Los Angeles Times Endorses Blackwater-Backed Legislation

Better late than never: The Los Angeles Times is more a year behind Blackwater CEO Erik Prince in endorsing private contractor accountability legislation. Even so, it's good that the Times editors are finally sharing Blackwater's views.

Testifying before Congress on October 2, 2007, Prince alerted lawmakers to pending legislation that would fill holes in the law and tighten ambiguities, thus taking away the gray areas that made accountability difficult in the private security contracting business for the US government abroad. He said he was "happy" with the proposed legislation, authored by Rep. David Price (D-NC) and endorsed it. The House later passed the bill.

BlackwaterFacts.com reported this on October 4, 2007.

Fourteen months later, the LA Times is finally on board. Here's what the editors say in a December 15, 2008 editorial:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that "there is a hole” in the law where prosecution of private contractors was concerned.

Rice may be right. The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act allows for the prosecution of civilians who are "employed by or accompanying the armed forces outside the United States." A grand jury concluded that even though the Blackwater defendants worked for the State Department, they were supporting a military mission and are thus covered by the law. Certainly that interpretation is in the spirit of the law; whether it satisfies the law's letter must be decided by the courts. (The defendants also argue that they can't be prosecuted because they were offered immunity by the State Department.) Meanwhile, Congress should enact legislation passed last year by the House that would allow for the prosecution of U.S. contractors in foreign countries -- regardless of the agency for which they work -- if the foreign country doesn't choose to prosecute. If the "hole" mentioned by Rice exists, it should be plugged.

No doubt the LA Times editors are clueless about this, and think that they're sticking it to Blackwater. In reality, the company wants tight laws and rules for accountability and responsibility, so that it can operate without the legal ambiguity that has been so problematic.

Standish is writing to the LA Times editors to congratulate them and to ask them to recognize Blackwater for endorsing the legislation more than a year before they did.

Readers of this blog should do the same. Click here to see how, or write directly at: letters@latimes.com.

US House approves Blackwater-backed legislation

The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation backed by Blackwater CEO Erik Prince to fill legal gaps concerning accountability for private contractors abroad.

Prince complained to Congress on October 2 that existing law did not allow him to take action against Blackwater diplomatic security personnel abroad who were suspected of committing crimes. He referred specifically to the highly publicized case of an off-duty guard who got drunk and allegedly shot a bodyguard for an Iraqi vice president. All Blackwater could do in that case, Prince said, was fire the guard, make him pay a financial penalty, send him back to the US, and urge that the government revoke the guard's security clearance.

When lawmakers suggested that Blackwater should have apprehended the alleged killer, Prince said that US law forbids the company to detain people. "We fired him. We fined him. But we, as a private organization, can't do any more," Prince told congressmen at the hearing. "We can't flog him. We can't incarcerate him. That's up to the Justice Department. We are not empowered to enforce U.S. law."

The Blackwater CEO publicly backed a bill by Rep. David Price (D-NC), HR 2740, to expand US law to make non-Defense Department contractors abroad accountable for wrongdoing or criminal activity.

Congressman Price's legislation also had the strong support of the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA), a trade group of which Blackwater is a member. "Anything that enhances the accountability is good for our industry," says IPOA President Doug Brooks.

The White House opposes the legislation, and Republicans argue that Democrats are ramming the bill through Congress without adequate review.

Rep. Price's legislation will help Blackwater

Congressman David Price (D-NC) gave Blackwater a helping hand when he introduced a bill to make American companies working on US government contracts abroad liable under federal law.

Blackwater and other private contractors have been in a legal netherworld in many ways, because Congress decided to rely on them after having slashed the military, yet never bothered to update the law. People have been taking it out on Blackwater because Congress didn't create new accountability laws.

So Congressman Price (pictured) has stepped up to the plate. And Blackwater CEO Erik Prince says he's "happy" with Price's legislation, HR 2740, to fill those holes in the law.

In his October 2 testimony, Prince challenged lawmakers several times to get a handle on government spending on contractors, and to do real studies about whether contractors or federal employees would be more cost-effective for the taxpayer. Though few on the panel expressed interest in taking him up on the idea, Prince repeatedly said he welcomed federal scrutiny of his company and the private contractor industry.

Prince also chided congressmen who seemed to expect him to break the law by physically detaining Blackwater personnel suspected of committing crimes. It is against the law for his company to detain anyone, he told them patiently, and it's Congress's responsibility to ensure the existence of adequate laws. Until Congress does, Blackwater will do as best as it can.

For an interesting argument about the issue of legal accountability and the October 2 Waxman hearing, see Mark Hemingway's piece in National Review.