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Article: U.S. Congress and administration consider responses to excessive uses of force by U.S. security firms.
- Article from:
- American Journal of International Law
- Article date:
- January 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 American Society of International Law. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A September event--in which security guards employed by the U.S. security firm Blackwater Worldwide, working under contract to protect Department of State personnel, killed seventeen Iraqi civilians at Nisoor Square in Baghdad--has drawn wide attention in both the United States and Iraq. The Baghdad killings have led the administration and Congress to confront legal questions relating to U.S. jurisdiction over the activities of private security contractors working for the U.S. government.
Both Iraqi and U.S. investigators reportedly have concluded that the guards' firing was unprovoked and unjustified (1) Their actions are immune from Iraqi criminal jurisdiction, ...