Posted on 02/24/2007 6:11:34 PM PST by chet_in_ny
The grisly details of the murder and dismemberment of four U.S. citizen contractors in the Iraqi city of Fallujah have found their way onto U.S. soil in a dispute that may reach the Supreme Court. In the case, the estates of the four late contractors filed suit against Blackwater Security, a company with whom the decedents contracted to perform military escort services.
The estates attribute the contractors' deaths to the allegedly negligent and deceitful actions of the contracting companies, asserting claims of common-law fraud and wrongful death under North Carolina law. Blackwater, however, contends that the state law claims are pre-empted by federal law, and that no court, state or federal, has jurisdiction to review the claims. Interestingly, no court has yet ruled on whether Blackwater ought to be held financially responsible for the deaths of the four contractors; instead, in Blackwater Security Consulting v. Nordan (No. 06-857), the company is asking the Supreme Court to step in and determine where the next confrontation, if any, over the responsibility for the decedents' deaths will take place.
The four decedents were employed as independent contractors by Blackwater, which provided security and logistical support for private contractors in Iraq. On March 30, 2004, the contractors were ordered to escort three trucks carrying food supplies to a U.S. Army base. Lacking the necessary support, the four ultimately became lost in the city of Fallujah at a time when reportedly even the U.S. military would not enter the city. Insurgents ambushed the convoy, murdered the contractors, and beat, burned, and dismembered their remains.
(Excerpt) Read more at biz.yahoo.com ...
Gosh, even I can download a map. What type of support were four armed men who signed up to perform such duties supposed to have that was absent?
I will never forget their deaths and mutilation as long as I live. Sickening.
I agree. Looks like the families are trying to profit off their deceased with the help of some John Edwards type plaintiff lawyers (notice how the plaintiffs want NC law to control)
Do our servicemen and women get to sue for "wrongful death"? The contractors know what they're getting into, and they get paid some very big bucks (of MY tax dollars) for doing work in Iraq. If you are accepting upwards of $1K/day, it isn't for your ability to drive a truck or install a power cable. It is HAZARD pay.
The contractors ... get paid some very big bucks (of MY tax dollars) for doing work in Iraq.I agree, but the implication is they are mercenaries.
"Estates of slain contractors in Iraq seek standing from SCOTUS to sue Blackwater for wrongful death."
Back-up singers for the Jersey Girls?
Being a contractor myself...I will readily admit that I am a mercenary. I've been one for nine years. The gov't pays my company for my services and when the requirement doesn't exist...I must move on. Unlike the GS-worker empire...where the government assumes the responsibility to keeping adequate work for these guys....we contractors are strictly on our own. If the government turns to a company and says they need 300 left-handed experts on Chinese history...I'll guarantee you that companies will find the 300 requirements within 30 days and have them in their jobs within another 30 days.
On the other side of the coin...alot of these 800 contractors killed in Iraq...weren't the guys making $200k a year. You have alot of truck drivers who went over...getting a $80k deal (tax-free)...most of it to be paid at the conclusion of twelve months. There might be a free $100k of life insurance offered in the package for the bottom of the pile...and the majority might have been offered $250k in life insurance. For alot of these guys...they had minimal training and were directly ordered not to carry sidearms. This is where most things start to go wrong. No one is writing an absolute rule book on warfare and who can "play" or who is a "non-player". Once you enter a warzone...you are a player and each one of these contractors ought to have some basic combat skills taught, and be armed for their own protection. Anything less than that....suggests that they are in the same league as the Red Cross dudes...which is totally wrong.
The Supreme Court should eventually address the broader question of the use of Merceneries (which I define as Contractors serving in war-zones); neither the Congress nor the Administration nor the Courts nor the Public has asked the important questions about the use of Mercenaries by the US forces.
For example, what is the responsibility of the USA regarding harm-to, or harm-caused-by, Mercenaries? (This SCOTUS case is directed to the harm-to part of the question.) But, for example who investigates and prosecutes crime BY the Mercenaries? (Examples-- what is the likelihood of some of the missing $13 Trillion dollars (said to be 220 TONS of $100 bills) ordered by Bremer have been misapproprated/stolen by mercenaries; possible events of murder, rape, torture?). The Armed Forces have clearly defined rules but I believe th4e contractors do not.
There is probably far too much use of Contractors in pursuing the "War on Terror", and it seems to be growing!
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