U.S. bill passed to make private contractors in Iraq subject to prosecution

考研网

英语阅读是考研英语的重头戏，怎么复习?怎么训练?建议同学们采取英语朗读的方法每天练习10-20分钟，快速提升英语的阅读能力和听力水平！
                        
    WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House of Representatives announced on Thursday that it has passed a bill to make all private security contractors in Iraq and other combat zones subject to prosecution by U.S. courts.
    The bill was passed by voting 389 to 30 as the first major legislation of its kind to be approved since the U.S. Blackwater security company was involved into a deadly shoot-out in September, leaving at least 11 Iraqis dead.                     Members of a private security company       pose on the rooftop of a house in Baghdad, September       182007.(Xinhua/AFP FilePhoto)
"There is simply no excuse for the de facto legal immunity for tens of thousands of individuals working in countries" on behalf of the United States, said Democratic Representative. Sheila Jackson-Lee.
    Senate Democratic leaders said they planned to pass the law quickly and send the measure to President George W. Bush to sign into law.
    The bill is aimed at filling out the vacuum in law to cover the personnel abroad not hired directly by the military.
    The current law, called the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, covers personnel supporting the mission of Defense Department operations overseas but whether charges can be brought against any of the contractors protecting State Department officials such as Blackwater is unclear.
    At the same time, U.S. contractors are immune from prosecution by Iraqi courts.
    The White House Wednesday said they support the intent of the bill, although it was poorly-drafted and could have "unintended and intolerable consequences for crucial and necessary national security activities and operations."
    Blackwater founder Erik Prince told a House panel Tuesday that he supports expanding the law.                     Blackwater Chief Executive Erik Prince       testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on       security contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan on Capitol Hill in       Washington, October 2, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently leading an investigation into the Sept. 16 shoot-out by Blackwater employees in Baghdad, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack on Thursday.
    But he stressed that the step did not necessarily imply that the investigation would result in criminal charges being brought against the contractors.
    The Blackwater, established in 1997, is the biggest of the State Department's three private security contractors and has won government contracts worth more than 1 billion U.S. dollars since 2001.
    Blackwater has been involved in 195 shooting incidents since 2005, or roughly 1.4 per week, according to a report by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released on Monday.
    "In the vast majority of instances in which Blackwater fired shots, Blackwater is firing from a moving vehicle and does not remain at the scene to determine if the shots resulted in casualties," said the report.
               
            听力和书面表达通常是我们学生的弱项，希望大家在英语朗读的方法下，并结合实际情况安排练习，不要一味模仿别人，要在练习过程中及时总结经验，包括时间安排等，让自己的考研英语水平得到一个很大的提升！