On September 16th of 2007, shortly after noon, in a place called Nisour Square located in the Mansour District in the Iraq capital of Baghdad, a heavily armed Blackwater Personnel Security Detail convoy consisting of four armored vehicles mounted with 7.62-millimeter machine guns made its way through the square as Iraqi traffic officers tried to control the busy traffic (Zagorin, Bennet, 2007) . Between the convoy getting special traffic rules to prevent attacks and the square being a heavy traffic area something went wrong and Blackwater personnel from all four vehicles opened fire on numerous civilian vehicles. “When it was all over we were looking around and about fifteen cars had been destroyed, the bodies of the killed were strewn on the pavements and road.” Thiab one of the traffic officers recalled (Schahill, 2008).When the convoy cleared the area the “shootout” left 17 Iraqi civilians dead and 20 injured. These actions lead to an outrage not only in the Iraq but also the Arab community. While this wasn’t Blackwater’s first time making global headlines, this time was definitely the worst to date. It came to look so bad on the United States government that it was taken to trial in American court, and on January 1st of 2010 all charges were dismissed, both against those contractors involved in this terrible incident but also to company itself. In this paper we will be looking at first a brief history of mercenaries so we can see where Private Military Contractors originate from and what the world has done to try to end such use of these warriors for hire. Next we will look at these groups themselves, what sort of work they do. Finally we will look at why their work is so controversial. To fully understand the PMC issue... ... middle of paper ... ...ary contractor (Raymond, 2011).” The case was fought for the defense started out by saying that the contractors were exempt from the “laws of war”. When it was determined that these cases could not be considered as “combat” the defense coined a new term, “battlefield preemption”. This term was made to eliminate any civil lawsuits taken against any contractors that take place on any “battlefield”. This was seen as outrages since thanks to the “War on Terror” anything could be deemed a battlefield even if it was not located within a warzone. This was inpart to the fact that the US’s ever expanding war made anyone, anywhere could be a target the battlefield would be as limitless as the immunities they were trying to grant with the creation of this term. Then at the start of 2013 a fraction of the deserved justice was served to those whom these crimes were committed on.
Laws exist to protect life and property; however, they are only as effective as the forces that uphold them. War is a void that exists beyond the grasps of any law enforcing agency and It exemplifies humankind's most desperate situation. It is an ethical wilderness exempt from civilized practices. In all respects, war is a primitive extension of man. Caputo describes the ethical wilderness of Vietnam as a place "lacking restraints, sanctioned to kill, confronted by a hostile country and a relentless enemy, we sank into a brutish state." Without boundaries, there is only a biological moral c...
When political leaders frame an unjust war as a morally just war, though, these same soldiers might have second thoughts about their decision to become part of a military machine that is prosecuting an unjust war because their leaders lacked the authority to absolve them from their personal accountability. In this regard, McMahan makes the interesting point that, “What unjust combatants are commanded to do as agents of the state – fight, in an unjust war – is not something that their state, or its leaders, have a claim right to do, or to delegate to others”
Jus ad bellum is defined as “justice of war” and is recognized as the ethics leading up to war (Orend 31). Orend contends that an...
Anyone wishing to argue that the War Powers Act is unconstitutional must be prepared to explain the purpose of article I, section 8 of the Constitution (Carter). Article I, section 8 clearly states that Con...
Reynold, Colonel Nicholas E. U.S. Marines in Iraq, 2003: Basrah, Baghdad, and Beyond: U.S. Marines in the Global War on Terrorism. Washington, D.C.: History Division United States Marine Corps, 2007.
The judicial branch will continue to play a vital role in the ‘struggle’ for power in foreign affairs and the use of armed forces. We will surely see public debate and congressional involvement over a recent decision by President Obama that authorized the ‘targeted killing’ of a US citizen abroad without due process under the pretext combating terrorism.
Schmidt, Michael. “Fatal Bombs in Iraq Seemed Aimed at Militia.” The New York Times. 09 Feb. 2011. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.
The Iraq war, also known as the second Gulf War, is a five-year, ongoing military campaign which started on March 20, 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by U.S. troops. One of the most controversial events in the history of the western world, the war has caused an unimaginable number of deaths, and spending of ridiculous amounts of money. The reason for invasion war Iraq’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction, which eventually was disproved by weapons inspectors. Many people question George W. Bush’s decision to engage a war in Iraq, but there might be greater reason why the decision was made. The ideas of George W. Bush might have been sculpted by one of the greatest works of all time, "The Prince."
Do you remember the conflict that America had in the Persian Gulf a few years back? An incident occurred there where a man drove a truck loaded with explosives into the building where more than 100 Marines were stationed. He blew up the building, along with the Marines. The incident was published by the AP Press soon after. Now do you remember the bombing just four years ago, in Oklahoma City? Suspects Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols drove a Ryder Van loaded with 4,800 pounds of fertilizer and fuel oil to the front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, where it subsequently exploded, killing 169 people and injuring some 500 others. Of course you do. While both were massive acts of violence involving American citizens, the impact of such acts is always felt the most when it happens right here at home.
Friedman goes on to write that the United States has been very lax when it comes to punishing those United States officials and officers in charge during the time that prisoners of war have been tortured and killed. Friedman calls for President Bush and the United States government to “Just find out who were the cabinet, C.I.A. and military officers on whose watch these 26 homicides occurred and fire them. That will do more to improve America's image in the Arab-Muslim world than any ad campaign, which will be useless if this sort of prisoner abuse is shrugged off.”
BP was founded in 1908 under the name Anglo-Persian Oil Company. They changed their name to British Petroleum in 1954 and merged with Amoco in 1998. (BP Public Website, 2010) “The Texas City Refinery is BP’s largest and most complex oil refinery... It was owned and operated by Amoco prior to the merger of BP and Amoco.” (Michael P. Broadribb, 2006) Throughout their history, there have been a number of accidents that have been caused by negligence and disregard of safety precautions. Unfortunately many lives have been cut short or seriously injured as a result. My research will focus on the 2005 Texas City Oil Refinery Explosion. I will attempt to look into the ethical implications that surrounded this disaster before and after the event and suggest what BP could have done to prevent the incident then and in the future.
On March 31st 2004, three American contractors working for Blackwater were ambushed while conducting security for a convoy carrying food supplies to a nearby forward operating base. The three American’s bodies were decapitated, burned, dragged through the streets of Fallujah and then hung from a bridge. This horrible act angered Americans especially President Bush who wanted action immediately against those who were involved with the murders.
Richardson, Neal A., and Spencer J. Crona. "Terrorists Should Be Tried in a Military Tribunal." Criminal Justice. Ed. Jill Karson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.
The amount of corruption within the United States’ violent involvement in the Middle East is almost unreal. Unfortunately, the wars have been too real—half a million deaths in the first year of Iraqi Freedom alone (Rogers). These wars have been labeled--the violence, filtered-- to fit a specific agenda. Whether the deaths are deemed an acceptable loss in the name of national security, or as a devastating injustice, the reality doesn’t change. Lives have been lost. Lives that will never be brought back. The intention of wars is in part due to attacks on the twins towers on September 11th 2001. When the buildings fell, almost three thousand people died, according
Tilly, C. (1985). War Making and State Making as Organized Crime. In: P.B Evans, D. Rueschemeyer & T. Skocpol Bringing the state back in. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 171.