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Fragmented power and state-corporate killings: a critique of blackwater in Iraq

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Abstract

Especially given the invasion of Iraq, a growing number of criminologists have been attending to the transformation of state power and security within a neo-liberal political context. Although the capacity and influence of the state is not disappearing altogether there is a discernible erosion of authority within the sovereign state. In the realm of policing, we witness continued fragmentation of authority in which state power is relinquished to expanding commercial markets. The de-coupling of policing and government raises serious questions about the changing architecture of liberal democratic societies, prompting concerns over the waning monopoly of legitimate coercion. The project here explores the controversy over the use of private military firms in occupied Iraq, particularly the recent killings of civilians by Blackwater personnel. While offering specific details of those incidents, the analysis elaborates on state–corporate crime by revealing how state power is dispersed to the private sector; by doing so, the article examines how private military personnel evade prosecution for war crimes and other human rights abuses.

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Notes

  1. Since the 1990s, every multilateral peace operation conducted by the UN has included private security companies [4].

  2. Details about that incident not clear. The Blackwater guards said the driver moved too close to their convoy when they opened fire on his vehicle. Fearful about a possible car bomb or other threat, the guards said they shouted instructions to back away from the convoy, then fired a warning shot into the radiator followed by a shot into the windshield. Those steps are recommended under the rules for the use of force by contractors in Iraq specified in Memorandum 17, a set of guidelines adopted in 2004 by the CPA, and is still in effect. Some witnesses, however, said the shooting was unprovoked. The driver is reported to have wounds in his shoulder, chest, and head ([20], A2)

  3. One witness, Mohammed Mahdi, said the skirmish lasted about one hour, adding that he saw “at least four or five” people “who were certainly dead” but that he did not know how the people were killed, who killed them or whether they were civilians or combatants ([20], A4).

  4. Immunity aims to protect the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination while allowing investigators to still gather evidence. Generally, individuals suspected of crimes are not given immunity and such grants are not made until after the probable defendants are identified. Prosecutors often face significant barriers in bringing a prosecution in cases in which defendants have been immunized [36].

  5. During the Vietnam War, the military charged civilians under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for various crimes; however, the federal courts reversed some convictions on the grounds that Congress had never formally declared war [27].

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  1. Criminal Justice Program, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Michael Welch

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Correspondence to Michael Welch.

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This article is drawn from my research as a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Human Rights at the London School of Economics where I am grateful to Stan Cohen and Conor Gearty. Likewise, I thank Tim Newburn, Director of the Mannheim Centre for Criminology at the LSE for sharing numerous insights into the nature of fragmented power. At Rutgers University, I wish to acknowledge Arnold Hyndman and the university’s sabbatical program.

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Welch, M. Fragmented power and state-corporate killings: a critique of blackwater in Iraq. Crime Law Soc Change 51, 351–364 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-008-9169-6

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