Le Thé Chez Vierotchka

To facilitate its outsourcing of the business of war, the Pentagon has extended generous legal protection to civilian contractors in Iraq. Under a June 2003 order of the Coalition Provisional Authority, civilian contractors are protected from prosecution in Iraq for crimes committed as part of their official duties. (The exact, though convoluted, language is: "acts performed by them within their official activities pursuant to the terms and conditions of a contract between a contractor and Coalition Forces or the CPA.")


http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jun2004/iraq-j25.shtml

With just a week to go before the supposed “transfer of power�? in Iraq, Washington has decided to unilaterally renew a decree granting its troops, as well as private American contractors, complete immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law.

The measure allows the US military as well as hired mercenaries to commit war crimes with impunity, including the killing of civilians, the destruction of homes and property, and the extra-legal detention and torture of prisoners.


http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5475.htm

US Coalition forces Above the Law, According to the CPA


http://www.americanvoice2004.org/askdave/13askdave.html

Military contractors are not members of the military, therefore they are not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. They are subject to the laws of the country they operate in, but in Iraq the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) issued an order providing immunity from Iraqi law for actions by contractors or their employees in the course of their official activities.[5] This immunity has been extended under Iraq’s new interim government.[6]

http://www.firedoglake.com/2005/01/03/war-profiteering-corruption-and-greed-the-true-wmds/

Then, there is this, from the Sunday Telegraph:


http://tinyurl.com/ag2va


A "trophy" video appearing to show security guards in Baghdad randomly shooting Iraqi civilians has sparked two investigations after it was posted on the internet, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal.


The video has sparked concern that private security companies, which are not subject to any form of regulation either in Britain or in Iraq, could be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent Iraqis.