Yanno, twenty years ago when I had a TS/SBI clearance, we had the fear of [insert deity here] put into us about committing certain crimes. Under the UCMJ, espionage and desertion are crimes punishable by death. We were constantly expected to police ourselves for any leaks (intentional or not) of classified information.
So when Erik Prince initially said during today's hearing on Blackwater that his employees were held responsible for the law under the UCMJ, I found it amazing that one of their guys could commit murder and not be immediately turned over to US Military Police. That's what would have happened 20 years ago if a contractor committed a crime under the auspices of the UCMJ while stationed overseas.
However, later it came out in the hearing that Prince "wasn't exactly sure" if his employees were supposed to be operating under the UCMJ. If the clearances were issued by the State Department, then the policing authority would logically be the (currently decapitated) Department of Justice, but only if that were specified somewhere - probably in the contracts, or more directly via policy.
If their law enforcement authority wasn't specified, that means that their security clearances weren't being policed either.
Which means that if they chose to engage in espionage or to desert, there'd be absolutely no accountability. These guys could invite Usama bin Laden to afternoon tea, and there'd be nobody who could officially do anything about it even if the military or the press found out.
Perhaps more cogently, they're a serious danger to the nation proper. They're all about the money, and should one of them decide to go rogue for the right fistful of dollars from Putin, China, the UAE, Kuwait or Saudi Arabia, the security of any classified information under their control is completely forfeit.
So the line of questioning Congress needs to follow is what authority issued security clearances to Blackwater personnel, and what authority was expected to enforce any security clearance related issues concerning those personnel. Get that answer and you will get the people who are directly at fault for Blackwater's people not being prosecuted for war crimes.
What do you want to bet this, like a lot of the other criminal stench, goes directly back to Cheney?
I can has impeechmint tyme nau plz?