You know the right-wing gasbaggery the Republicans like to use to say we should stay in Iraq. The old refrain was, "fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here" or "The dhimmicrats want to see our women in purdah" or other such nonsense.
Michelle Malkin, as I'm sure many of you know, is panicked about "Sharia Creep" into the United States. And true to Michelle's fears, there has now been an actual request for Sharia--Islamic Law--to govern a U.S. courtroom.
But the source isn't some radical fundamentalist. Not even a mosque, or a Muslim family.
No. Rather, this request for Sharia is courtesy of that patriotic American company that's in it to help win the "war on terror": Blackwater USA.
Note: This comes via Talking Points Memo, but the original link from the Raleigh News and Observer has been taken down. Whether that's because the story needs correction, or because Erik Prince personally threatened them with assassination, I have no idea.
The case stems from an incident that occurred on November 27, 2004, in which the pilots of Blackwater Flight 61, carrying three US soldiers, decided to divert from their scheduled course on a transport flight through Afghanistan because...they were bored and wanted to pretend they were piloting an X-Wing down the trench of the Death Star or something. At any rate, their mistake proved fatal--not only to themselves, but also to the three US soldiers who were on board.
The widows of the soldiers are suing Blackwater for compensation on the grounds that Blackwater did not require its subcontracting flights to follow a specified flight plan--a policy which led to the deaths of their husbands.
But Blackwater has apparently filed a request that is unique in American law: they want the Sharia law applicable to Afghanistan to handle the case. I quote from the cache of the Raleight N&O article that has since been taken down:
Erik Prince, Blackwater's founder and owner, discussed the company's position in a meeting today with editors and reporters at The News & Observer. John Drescher, the editor of The N&O, pressed Prince to justify having the case decided by Afghan law.
"North Carolinians are a very patriotic people," Drescher told Prince. "It's hard to read that brief as an American citizen and not be insulted by it."
"Where did the crash occur?" Prince responded. "Afghanistan."
"What you are saying is you don't want to have this case heard by an American judge, by an American jury, under American law," Drescher said. "We want it heard under Sharia law, under Islamic law?"
Prince said he would defer to his lawyers on the issue.
Now, when Blackwater's employees massacre Iraqis in an apparently unprovoked attack, they're perfectly comfortable to let US government laws and policies shield them from prosecution under Iraqi law for crimes that occurred in Iraq. So why the about-face when it comes to this particular issue? Simple. First, Blackwater argued that since soldiers cannot sue the government, and Blackwater was acting as a government entity, that the suit had no standing. That argument was rejected. Turns out that one of the few remaining avenues to immunity is...Sharia:
In April, Blackwater asked a federal judge in Florida to apply Islamic law, commonly known as Shari'a, to the case. If the judge agreed, the lawsuit would be dismissed. Shari'a law does not hold a company responsible for the actions of employees performed within the course of their work.
Bottom line: it's amazing what these hyper-patriotic war fanatics won't do to prevent themselves from being held accountable to the very people they are supposed to be serving and protecting.
So next time you hear a right-wing arguing that we progressives would be happy seeing Sharia take hold in the United States, you have your counter: Guess who filed the only request known to have Sharia apply in a U.S. Coutroom? Blackwater USA.
Update: Want to take action against Blackwater? See this comment by Eden James, who works for the Courage Campaign, about what you can do. Sign the petition to ban Blackwater from operating in the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters.