27 Civilian Interrogators at A.G. Subject to No Law Anywhere

[drfemoe]

May 16, 2004
The privatization of Abu Ghraib
Civilians named in abuse scandal can't be charged Iraq war ramps up Pentagon's use of private contractors
LYNDA HURST

In the shock of the Iraqi abuse scandal — amid horrific images of prisoner brutality, the inquiries into who did what and who told them to — one unsettling detail went largely unnoticed.

But only temporarily.

Of the 37 interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison, 27 did not belong to the U.S. military but to a Virginia private contractor called CACI International. Twenty-two linguists who assisted them were employed by California-based Titan International.

Two of these workers were cited in Maj.-Gen. Anthony Taguba's damning report on the "sadistic, blatant and wanton" treatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib 1A cellblock.

Unlike the seven reservist guards facing criminal trials and military intelligence officers under investigation, interrogator Steven Stefanowicz and translator John Israel face no accountability, let alone punishment. Being civilians, they are not subject to military law nor to the Geneva Convention.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT


Toronto Star
*note to mods* very long article .. snipped content = or < 4 para limit ..

[Spazito]

1. If CACI International is receiving payment from DOD then...

would they not have to adhere to the rules and limitations that is upon the "employer"? Is this not simply sub-contracting and therefore the sub-contractor is subject to the same laws as the "contractor?

I don't see how the contractors can't be held responsible and be criminally prosecuted, they may not be subject to a military tribunal but I see nothing that prohibits criminal charges.

[Alerter_]

2. Wall Street Journal said they were "off the hook" last week

In a really sneering article in the Marketplace section, they explained that CACI's stock was doing fine because no one expected them to be held accountable for anything. The other torture company involved in Titan Corporation.

[Spazito]

4. With the WSJ being bush sycophants, I do not...

see them as the definitive word on the law, only on how best to kiss bush's ass. There is a difference between "expectations" and the law.

[drfemoe]

3. good point

Who, exactly, is awarding the contracts? The American People are paying them!! Against our Will. $25 billion here, $87 billion there ..

I suspect the pawns of the "IGC" are the contract holders. If the "IGC" is *awarding* contracts, THEY should be held criminally liable. How do you think that would float?

[Old and In the Way]

5. Outsourcing Responsibility.

A hallmark of this administration.

[LittleApple81]

6. First, CACI is Armitage's company. Second, they might be covered

by Bush*'s executive order that exempts all contractors that even come in contact with oil in Iraq.

[Spazito]

7. It can't if the executive order relates to the protection of the oil...

fields unless there is an oil well in the prison. If there is an executive order giving the "contractors" (mercenaries) immunity from prosecution for torture it would only prove that bush signed off on it.

[drfemoe]

8. extrajudicial =

the defining characteristic of the outlaws running our country.

[Spazito]

9. Yep!

*

[peacetalksforall]

10. How does Armitage get away with his conflict of interest. It is a

conflict of interest, isn't it? Are we drowning in so many scandals that we don't have enough spotlights?

Can't some of the few good journalists receive the cooperation of students as Franken did with his Liar book?

We know that the propagandists only do their work at a bar or a restaurant and they may pull out a file drawer every once in awhile, but we know they really don't have to work, because the propagand is just fed to them. But, there are so many of them and their bosses that they serve the cover up job very well. They only have to go for sessions with their how-to-lie advisor.

[drfemoe]

11. It's all in the family

I suppose..

[Moderator]

12. drfemoe

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
news source.

Thank you.

DU Moderator

[KittyWampus]

13. They Can Most CERTAINLY Be Tried In The Hague

for crimes against humanity...