Iraqi "Sovereignty"
How sad is the notion of an Iraqi state? Sad enough that it is not enough for the American army to prop it up, but that is also needs American soldiers of fortune.
Iraq's probe into a deadly shooting by Blackwater USA in Baghdad last weekend has expanded to include allegations about the security firm's involvement in six other violent episodes this year that left at least 10 Iraqis dead....
Bassam Ridha, a senior adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, conceded that the Iraqi government, at least for now, cannot follow through on a ban on Blackwater, even though the firm has been operating without a license for more than a year. "The reality of the matter is we can't do that," Ridha said.
One could compare Iraq to South Vietnam, circa 1970, but that hardly seems fair to the Vietnamese.
What one can see with respect to Blackwater is merely an exemplar for the whole Iraq fiasco. The Iraqi state is a wisp of a shell of a phantom. The people of Iraq are united by only one thing—they all want the Americans, their "security consultants," their army, their Green Zone, and their photo-ops, gone.
From another story on Blackwater, we are reminded of just how ludicrous the situation of Blackwater is.
It is unclear whether Blackwater could be criminally prosecuted in Iraq. A U.S. regulation called Order 17 enacted after the invasion by Iraq's U.S. administrators provides immunity from prosecution for private security contractors.
[Iraqi Lieutenant General Hussein] Kamal, a lawyer by training, suggested that Iraq's government could file lawsuits against Blackwater in U.S. courts to seek compensation for the victims.
"If Order 17 provides them with immunity from being questioned or the right to be tried under Iraqi law, it does not prevent the Iraqi government from filing suit in an American court," he said.
Imagine, if you will, if Americans helping to maintain order in an actually functioning country were immune from prosecution in that actually functioning country's actually functioning courts.
Labels: Blackwater, Iraqi "government", stupid consultant tricks
