Blackwater is in the news again with a very interesting twist that should put the wingnuts in a tizzy:

The private military company Blackwater has cultivated a patriotic reputation, with its staff of retired military and former police officers, and the requirement that most of its workers swear an oath to support and defend the U.S. Constitution.

Blackwater’s aviation wing recently filed a unique request in federal court, where the widows of three American soldiers are suing the company over a botched flight supporting the U.S. military in Afghanistan.

The company, based in Moyock, doesn’t want the case heard in an American courtroom under American law: it wants the case decided by Shari’a, the Islamic law of Afghanistan.

The Raleigh News Observer reports that “Shari’a law does not hold a company responsible for the actions of employees performed within the course of their work.” No small wonder Blackwater wants the case heard under Shari’a law. Kevin Drim notes if Shari’a law doesn’t hold the company responsible, “I think we can shortly expect mass conversions to Islam among American CEOs, followed by a plank in the Republican Party platform demanding that sharia be adopted across the board in federal courts. This is a tort reformer’s wet dream.”

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