By DEBORAH HASTINGS, The Associated Press
Published: Aug 12, 2007

Nearly as many private contractors are in Iraq as there are U.S. soldiers - and a large percentage of them are private security guards equipped with automatic weapons, body armor, helicopters and bulletproof trucks.

This force of at least 48,000 operates with little or no supervision, accountable only to the companies that employ them. As the country has plummeted toward anarchy and civil war, this private army has been accused of indiscriminately firing at U.S. and Iraqi troops, and of shooting to death an unknown number of Iraqi citizens who got too close to their heavily armed convoys.

Not one has faced charges or prosecution. They operate in a decidedly gray legal area.

Exempt From Prosecution
Unlike troops, they are not bound by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Under a special provision secured by American occupying forces, they are exempt from prosecution by Iraqis for crimes committed there.

The security companies insist their employees are governed by internal conduct rules and use-of-force protocols established by the Coalition Provisional Authority, the U.S. occupation government that ruled Iraq for 14 months after the invasion.

But many soldiers on the ground - who earn in a year what private guards can earn in a month - say their private counterparts should answer to a higher authority, just as they do. More than 60 U.S. soldiers in Iraq have been court-martialed on murder-related charges involving Iraqi citizens.

The wartime numbers of private guards are unprecedented - as are their duties, many of which have traditionally been done by troops. They protect U.S. military operations and have guarded high-ranking officials including Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Baghdad. They also protect visiting foreign officials and thousands of construction projects. At times, they are better equipped than military units.

"I understand this is war," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., whose efforts for greater contractor accountability led to an amendment in next year's Pentagon spending bill. "But that's absolutely no excuse for letting this very large force of armed private employees, dare I say mercenaries, run around without any accountability to anyone."

Shootings Raise Tensions
Blackwater has an estimated 1,000 employees in Iraq and at least $800 million in government contracts. It is one of the highest-profile security firms in Iraq. It also has become the focus of contractor controversies in Iraq, including the May 30 shooting death of an Iraqi deemed to be driving too close to a Blackwater security detail. "The shooting of that Iraqi driver has intensified tensions," Schakowsky said. "The Iraqis are very angry." Company spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell, in an e-mail to The Associated Press, said the shooting was justified.

Other reported shootings involving private contractors include:
•An incident in which a supervisor for a Virginia-based Triple Canopy said he was "going to kill somebody today" and then shot at Iraqi civilians for amusement, possibly killing one, say two employees. On its Web site, the company said all three were fired for failing to immediately report incidents involving gunfire.
•Disgruntled employees of London-based Aegis Defence Services, holder of one of the biggest U.S. security contracts in Iraq - valued at more than $430 million - posted videos online in 2005 showing company guards firing automatic weapons at civilians from a moving security vehicle. After initially denying involvement, Aegis, run by former Scots Guard Lt. Col. Tim Spicer, issued a statement saying the shootings were legal.
•Sixteen U.S. security guards were arrested and jailed by Marines in battle-scarred Fallujah in 2005 after a day of shooting incidents in which they are accused of firing on a Marine observation post, a combat patrol and civilians walking and driving in the city, about 40 miles west of Baghdad.

Last year, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service closed its criminal investigation of the case "for lack of prosecutive merit," a spokesman said. None of the 16 men was charged. Days after the shootings, Marine Maj. Gen. Stephen T. Johnson, commander of western Iraq, banned the 16 contractors from every military installation in the area. In letters to each man, the general wrote: "Your actions endangered the lives of innocent Iraqis and U.S. service members in the area."

Since U.S. contractors first swarmed into Iraq, animosity has run high between soldiers and private security guards. Many of the latter are highly trained former members of elite military groups including Navy SEALs, Green Berets and Army Rangers.

"Most military guys resent them," said former Marine Lt. Col. Mike Zacchea, who spent two years in Iraq training and building the Iraqi army. "There's an attitude that if these guys really wanted to do the right thing, they would have stayed in the military." Zacchea, now retired in Long Island, N.Y., said that as a senior battalion adviser, he was offered jobs by several security companies, with average salaries of $1,000 a day. He wasn't interested. "I didn't want to go to Iraq as a mercenary. I don't believe in it. I don't think what they're doing is right.

"Really, these guys are free agents on the battlefield. They're not bound by any law. They're non-uniformed combatants. No one keeps track of them."