The U.S. District Court in Washington recently dismissed charges against Blackwater guards for a 2007 shooting incident.  The Blackwater guards allegedly opened fire on the streets of Baghdad killing 17 and wounding dozens more, including women and children.  The guards admitted evidence that shows wrongdoing in interviews given immediately after the incident.  The case was dismissed because the judge ruled the interviews were not admissible, even though they were routine interviews given to the State Department for this type of incident.

The Justice Department has filed an appeal to the court’s decision, but has not yet explained their reason for the appeal.  The Iraqi government has pressured the U.S. Government to seek the appeal because of the outrage expressed by the Iraqi people over the dismissal.  The dismissal enforced the view that the U.S. was not taking responsibility for its actions of misconduct during war.  Many in the State Department have expressed concern that the dismissal of the case could lead to increased instability in Iraq and roll back U.S. accomplishments in the country.

The use of private contractors has surged under the Obama administration.  Private military contractors now account for between 22% and 30% of the total U.S. forces in Afghanistan.  Military contractors are often paid 4 to 5 times what the U.S. pays its own military, which dramatically increases the cost of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Removing military contractors from the wars would save needed monetary resources.  The changes would also shift responsibility for the wars back to the military and ensure greater oversight over military operations.

U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson will introduce legislation that would de-fund private contractors who engage in illegal or unethical behavior like Blackwater.  Contractors are already “barred by DOD regulations from taking part in ‘offensive’ operations,” but regularly take part in offensive operations despite the ban.  Contractors like Blackwater have been involved in several bloody acts of violence against civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The use of private contractors has tarnished the image of the U.S. abroad and put our security goals in Iraq and Afghanistan at risk.

Also introduced by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) was the  Stop Outsourcing Security Act.  The legislation would take inherently governmental functions away from private contractors and put them back into the hands of the military.  It is believed by the lawmakers that carrying weapons on behalf of the U.S. government should be restricted to the U.S. military.

The Stop Outsourcing Security Act would take vital military functions out of the hands of contractors, reducing our reliance on unaccountable private security contractors in the theater of battle.  The S.O.S. Act would not phase-out the hundreds of thousands of contractors providing non-military support services for the Armed Forces.