Blackwater guards receive 14 counts of manslaughter for attacking unarmed Iraqis

[kinglouisxiv]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94UN0380&show_article=1http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94UN0380&show_article=1http://www.breitbart.com/...=D94UN0380&show_article=1http://www.breitbart.com/...UN0380&show_article=1http://www.breitbart.com/...UN0380&show_article=1

Blackwater Worldwide security guards opened machine gun fire on innocent, surrendering Iraqis and launched a grenade into a girls' school during a gruesome Baghdad shooting last year, prosecutors said Monday in announcing manslaughter charges against five guards. A sixth guard involved in the attack cut a plea deal with prosecutors, turned on his former colleagues, and admitting killing at least one Iraqi in the 2007 shooting in Baghdad's Nisoor Square. Seventeen Iraqis were killed in the assault, which roiled U.S. diplomacy with Iraq and fueled anti-American sentiment abroad.

The five guards surrendered Monday and were due to ask a federal judge in Utah for bail.

"None of the victims of this shooting was armed. None of them was an insurgent," U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor said. "Many were shot while inside civilian vehicles that were attempting the flee from the convoy. One victim was shot in the chest while standing in the street with his hands up. Another was injured from a grenade fired into a nearby girls' school."

The guards were charged with 14 counts of manslaughter and 20 counts of attempted manslaughter. They are also charged with using a machine gun to commit a crime of violence, a charge that carries a 30-year minimum prison sentence.

The shootings happened in a crowded square where prosecutors say civilians were going about their lives, running errands. Following a car bombing elsewhere in the city, the heavily armed Blackwater convoy sought to shut down the intersection. Prosecutors said the convoy, known by the call sign Raven 23, violated an order not to leave the U.S.-controlled Green Zone.

"The tragic events in Nisoor Square on Sept. 16 of last year were shocking and a violation of basic human rights," FBI Assistant Director Joseph Persichini said.

Witnesses said the contractors opened fire unprovoked. Women and children were among the victims and the shooting left the square littered with blown-out cars. Blackwater, the largest security contractor in Iraq, says its guards were ambushed and believed a slowly moving white Kia sedan might have been a car bomb.

"We think it's pure and simple a case of self-defense," defense attorney Paul Cassell said Monday as the guards were being booked. "Tragically people did die."

Prosecutors said the Blackwater guards never even ordered the car to stop before opening fire. In his plea agreement with prosecutors, former guard Jeremy Ridgeway, of California, admitted there was no indication the Kia was a car bomb.

Though the case has already been assigned to U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina in Washington, the guards surrendered in Utah. They want the case moved there, where they would presumably find a more conservative jury pool and one more likely to support the Iraq war.

The indicted guards are Donald Ball, a former Marine from West Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard, a former Marine from Knoxville, Tenn.; Evan Liberty, a former Marine from Rochester, N.H.; Nick Slatten, a former Army sergeant from Sparta, Tenn.; and Paul Slough, an Army veteran from Keller, Texas. Ridgeway's sentencing on manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and aiding and abetting has not yet been scheduled.

An afternoon court hearing was scheduled on whether to release the guards. Defense attorneys were filing court documents challenging the Justice Department's authority to prosecute the case. The law is murky on whether contractors can be charged in U.S. courts for crimes committed overseas.

The shootings caused an uproar, and the fledgling Iraqi government in Baghdad wanted Blackwater, which protects U.S. State Department personnel, expelled from the country. It also sought the right to prosecute the men in Iraqi courts.

"The killers must pay for their crime against innocent civilians. Justice must be achieved so that we can have rest from the agony we are living in," said Khalid Ibrahim, a 40-year-old electrician who said his 78-year-old father, Ibrahim Abid, died in the shooting. "We know that the conviction of the people behind the shooting will not bring my father to life, but we will have peace in our minds and hearts."

Defense attorneys accused the Justice Department of bowing to Iraqi pressure .

"We are confident that any jury will see this for what it is: a politically motivated prosecution to appease the Iraqi government," said defense attorney Steven McCool, who represents Ball.

Based in Moyock, N.C., Blackwater is the largest security contractor in Iraq and provides heavily armed guards for diplomats. Since last year's shooting, the company has been a flash point in the debate over how heavily the U.S. relies on contractors in war zones

The company itself was not charged in the case. In a lengthy statement, Blackwater stood behind the guards and said it was "extremely disappointed and surprised" that one of the guards had pleaded guilty.

 

[lazy b]

They don't represent all of Blackwater.

 

[mateen cleaves]

smh

 

[718stylez]

as much as i hate what happened. i can't fault them. they were in a war zone and in the heat of the moment there's no telling what anyone would do inthat situation.

my beef comes with the fac tthat we have private contractors in a combat zone at all. There are now more private contractors in Iraq than US militarypersonnel. This war should involve our military only. You can't have civilians in a combat zone who are above both local law and military law.

 

[craftsy21]

Originally Posted by 718stylez

as much as i hate what happened. i can't fault them. they were in a war zone and in the heat of the moment there's no telling what anyone would do in that situation.

my beef comes with the fac tthat we have private contractors in a combat zone at all. There are now more private contractors in Iraq than US military personnel. This war should involve our military only. You can't have civilians in a combat zone who are above both local law and military law.

What's scary is that this is where it appears we're headed in the future... to all mercenaries like this.

 

[kinglouisxiv]

i can't fault them. they were in a war zone and in the heat of the moment there's no telling what anyone would do in that situation.


Heat of the moment? Throwing a grenade into a school? Opening fire on random automobiles?

These are war crimes, indicative of the depravity caused by the dehumanizing shock of war. This is much more than simply unthinking reaction... this iscold-blooded murder. This type of behavior is encouraged by war and tolerated by our citizenry that is removed by thousands of miles of geography, regardlessthat it is fellow Americans murdering innocent civilians. What should have been a galvanizing shock to the American public has been swept under the rug byapologist war hawks.

 

[thunderchunk69]

*waits for the Bush pardons to come rolling in.*

 

[Gill Baka Esq. LLC.]

Partial justice has been served.

 

[kinglouisxiv]

Originally Posted by GrimlocK

Partial justice has been served.

Agreed. These monsters, and any other Americans conducting atrocities in Iraq (including the politician-architects of this war) deserve much, much more thanour judicial system can allot. Perhaps one day (hopefully in the near future) an international court like the International Criminal Court in The Hague,Netherlands may bring war perpetrators to justice.

 

[sharpiepoint]

Originally Posted by KingLouisXIV

Originally Posted by GrimlocK

Partial justice has been served.

Agreed. These monsters, and any other Americans conducting atrocities in Iraq (including the politician-architects of this war) deserve much, much more than our judicial system can allot. Perhaps one day (hopefully in the near future) an international court like the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands may bring war perpetrators to justice.

Well, the idea behind international anything is the fear of oppression.

 

[kinglouisxiv]

*waits for the Bush pardons to come rolling in.*


Seems to me he's reserving those mainly for individuals that have done egregious environmental harm.

Leslie Owen Collier of Charleston, Mo. She was convicted for unauthorized use of a pesticide and violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.



Milton Kirk Cordes of Rapid City, S.D. Cordes was convicted of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, which prohibits importation into the country of wildlife taken in violation of conservation laws.



Daniel Figh Pue III of Conroe, Texas, convicted of illegal treatment, storage and disposal of a hazardous waste without a permit.

 

[mo matik]

Wow I'm surprised they are actually being convicted.

There is evidence that this type of conduct has been tolerated in Iraq for quite some time.

If any fuss was made previous concerning war crimes made by the privatized military (ex. Abu Ghraib) would lead to tickets back home.

KingLouis I read a great paper on the Privatized Military Industry, if you're interested I can find it again.

But what is key to understand here is that these mercenaries are fueled by their greed rather than nationalism. It's a business, which operates in aseparate realm from the government.

How will you force feed democracy to a nation, a task that has already been questioned in it's plausibility, when you have travesties like this occurring?Ridiculous.

 

[martdizzle23]

Justice has been served they deserve whatever happens to them just because it is a war zone doesn't mean unarmed civilians are "target practice".
insaaf hay huwa diaa giaa

 

[mike rocks nikes]

good 4 those guards vigalante justice ftw

 

[viewtiful mik3]

PMC's


we need you once more snake

 

[danikerhino]

People like this make America look bad.

 

[ca5perrr]

you gotta love the media, another story taking well out of proportion,
say what you want about these pppl, but just stuff like this comes out in to the public,
and like it was said they dont represent blackwater,
news like this is like a dui,
everyone is doing this but when someone is caught , ohh its all them and everyones whos done it just turns around and say how could they do it.

 

[kinglouisxiv]

The atrocities at Abu Ghraib (Baghdad Correctional Facility), Guantanamo Bay, and those committed by Blackwater should highlight the inherent unaccountabilityand subsequent injustice of employing and enabling private military contractors, or PMCs.

With over 100,000 private mercenaries in Iraq, a tenfold increase since the Gulf War, the Bush administration has introduced and amended laws to protect andempower these contractors. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 specifically excludes private contractors from the Geneva Convention jurisdiction, and otherlaws excuse private contractors from Iraqi law. It should have been apparent to the Justice Department that this is both unconstitutional and in violation ofinternational treaties on human rights.

Perhaps now that the Justice Dept. has found these individuals guilty, more war criminals will be brought to trial.

 

[mo matik]

^Can you explain further?

I mean, how is the story being blown up out of proportion? the Privatized Military is an aspect of the Iraq War the average American knows nothing about.

And I understand how those men don't represent blackwater, but there is plenty of evidence to support things like this, just not in this magnitude, haveoccurred before.

Previous to this massacre, anyone who was caught received a slap on the wrist and was sent back home, because the privatized military falls is not bound to theGeneva convention.

 

[kinglouisxiv]

Paul Bremer, the director of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance in post-war Iraq, essentially the U.S.-imposed Governor of Baghdad immediatelyfollowing the invasion, made one of his first decrees to excuse PMC mercenaries from Iraqi law. This guy is perhaps one of the most interesting (and criminal)of the characters that shaped the Iraq occupation.

 

[kevenmayne]

Originally Posted by KingLouisXIV

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94UN0380&show_article=1http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94UN0380&show_article=1http://www.breitbart.com/...=D94UN0380&show_article=1http://www.breitbart.com/...UN0380&show_article=1http://www.breitbart.com/...UN0380&show_article=1http://www.breitbart.com/...UN0380&show_article=1

Blackwater Worldwide security guards opened machine gun fire on innocent, surrendering Iraqis and launched a grenade into a girls' school during a gruesome Baghdad shooting last year, prosecutors said Monday in announcing manslaughter charges against five guards. A sixth guard involved in the attack cut a plea deal with prosecutors, turned on his former colleagues, and admitting killing at least one Iraqi in the 2007 shooting in Baghdad's Nisoor Square. Seventeen Iraqis were killed in the assault, which roiled U.S. diplomacy with Iraq and fueled anti-American sentiment abroad.

The five guards surrendered Monday and were due to ask a federal judge in Utah for bail.

"None of the victims of this shooting was armed. None of them was an insurgent," U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor said. "Many were shot while inside civilian vehicles that were attempting the flee from the convoy. One victim was shot in the chest while standing in the street with his hands up. Another was injured from a grenade fired into a nearby girls' school."

The guards were charged with 14 counts of manslaughter and 20 counts of attempted manslaughter. They are also charged with using a machine gun to commit a crime of violence, a charge that carries a 30-year minimum prison sentence.

The shootings happened in a crowded square where prosecutors say civilians were going about their lives, running errands. Following a car bombing elsewhere in the city, the heavily armed Blackwater convoy sought to shut down the intersection. Prosecutors said the convoy, known by the call sign Raven 23, violated an order not to leave the U.S.-controlled Green Zone.

"The tragic events in Nisoor Square on Sept. 16 of last year were shocking and a violation of basic human rights," FBI Assistant Director Joseph Persichini said.

Witnesses said the contractors opened fire unprovoked. Women and children were among the victims and the shooting left the square littered with blown-out cars. Blackwater, the largest security contractor in Iraq, says its guards were ambushed and believed a slowly moving white Kia sedan might have been a car bomb.

"We think it's pure and simple a case of self-defense," defense attorney Paul Cassell said Monday as the guards were being booked. "Tragically people did die."

Prosecutors said the Blackwater guards never even ordered the car to stop before opening fire. In his plea agreement with prosecutors, former guard Jeremy Ridgeway, of California, admitted there was no indication the Kia was a car bomb.

Though the case has already been assigned to U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina in Washington, the guards surrendered in Utah. They want the case moved there, where they would presumably find a more conservative jury pool and one more likely to support the Iraq war.

The indicted guards are Donald Ball, a former Marine from West Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard, a former Marine from Knoxville, Tenn.; Evan Liberty, a former Marine from Rochester, N.H.; Nick Slatten, a former Army sergeant from Sparta, Tenn.; and Paul Slough, an Army veteran from Keller, Texas. Ridgeway's sentencing on manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and aiding and abetting has not yet been scheduled.

An afternoon court hearing was scheduled on whether to release the guards. Defense attorneys were filing court documents challenging the Justice Department's authority to prosecute the case. The law is murky on whether contractors can be charged in U.S. courts for crimes committed overseas.

The shootings caused an uproar, and the fledgling Iraqi government in Baghdad wanted Blackwater, which protects U.S. State Department personnel, expelled from the country. It also sought the right to prosecute the men in Iraqi courts.

"The killers must pay for their crime against innocent civilians. Justice must be achieved so that we can have rest from the agony we are living in," said Khalid Ibrahim, a 40-year-old electrician who said his 78-year-old father, Ibrahim Abid, died in the shooting. "We know that the conviction of the people behind the shooting will not bring my father to life, but we will have peace in our minds and hearts."

Defense attorneys accused the Justice Department of bowing to Iraqi pressure .

"We are confident that any jury will see this for what it is: a politically motivated prosecution to appease the Iraqi government," said defense attorney Steven McCool, who represents Ball.

Based in Moyock, N.C., Blackwater is the largest security contractor in Iraq and provides heavily armed guards for diplomats. Since last year's shooting, the company has been a flash point in the debate over how heavily the U.S. relies on contractors in war zones

The company itself was not charged in the case. In a lengthy statement, Blackwater stood behind the guards and said it was "extremely disappointed and surprised" that one of the guards had pleaded guilty.

 

[mo matik]

Wow, shows you really where the priorities of the American government are.

And to think our purpose in Iraq now is basically humanitarian efforts.

How ironic.

 

[eeegon]

American heroes continue to "liberate" the people of Iraq.

 

[ca5perrr]

Originally Posted by Mo Matik

^Can you explain further?

I mean, how is the story being blown up out of proportion? the Privatized Military is an aspect of the Iraq War the average American knows nothing about.

And I understand how those men don't represent blackwater, but there is plenty of evidence to support things like this, just not in this magnitude, have occurred before.

Previous to this massacre, anyone who was caught received a slap on the wrist and was sent back home, because the privatized military falls is not bound to the Geneva convention.

i think i stated it wrong, but you see where i was coming from,
what i was tryna say is what you did, about how ppl use to get away with this, but now that blackwater did it and its in the media black water and pmc are seenlike theyre the devil.
and like you said the average american has no idea about pmc, but what bothers me is when this is all they know and think thats just all there is to it.

 

[icqboy51]

they should be put on death sentence to set an 'example'.

good thing its the end of the Bush admin, otherwise we know he would let this slide.