On Sunday, September 16, 2007, employees of the Blackwater Company who provide security for Americans in Iraq were accused of killing several Iraqis. This is not the first time that Blackwater has been involved in such incidents. Yet, under regulations adopted when the provisional coalition authority ran Iraq, employees of such firms cannot be prosecuted for such attacks.
Not only is the Iraq government barred from prosecuting Americans who, in their opinion use unjustifiable force, but the Iraqi government is not in a position to disarm sectarian militias. This means that the Iraqi government is in the unenviable position of having to tolerate armed forces it can't control in its own country.
What this means to the United States is that a government that can't protect its citizens from violence won't have those citizens' respect. It also means that if getting our troops out of Iraq depends on political reconciliation among the Iraqis, they are going to be there for a very long time.
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