On September 11, 2009, Iraqi citizens, Haidar Muhsin Saleh and Ilam Nassir Ibrahim, lost their appeal to the District of Columbia Circuit in regard to lawsuits filed against two private military contractors. The two men represented a group of plaintiffs who alleged they or their relatives were subjected to various abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison complex in Iraq by employees of Titan Corporation and CACI International.

The district court granted summary judgment to Titan due to the federal preemption of the state tort claims. Summary judgment was denied, however, to CACI. These rulings were based on the court's determination that Titan's employees were "fully integrated into [their] military units" with which they functioned as "soldiers in all but name." The CACI employees, on the other hand, ostensibly retained some measure of autonomy, as evidenced by the dual chain of command they were subject to.

On appeal, the D.C. Circuit questioned the extent to which the CACI employees were under the "operational control" of the military and determined that although the employees received "advice and feedback" from CACI, they were "melded into a military mission" that would entitle them to the same summary judgment granted Titan. Therefore, the district court's grant of summary judgment to Titan was affirmed, whereas the denial of summary judgment to CACI was reversed. The plaintiffs' remaining claims were dismissed.

See: Saleh v. Titan Corp., D.C. Circuit, Case No. 08-7008 (consolidated with Case No. 08-7009).

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