In 2006, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., added a measure to a defense spending bill that made civilians working for the U.S. military in a "contingency operation" subject to courts martial.
The provision was intended to close the legal loophole that made it difficult to successfully prosecute such individuals in conflicts were Congress had not formally declared a state of war.
There are more than 160,000 contractors working in Iraq and some 36,000 in Afghanistan _ about the same number of troops in those regions. They perform numerous tasks including supplying food and water, building barracks, providing armed security and gathering intelligence.
By SLOBODAN LEKIC
The Associated Press
Saturday, April 5, 2008; 3:24 PM
BAGHDAD -- A civilian contractor working for the U.S. military in Iraq was charged with aggravated assault under military law, the first such prosecution since the Vietnam War, the U.S. command said Saturday.
Alaa "Alex" Mohammad Ali, who holds dual Iraqi-Canadian citizenship, is the first person facing criminal charges since Congress in 2006 gave the military authority to prosecute crimes committed by civilians working for the armed forces, a U.S. statement said.
Ali, a U.S. Army translator, is accused of stabbing another contractor during a fight on Feb. 23 at a base near Hit, a town 85 miles west of Baghdad in Anbar province, the statement said. The victim was wounded in the chest and sternum.
Ali, who was assigned a military lawyer, has been in detention since Feb. 29 at a stockade near Baghdad International Airport. A hearing has been scheduled for Thursday, the statement said.
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Linked from ICasualties.org
Why does this not apply to KBR and Halliburton and what they have allowed to happen to the women who were raped?
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