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(s)Elections See other (s)Elections Articles Title: Response to Clinton Attacks on Military Contractors “Proving once again that she will say anything to win an election, Hillary Clinton is attacking Barack Obama on an issue where he has led and she did nothing until her campaign fell behind. Senator Clinton did nothing when the use of contractors was expanded in the Clinton Administration, she did nothing when Senator Obama sent a bill on contractor accountability to her committee, and after more than four years of war in Iraq she claimed to not even know contractors were unaccountable even though she sits on the Senate committee that oversees them. For all her talk of Day One, it took five years on the Armed Services Committee before Hillary Clinton decided that she was shocked to learn about contractors that were used by the Clinton Administration, and whose abuses were reported year after year after year during the Iraq War,” said Obama spokesman Dan Pfeiffer. Clinton Admitted That She Didn't Know About A Provision That Gave Blackwater Immunity From Prosecution In Iraq Because Of An Exemption Passed After The US Invasion. "Clinton was asked about a statement she made... when criticizing the Bush administration's conduct in Iraq. She said she hadn't known that Blackwater USA, the military contractor accused of killing more than a dozen Iraqi civilians last month, had immunity from prosecution in Iraq because of an exemption approved soon after the US invasion. 'Maybe I should have known about it; I did not know about it,' she said... Asked if that suggested she, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was not sufficiently vigilant on the contractors issue, she said she has been raising questions about contractors for several years and opposed the government's use of them." [Boston Globe, 10/11/07] 2004: Clinton Attended An Armed Services Committee Meeting Where Wolfowitz Testified on The Immunity Of Contractors—She Even Commented. On April 20, 2004, Clinton was listed in attendance at an Armed Services Committee meeting in which Paul Wolfowitz spoke of Order No. 17 saying, "Further, we have Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 17, I believe it is, that goes into more detail about the rights and privileges and immunities that pertain to foreign forces providing for security in Iraq." Clinton responded on the subject of the military's role following Iraqi sovereignty saying, "I think that this is a serious issue, because it's not only the possibility that the definition will take on a life of its own, causing all kinds of unintended consequences, but that in fact the earlier questions that the chairman raised about the rules of engagement for our military and the authority that they have following this period of sovereignty, however one defines it, I think are going to be very sticky. And then you throw into the mix all these private contractors running around, heavily armed, I think it becomes even more of a challenge." [Senate Armed Services Committee Meeting, 4/20/04] 2003: Coalition Provisional Authority Declared Contractors Immune To Iraqi Law. Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 17 ordered that "Unless provided otherwise herein, the MNF, the CPA, Foreign Liaison Missions, their Personnel, property, funds and assets, and all International Consultants shall be immune from Iraqi legal process." The order also stated Contractors shall not be subject to Iraqi laws or regulations in matters relating to the terms and conditions of their Contract... Contractors shall be immune from Iraqi legal process with respect to acts performed by them pursuant to the terms and conditions of a Contract or any sub-contract thereto." [Coalition Provision Authority Order No. 17, 6/17/03] FEB 2007: Obama Submitted a Bill to Make Contractors Accountable to Law—to Clinton's Committee. In February, Obama submitted "A bill to require accountability and enhanced congressional oversight for personnel performing private security functions under Federal contracts, and for other purposes." The act would clarify the legal status of contractors, subjecting them to the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) to ensure that all contractors working in war zones – regardless of contracting agency -– would be held accountable under U.S. law. Passed in 2000, MEJA says that contractors for the armed forces can be prosecuted under US law for crimes committed overseas. However, because companies like Blackwater have contracts with the State Department rather than the Defense Department, the company is not technically subject to that law. Obama's bill would also require federal agencies employing private security contractors to report to Congress on the details of those arrangements, such as the total number and cost of contractors, the number of contractors killed or wounded, information about the military and safety equipment provided to contractors, and details of disciplinary action taken against contractors. The bill was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services, which Clinton serves on. [S. 674, Introduced 2/16/07] Blackwater USA's First Federal Contract Was In 1998 -- Under The Clinton Administration. At a House committee hearing on private contractor oversight, Blackwater USA counsel Andrew Howell was asked when his company received it's first government contract. Howell replied, "I believe that was 1998. And I think we have contracts for training in the U.S. and contracts for security services overseas, and those are two different animals." Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) inquired, "And that was under the Clinton administration?" Howell responded, "Yes, sir." [House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Hearing Transcript, 2/7/07] Blackwater's Lawyer Is A Former Clinton White House Counsel. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) asked Blackwater USA counsel Andrew Howell "And do you have staff or contracts with people who've been employed by Clinton administration? [...] For instance, you're accompanied by counsel today. Do you know what is her name and what was her political experience?" Howell replied, "Yes, sir. Her name is Ms. Beth Nolan and she was, indeed, part of the Clinton administration, from my understanding." Nolan served as Counsel to the President of the United States from 1999-2001 In the White House, she was responsible for overseeing all legal matters for President Clinton and the White House staff. [House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Hearing Transcript, 2/7/07; http://www.crowell.com/Professionals/Beth-Nolan] Mark Penn's Firm Did Public Relations Work For Blackwater. Burson-Marsteller has been brought aboard to do public relations work for Blackwater USA by the Washington law firms representing Blackwater-- McDermott Will & Emery and Crowell & Moring. One of the executives on the Blackwater account is Robert Tappan, a former State Department official. Tappan is a managing director of BKSH & Associates Worldwide, a Burson-Marsteller subsidiary. Paul Cordasco, a spokesman for Burson-Marsteller, said the company does not discuss its clients, but in a later a statement, Cordasco said BKSH helped Blackwater head Erik Prince prepare for his congressional hearing. "With the hearing over, BKSH's temporary engagement has ended," Cordasco said. [Associated Press, 10/5/07] Founder of Blackwater Credited Clinton Administration's Military Downsizing With Growth of Contracting Industry. The Weekly Standard reported that in 1996, Erik Prince left the Navy and founded Blackwater. "It was the end of the Cold War. The Clinton administration and Congress had been eagerly downsizing military facilities and training--much to the consternation of many officers, Prince included. Prince knew there would be a market for the kind of training Blackwater would provide; his initial purchase of 6,000 acres in Moyock does not suggest his vision for the company was modest." [Weekly Standard, 12/18/06] Clinton Escalated The Use Of Private Military Companies. According to Mother Jones, "The use of private military companies, which gained considerable momentum under President Clinton, has escalated under the Bush administration. [...] Like the Clinton administration, the Bush administration is relying heavily on private military companies to wage the war on drugs in South America. Federal law bans U.S. soldiers from participating in Colombia's war against left-wing rebels and from training army units with ties to right-wing paramilitaries infamous for torture and political killings. There are no such restrictions on for-profit companies, though, and since the late 1990s, the United States has paid private military companies an estimated $1.2 billion, both to eradicate coca crops and to help the Colombian army put down rebels who use the drug trade to finance their insurgency." [Mother Jones, May/June, 1993] The Clinton Administration's "'Privatize First, Ask Questions Later' Mentality Has Led to The Situation We Face Now In Iraq." In an article in The Nation, William D. Hartung wrote, "The latest wave of military privatization started in the first Bush Administration, when Defense Secretary Cheney asked Halliburton to study what it would cost to have a private company take charge of getting US forces overseas in a hurry. Halliburton was hired to do just that in Somalia, employing 2,500 people. The Clinton Administration picked up where Bush/Cheney left off, hiring Halliburton--then run by Cheney--as the logistics arm for the war in Kosovo. Halliburton's contract started out as a $ 180 million deal but soon mushroomed to more than $ 2.5 billion as the company built Camp Bondsteel and other military facilities on lavish, cost-plus terms. [...] But the urge to privatize soon expanded to include anything and everything, up to and including hiring former Green Berets and Navy SEALs for serious security and training functions. The 'privatize first, ask questions later' mentality has led to the situation we face now in Iraq, where private companies are performing front-line military functions ranging from providing security to the Coalition Provisional Authority (Blackwater) to training the new Iraqi army (Vinnell) to protecting oil pipelines (Erinys) to interrogating prisoners (CACI)." [The Nation, 6/7/04]
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