The degree to which the very expensive former Australian Prime Minister John Winston Howard and the Liberal Party seek to defend and frequently re-define his political record may indicate some internal unease concerning that very record.
When it comes to human rights, unlawful invasion of sovereign nations and the conduct of war, there is much to be concerned about.
According to the Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs in December 2008:
"On September 16, 2007, a group of contractors working for the firm Blackwater USA engaged in a chaotic and bloody firefight in Baghdad's Nisoour Square that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead, Blackwater's $500 million in government contracts in jeopardy and the future of the privatized security industry in question. What exactly happened in Nisoour Square remains in dispute. Blackwater alleges that its contractors came under small arms fire and lawfully engaged to stop the threat. The Iraqi government and the US military both argue that Blackwater opened fire unprovoked and used excessive force — including machine guns, grenade launchers and helicopter fire. The FBI, which is conducting a formal investigation into the shootings on behalf of the Department of Justice, argues that 14 of the 17 deaths were unjustified killings and finds no evidence, thus far, that Blackwater was justified in shooting at civilians.
The Nisoour Square incident was broadly proclaimed to be the final straw that would force the White House, Congress and the courts to come to terms with the complex and often fraught relationship between the U.S. military and the increasingly ubiquitous, increasingly interoperable private military contractors that it hires. The FBI investigation marks the first time since the end of the Cold War that the US government is attempting to hold a private security company criminally liable for extraterritorial crimes committed in the course of a government contract.
However, while the episode has subjected the privatized military industry to heightened scrutiny from the Iraqi government, the US military, Congress, and the public, the Department of State and the Department of Justice contend that despite recent efforts to the close the legal loopholes through which private military contractors have slipped in the past, there remain considerable, perhaps insurmountable, hurdles to prosecution.
Meanwhile, at the time the grand jury investigation into the Nisour Square shootings was opened, a civil lawsuit was filed by the New York based Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of the Iraqi families who lost loved ones in the incident. These families are suing Blackwater in tort, under causes of action including assault and battery, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring and wrongful death. While the jurisdictional challenges faced by the Department of Justice may ensure that Blackwater never faces criminal liability, the barriers to entry for a civil suit are far lower.
In July 2009 the civil lawsuit, filed as Estate of Husain Salih Rabea et al v. Prince et al, resulted in two declarations being submitted to the court which make statements against Blackwater Worldwide and its founder Erik Prince, accusing the security company and its former CEO of murder and other serious crimes in Iraq (allegedly true copies of Declaration 1 & Declaration 2).
With the Blackwater Five still before the U.S. Federal Court on 34 counts of manslaughter, attempt to commit manslaughter, aiding and abetting and another matter, actions taken under the auspices of the Coalition of the Willing will continue to be scrutinised.
Should either the criminal or civil court cases result in findings that these alleged killings occurred, then the names of Bush, Howard and Blair will forever be associated with known war crimes.
Even closer to home was the Howard Government's rather blasé attitude to an Australian private security firm operating in Iraq. An attitude which may come under closer scrutiny when a U.S. civil court case progresses against Unity Resources Group in a complaint concerning the death of a female Iraqi national (torts, injury, assault, libel and slander).
Blackwater Five 6 page Grand Jury indictment true bill, filed on 4 December 2008
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