GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER, THE FREE MARKET VERSION

Now, would someone explain to me again that they "hate us for our freedoms"?

Iraqis shot by contractors stymied in search for justice
As many as 19 have died in the last month.
No precedent exists to hold guards responsible.
By Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 16, 2007

(EXCERPTS)

BAGHDAD -- In the days after Usama Abbass was shot dead in a Baghdad traffic circle by security guards working for Blackwater USA, his brother visited the U.S.-run National Iraqi Assistance Center seeking compensation.Like other Iraqis who have done the same, he learned a harsh truth: The center in Baghdad's Green Zone handles cases of Iraqis claiming death or damages due to military action, but not due to actions of private contractors such as Blackwater, who work in Iraq for the U.S. government, private agencies and other governments.

There is no civilian counterpart to the assistance center in Iraq, leaving the families of as many as 19 Iraqis killed by private security contractors in the last month searching for other means to address abuses by private security contractors.There is no precedent for holding Western security contractors accountable in court, in Iraq or the U.S., for injuries or deaths suffered by Iraqi civilians.

Nobody knows how many Iraqis have died at the hands of such contractors because of the secrecy with which security firms operate here.

Although the recent shootings have galvanized Iraqis to demand justice, it is far from certain they will get it -- either in the form of criminal prosecution or financial compensation.

"The answer may be no for both," said Eugene R. Fidell, a military law expert who practices in Washington and teaches military justice at Yale Law School.Robert N. Strassfeld, director of the Institute for Global Security Law and Policy at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, agreed. "There is a solid legal basis for keeping American courthouse doors open for these claims," Strassfeld said. "That said, any plaintiff, whether an American citizen or a foreign national, who brings such a claim will face a battery of arguments that the court lacks jurisdiction, that the claim is preempted by a variety of federal laws, and that the defendant has immunity."

Separate from criminal prosecution, monetary damages would be difficult to win because of the challenge of proving who did what in the chaos of the moment -- likely to become tougher as time passes.