Missouri’s junior U.S. Senator is trying to attach an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill – an amendment that would create a contracting commission to closely monitor the actions of private contractors protecting Americans in Iraq.
Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) is responding to concerns raised by last weekend’s shootout, involving private contractors from Blackwater USA, in which eleven Iraqis were killed. McCaskill says that while the contractors are needed to protect Americans in war zones like Iraq, the contractors must be more closely monitored.
McCaskill says her proposal would bring about accountability to ensure certain standards are being met. She says the presence of some of these contractors in places like Iraq could present problems for the Americans being protected because the locals – in this case the Iraqis – are not pleased with the presence of the hired guns.