"In the process of granting Iraq sovereignty, the Bush administration eviscerated it."

Mercenaries, murder and mayhem: How a little-known rule promulgated by the Bush administration in Iraq let loose the dogs of war - The Smirking Chimp

On June 27 2004, the day before the United States was to grant sovereignty to a new Iraqi government and disband the coalition provisional authority, Paul Bremer, the US proconsul, issued a stunning new order. One of the final acts of the CPA, Order 17, declared that foreign contractors within Iraq, including private military firms, would not be subject to any Iraqi laws - "all International Consultants shall be immune from Iraqi legal process," it read. "Congratulations to the new Iraq!" Bremer said moments before flying out. His memoir, My Year in Iraq, neglects to mention Order 17.

The author of Order 17 was a CPA official named Lawrence Peter, who oversaw the Iraqi ministry of interior. As soon as the CPA was dissolved, the private security company association of Iraq hired Peter to act as its liaison and lobbyist there. The new Iraq included a revolving door.