The Associated Press reports that Raymond  Davis, the CIA contractor jailed in Pakistan after a shooting in which he shot and killed two assailants, has been charged following an altercation in a parking lot: CIA operative charged in Colo parking spot fight.

HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (AP) — A CIA contractor freed by Pakistani authorities after the families of two men he killed in a shootout agreed to accept a $2.34 million “blood money” payment was charged Saturday in Colorado, with authorities saying he got into a fight over a shopping center parking spot.

Deputies responding to an altercation between two men outside an Einstein Bagel in Highlands Ranch, south of Denver, took Raymond Davis into custody Saturday morning, said Douglas County Sheriff’s Lt. Glenn Peitzmeier. He was charged with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors.

Further details on his arrest, which was first reported by KMGH-TV Channel 7 in Denver, were not immediately available.

Peitzmeier said the victim, who was not identified, refused medical treatment at the scene. Davis was freed from the Douglas County jail after posting bond, Peitzmeier said.

The Denver Post has since reported that Davis may face serious charges:  Former CIA contractor may face felony count in parking fight.

It’s easy to draw a simple inference:  Davis is bad-tempered with a short fuse, and the parking lot incident shows that he’s really a bad guy. We reject this inference for the following reasons

1. Mr. Davis  – no matter what happened in the original incident in Pakistan, has clearly  not gotten a fair shake; he’s been used as a pawn in an international game of chicken between the United States and Pakistan, a government which contains powerful factions which, with some regularity, attack targets in India, within Pakistan, and within Afghanistan. Some of those attacks are best described as assassinations; others are, using any reasonable definition, terrorism.
2. Because he’s merely a “contractor,” he’s entirely expendable if it suits U.S. diplomatic interests;
3. And – again, because he’s a “contractor,” he’s not entitled to the same consideration as he would if he were an employee:  pension  or disability payments, psychological help, medical help, employment – not least the comfort and community provided by colleagues.

We don’t know what happened in the parking lot – perhaps he did do something reprehensible. But maybe not.  At a minimum, he’s entitled to a fair hearing on the Colorado charges. And whatever happened in Colorado, in moral terms, what makes him different than any other person serving abroad for CIA, the State Department, AID, or the military?

One more argument against “outsourcing” critical functions.