The Washington Independent » private military contractors http://washingtonindependent.com National News in Context Thu, 10 May 2012 20:13:22 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Will Sec. Clinton Ban Private Military Contractors? http://washingtonindependent.com/22239/will-sec-clinton-ban-private-military-contractors http://washingtonindependent.com/22239/will-sec-clinton-ban-private-military-contractors#comments Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:58:35 +0000 Spencer Ackerman http://washingtonindependent.com/?p=22239 Over at TPMmuckraker, Justin Elliott remembers that during the Democratic primary, Secretary of State-designee Hillary Rodham Clinton was an enthusiastic advocate of banning private military contractors from “combat-oriented and security functions in Iraq.” The State Dept. that President-elect Barack Obama tapped her to take over has, over the past More...

]]> Over at TPMmuckraker, Justin Elliott remembers that during the Democratic primary, Secretary of State-designee Hillary Rodham Clinton was an enthusiastic advocate of banning private military contractors from “combat-oriented and security functions in Iraq.” The State Dept. that President-elect Barack Obama tapped her to take over has, over the past five years, signed lucrative deals with at least three large security-contractor firms — Blackwater (they of the Nisour Square massacre), DynCorp and Triple Canopy. So, Elliott asks: will Clinton end that practice? And if so, who’s going to guard her diplomats in shooting-war places like Iraq and Afghanistan?

Neither Clinton’s Senate office nor the Obama transition has responded to him yet. If nothing else, it’s a good pair of questions at Clinton’s confirmation hearings.

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