Four Blackwater operatives were found guilty one of murder in a 2007 Baghdad massacre. [62] After a group of Iraqi ministers backed the Iraqi Interior Ministry's decision to shut down Blackwater USA's operations in Iraq,[29] Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called on the U.S. government to end its contract with Blackwater[39] and called on Blackwater to pay the families $8million in compensation. The Nisour Square massacre was one of the most prominent events of the US-Iraq conflict, raising doubts about America's true intentions in the region. In the sheer desperation to inflict maximum material damage to Russias security forces, however, NATO appears to have breached its own long-standing convention of curbing the proliferation of anti-aircraft munitions. [36], On September 19, as a result of the incident, the United States temporarily suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. I commented when the convictions were first brought that I was certain my clients who were still residents of Iraq were pleased to know that justice had been served. Instead of returning the favor, however, the conceited leader of supposedly the worlds sole surviving superpower turned down the hand of friendship and even snubbed Putin. [73], The trial was set for early 2010,[74] but the charges were dismissed by United States District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Ricardo Urbina on December 31, 2009, who ruled that the Justice Department had mishandled evidence and violated the guards' constitutional rights. An initial prosecution was thrown out by a federal judge sparking outrage in Iraq but the then vice-president, Joe Biden, promised to pursue a fresh prosecution, which succeeded in 2015. By Andrew Emett - August 16, 2019 1269 SOURCE NationofChange The Blackwater guards were firing indiscriminately. Mohammed forced a doctor to look at Ali. [12] On October 4, 2007, the U.S. House passed a bill that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act[65] "Before he died, he went crazy as he used to go out into the street and whenever he saw a young man, he imagined that he was Mahdi," he said. [23]:32 Shortly after assuming their positions, "Raven 23" began firing on civilians in response to an approaching car, killing fourteen and wounding twenty more. Then-Vice President Joe Biden held a press conference to tell the citizens of Iraq that they would not be abandoned. When Blackwater security guard Nicholas Slatten was tried and convicted for murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, the U.S. legal system determined that he needed a new trial. [2] Reactions [ edit] His domains of expertise include neocolonialism, military-industrial complex, and petro-imperialism. Not a one! [34], In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, Blackwater's rights to conduct work in Iraq were temporarily suspended. The shooting ended as suddenly as it started. The massacre took place in 2007, when the four were working as guards for Blackwater, a private military contractor, on an assignment in Baghdad. Our civil case resulted in a resolution that was acceptable to the parties. He could not understand what was happening or why. on about your day, ask yourself: How likely is it that the story you just read would have been produced by a different news outlet if The Intercept hadnt done it? [49], An Interior Ministry spokesman said Iraqi authorities had completed their investigation into the shooting and concluded that Blackwater guards were responsible for the deaths. The majority of the Blackwater mercenaries in Iraq after the . "They prefer animals over humans, and then they talk about human rights, justice and humanity," said an Iraqi man whose brother was among those killed in 2007. Why Is Assange in Jail and Not Seymour Hersh? [37], Henry Waxman, the chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which held hearings on the use of Private Security Contractors in February 2007, said his committee would hold hearings "to understand what has happened and the extent of the damage to U.S. security interests". His mother also suffered a stroke, he added. [19] According to this account, the security team fired warning shots and then lethal fire at the Kia. He was left with shrapnel in his body from the rocket launched grenade that was fired into his vehicle as he escaped. [41], On September 18, 2007, an Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman said Blackwater is "not allowed to operate anywhere in the Republic of Iraq". . However, the company was allowed to continue to operate in Iraq until January 2009 when the U.S.Iraq Status of Forces Agreement took effect. [21]:116, During opening arguments for a criminal trial held in 2014, defense lawyers representing former Blackwater members of Raven 23 argued the men felt the approaching Kia was a credible threat as a possible car bomb, and opened fire in self-defense. He received poor treatment because his injuries were less life threatening, but he was left with a disfigured and useless arm. None of the bullets the lab had available could be matched to the rifles used by the guards. Supporters of the former contractors at Blackwater Worldwide had lobbied for the pardons, arguing that the men had been excessively punished. [9], Blackwater guards claimed that the convoy was ambushed and that they fired at the attackers in defense of the convoy. His sister was safe. After capturing Kherson yesterday, Russian forces even apprehended several suspicious and armed foreign nationals who are currently being interrogated by Russias military intelligence GRU. Being so close to the Green Zone, he thought someone important might be entering or leaving the area. [45] Also, it is not clear whether the license revocation is permanent. Also quoted in the memorandum was David Boslego, a retired US army colonel, who said the massacre was a grossly excessive use of force and grossly inappropriate for an entity whose only job was to provide personal protection to somebody in an armoured vehicle. The Blackwater mess has roiled Capitol Hill and shined light on the many questions surrounding the legal status, management, oversight and accountability of the private military force in Iraq,. He is a regular contributor of diligently researched investigative reports to alternative news media. He was shot through the roof of his car as the Blackwater convoy drove past firing down into traffic. In November last year, he pardoned a former US army commando who was set to stand trial over the killing of a suspected Afghan bomb-maker, and a former army lieutenant convicted of murder for ordering his men to fire at three Afghans. I am overwhelmed with emotion at this fantastic news.. I felt I had done that, and I knew the prosecutors were doing that. Since the harrowing Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad in 2007, the Blackwater private military contractor, renamed as Academi in 2011 and becoming a subsidiary of Constellis Group following a merger with Triple Canopy in 2014, has built quite a business empire for itself. During the litigation, an appeal was ongoing in the 4h Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. . Video of the aftermath includes an image of a human brain on the road in Nisour Square. It was chaotic. I know that each of them placed great faith in the U.S. legal system. [28] Nicholas Slatten was found guilty of first-degree murder, and Slough, Liberty and Heard were found guilty of voluntary and attempted manslaughter charges, and of using a machine gun to commit a violent crime. Because any state, particularly those pursuing socialist policies, that dares to challenge the Western monopoly over global trade and economic policies is internationally isolated and its national economy goes bankrupt over a period of time. How many covert wars, miscarriages of justice, and dystopian technologies would remain hidden if our reporters werent on the beat? [43], The Private Security Company Association of Iraq, in a document last updated on July 3, 2007, listed Blackwater as not having a license to operate in Iraq despite their attempts to apply for one. "[46] Hasan Jaber Salman, a lawyer who was one of the wounded, said that "no one did anything to provoke Blackwater" and that "as we turned back they opened fire at all cars from behind"[61] An Iraqi police officer who was directing traffic at the scene said Blackwater guards "became the terrorists" when they opened fire on civilians unprovoked, while a businessman said he wasn't seeking compensation but only "the truth" from the guards. It remains unclear whether the team member mistook the civilians for insurgents. [100] UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Marta Hurtado said that forgiveness "contributes to impunity and has the effect of encouraging others to commit such crimes in the future". [12] The U.S. State Department has said that "innocent life was lost",[13] and according to The Washington Post, a military report appeared to corroborate "the Iraqi government's contention that Blackwater was at fault". He was shot through the back with a massive exit wound in his chest. The Intercept is an independent nonprofit news outlet. But supporters of the military contractors, who argued the investigation was tainted and the punishments too severe, cheered the news. ", "By investigating these crimes and completing legal proceedings, the US complied with its obligations under international law," she added. The report found that the guards fired their weapons 195 times from the beginning of 2005 through the second week of September 2005. In 2014, four former government contractors who worked for Blackwater Worldwide, a security firm founded by Erik Prince an ally of Trump and the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos were convicted in federal court in Washington in connection with the killings. [37] A senior aide to al-Maliki said that three of the Blackwater guards were Iraqis and could be subject to prosecution. The traffic circle, Nisour Square, was only a block away from one of the main entrance gates to Baghdads Green Zone. And afterward, Iraqi citizens wanted to ensure that those who had done this were held responsible. Russian Forces strike Ukrainian Armys Electronic Intelligence Center in Kiev Region. They are coming to defend freedom, defend life. Ukraine War Anniversary: UN and China Work for Peace, Devilish Zelensky, Kiev Hid Its Dead Soldiers in the Ravines. The black-op of setting a building in the sprawling nuclear complex alight and then posting doctored video clips of Russian tanks shelling straight at the nuclear plant on social media, promptly verified as authentic by corporate media, was clearly the dirty work of covert saboteurs whove been advising and assisting Ukraines inept security forces and also taking an active part in combat operations in some of the hardest fought battles against Russias security forces north of Kyiv and at Kharkiv and Donbas. The other three guards faced decades in prison; the weapons charges carried a minimum 30-year sentence under a law enacted during the 1990s cocaine epidemic. They started out as a private security firm providing training support to law enforcement, the justice department, and military organizations and received their first contract from the United States government in 2000 after the bombing of the USS Cole. [72] A sixth Blackwater guard, Jeremy Ridgeway of California, struck a deal with prosecutors on December 4, 2008 and pleaded guilty to one count each of voluntary manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and aiding and abetting,[72][3] and agreed to testify against the other five men. Despite the public display of uncharacteristic valor by sporting military fatigues and flaunting images and video clips of soldiers proudly standing beside caches of MANPADS and Javelins on social media, Ukraines conscript army was so frightened following Russias military intervention that it wanted to surrender territory and opted instead for mounting guerrilla warfare by adopting hit-and-run tactics from the safety of border regions of Poland and Romania. Although the Pentagons military contractors have been known to be training and advising several brigades of neo-Nazis backed by Ukraines security forces in the Donbas region since 2014, Erik Prince along with his associates from several other private security firms providing military contractors to the US Department of Defense personally visited Kyiv early last month following the Russian troop build-up and met with security officials of the Zelensky regime, according to informed sources. U.S. troops were coming under fire in Baghdad and major Iraqi cities from the resistance forces. [46] On September 21, CNN reported that Blackwater would resume normal operations the following day. Depicting a doomsday scenario in order to malign Russias calculated offensive in Ukraine to minimize collateral damage, mainstream reporting focused today on thefire that broke out [1] at Zaporizhzhia plant, one of Europes largest nuclear power plants situated 550 km southeast of Kyiv. "[21] Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki harshly criticized the dismissal. 3", is named Paul Slough. Witnesses described how the American men ambushed the civilians unprovoked, firing on Baghdad's Nisour Square with heavy gunfire and grenade launchers. He was ensured a fair trial and convicted for his crimes. [25][31], The account by the Blackwater firm differed from the Iraqi government's account; Blackwater's account stated the driver of the Kia sedan had kept driving toward the convoy, ignoring verbal orders, hand signals, and water bottles thrown at the car, and continued to approach even when fired upon. When Slattens conviction was overturned, I was concerned that the case would be ignored. [54] He served one tour in Iraq before being hired as a Personal Security Specialist in Iraq. It was as if someone had targeted the area in his SUV where a persons head would have been. [15] The incident sparked at least five investigations, including one from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It looks at the rise of private security contractors such as Blackwater in the era of modern warfare. The Kia continued to roll forward after the driver was killed, according to an eyewitness, and Raven 23 continued to fire on it, killing the passenger (the driver's mother); eventually, the Kia was struck by a grenade and was incinerated. Slatten, whom prosecutors said started the shooting, was sentenced to life in prison.

Puedo Tomar Xl3 Si Estoy Lactando, Alaina Urquhart Harvard, Speeding In Excess Of Maximum Limits Georgia, Navica Covid Test Login, Jacksonville School Board Election, Articles B