Blackwater asks to be tried under Sharia law

[Vermouth]

Remember when Blackwater said they should be immune from prosecution in Iraq because they were working as part of US military operations? They're using the opposite argument for a case in Afghanistan:

To defend itself against a lawsuit by the widows of three American soldiers who died on one of its planes in Afghanistan, a sister company of the private military firm Blackwater has asked a federal court to decide the case using the Islamic law known as Shari’a.
...
If the judge agrees, it would essentially end the lawsuit over a botched flight supporting the U.S. military. Shari’a law does not hold a company responsible for the actions of employees performed within the course of their work.
...
The National Transportation Safety Board has blamed the crash on Presidential for its “failure to require its flight crews to file and fly a defined route,” and for not providing oversight to make sure its crews followed company policies and Pentagon and FAA safety regulations.

http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/1112843.html

Their rationale is that Afghanistan is governed by Sharia law, even though the case is being tried in US court. I wish Peter was still around. I'd like to hear his opinion of this case.

[conley]

I wouldn't presume to speak for Peter but I think most on here would agree that is total BULL EXcREMENT!

[they call me MR. GRUMPY god damn it!]

if it were a regular military flight would the govt be subject to litigation??  kinda think that our contractors in theater should be held to the same standard as the military.  no more, no less.

[conley]

if it were a regular military flight would the govt be subject to litigation??  kinda think that our contractors in theater should be held to the same standard as the military.  no more, no less.

regardless, i dont think any military or contractor should be tried by Shari'a law in US Courts!

[Gunit Hussein Sangh]

I'm surprised they didn't grant immunity to contractors in Afghanistan like they did in Iraq. Must have been on oversight.

[bored]

if it were a regular military flight would the govt be subject to litigation??  kinda think that our contractors in theater should be held to the same standard as the military.  no more, no less.

regardless, i dont think any military or contractor should be tried by Shari'a law in US Courts!

Doesn't this somehow contradict "separation of church and state"?

[Libertarian0507]

if it were a regular military flight would the govt be subject to litigation??  kinda think that our contractors in theater should be held to the same standard as the military.  no more, no less.

regardless, i dont think any military or contractor should be tried by Shari'a law in US Courts!

Doesn't this somehow contradict "separation of church and state"?

Yes, I think that this does violate the Separation of Church and state. I also think that it is highly hillarious, an that maybe they should punish as they do in say, Saudia Arabia, and have a public beheading for those responsible for the Sullying of America's reptutation by war crimes. Seriously, wouldn't that be poeetic justice??