Blackwater Guards Indicted for Shootings
Five Blackwater guards were indicted on charges of manslaughter on Monday in a case that will test the legal accountability of private contractors in Iraq. A sixth guard pleaded guilty. The Blackwater employees killed 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians without justification at a Baghdad traffic circle, the Justice Department alleges.
Five Blackwater guards were indicted on charges of manslaughter on Monday in a case that will test the legal accountability of private contractors in Iraq. A sixth guard pleaded guilty. The Blackwater employees killed 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians without justification at a Baghdad traffic circle, the Justice Department alleges.
Rooted in Truth.New York Times:
According to the indictments, the Blackwater guards disobeyed orders by leaving their base to respond to reports of a car bomb. Upon arriving at Nisour Square, the indictments said, the guards moved into the circle against the flow of traffic and, without warning, began firing.
The shootings were without provocation or justification, said Patrick Rowan, the assistant attorney general for national security. “The consequences were devastating,” he said.
The company has not said if it is paying the legal fees of the guards facing charges, although a Blackwater spokeswoman said last week that the company did so in some instances.
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Editorial Cartoons
The right wing will stop at nothing to eliminate workers' voices.
The president's desire to pardon U.S. soldiers and a military contractor accused of crimes in the never-ending war on terror is troubling, at best.
Trump’s mercenary supporter Erik Prince has a self-serving proposal for Afghanistan. It must be condemned and rejected.
A former senior U.S. official says the Blackwater founder has been advising Donald Trump’s team on matters related to intelligence and defense, The Intercept reports.
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