder, rape, and pillage—well, maybe not pillage—with no punishment:
As the Bush administration prepares to “renegotiate a long-term bilateral security agreement” with Iraq, a “deal-breaker for the Iraqis is contractor immunity” of the type that allowed Blackwater guards to escape punishment after killing 17 Iraqis in a Baghdad shoot-out. But “in interagency discussions arranged in preparation for the start of negotiations, the Department of Defense has said it wants to ask the Iraqis to maintain status quo.” The State Department “has argued strongly against that position.”
The Bush Administration is very strong on not having lawbreakers punished, so long as Bush likes the lawbreakers (or is one of them). Cf. Scooter Libby, telecoms, etc.
