Blackwater USA - DOJ Checks It’s Definition Of ‘Illegal Combatant’… Blackwater’s CEO Doesn’t Sweat It

For the Un Working Group documentation:
“…on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and
impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination“,
Look [Here]

“In light of the growing scandal surrounding Blackwater private security forces in Iraq, and efforts on the part of the Maliki government to expel the contractors from the country, Bush administration attorneys are apparently contemplating an awkward legal question: are Blackwater guards whove killed Iraqi civilians our own unlawful combatants?

As a rule, its a label given to terrorists caught in war zones without uniforms. It may be provocative, but there are U.S. officials who believe the name may apply to Blackwater. (thanks to reader DOK for the tip)

The issues surrounding the private security contractors are being examined by lawyers at the departments of State, Defense and Justice. Disagreements about the contractors status exist between agencies and within the Pentagon itself.

I think it is an unresolved issue that needs to be addressed, said a senior Defense Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the subject. But if that is in fact the case, what the heck are we doing?

Michael Schmitt, a professor of international law at the Naval War College and a former Air Force lawyer, told the LAT that killing civilians violates the law of war. It is a war crime to kill civilians unlawfully in an armed conflict, he said.”

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