Private Military Contracting: A Laymen's Legal Analysis

HELLO AGAIN, BESTIES! Amy Do and Blender Bluid join me for a season-long exploration into private military contracting. This specific episode explores some legal precedents that allow military contractors to operate with effective immunity from the law. Picture I just said that but in a SUPER funny way. If a tree falls in the forest, can anybody hear it? If a private contractor aids a soldier in a war crime, do we actually have any laws to hold them accountable for it? Along the way, we’ll declare war on a random Chicago comedian who broke my laptop, build a dike, then refuse to call it a dam, and we’ll Control+P…repare for a legendary season of podcasting!
 
SOURCES: 
-Armed Guards in Iraq Occupy a Legal Limbo, John Broder and James Risen, New York Times, Sep 2007
-JFK Library Bell Report: https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKPOF/071/JFKPOF-071-004
-Appendix 2 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice: https://jsc.defense.gov/Portals/99/Documents/UCMJ%20-%2020December2019.pdf
-Federal Tort Claims Procedure: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title28/part6/chapter171&edition=prelim
-Boyle v. United Technology Corp (1988): https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/487/500/
-Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. (Amicus), Center for Constitutional: Justice https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/kiobel-v-royal-dutch-petroleum-co-amicus
-Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., 569 U.S. 108 (2013) - https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/569/108/
-WHO'S DOING WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT?: MONITORING, ACCOUNTABILITY AND COMPETITION IN THE FEDERAL AND SERVICE CONTRACT WORKFORCE, March 2002: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-107shrg79883/html/CHRG-107shrg79883.htm
-Accountability of Private Military Contractors, Arthi Thiruppathi, GW Justice Journal, Jan 13 2021