Posted on: Monday, May 10, 2004

EDITORIAL
Civilian contractors pose issues in Iraq

In Washington last week, it became clear that no investigation of prisoner abuse in Iraq would be complete without examination of a phenomenon apparently unique to this war: the extensive use of civilian contractors as interrogators.

These contractors, many apparently working for the CIA, are but a tiny part of the 20,000 civilians working in Iraq. That number is projected to rise quickly to 30,000.

Up to a certain level, privatization makes great sense for the military. When you contract out functions like cooking and latrine duty, you free trained fighting personnel to do just that.

But privatization in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere has crossed the line, to the point where private contractors are dressed in helmets and flak jackets, carrying automatic weapons and flying in and out of action in their own helicopters.

For example, a private contractor is exclusively in charge of protecting the Coalition Provisional Authority, including its head, Paul Bremer.

As the security situation in Iraq deteriorated in recent weeks, many security contract workers were exposed to the same dangers that U.S. soldiers faced. They defended their posts as soldiers would, but without the support of the military with which they share the battlefield.

One problem with civilian contractors is their legal status. Although they may have use-of-force rules built into their contracts, they generally don't have to pay much attention.

The Justice Department can prosecute under specific federal laws passed for military contractors, but the department does not have an office in Iraq. While this legal murkiness sometimes leaves contractors to rely on their own firepower in violent situations, it also helps shield them from effective discipline, and it produces armed forces that don't answer directly to Congress.

Internationally, these armed civilians aren't "noncombatants" or "lawful combatants" under the Geneva Conventions. Legally speaking, they actually fall into the same gray area as the unlawful combatants detained at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Clearly it's time for Congress, in consultation with the Pentagon, to untangle this mess.