They claimed they were fired on, but prosecutors said the Blackwater guards opened fire first. They could not do anything for him. . Witnesses described how the American men ambushed the civilians unprovoked, firing on Baghdad's Nisour Square with heavy gunfire and grenade launchers. It was not an easy path in either the civil or criminal legal system. [68][69], On September 24, 2007, the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior announced it would file criminal charges against the Blackwater staff involved in the shooting, although it is unclear how some of them will be brought to trial. He was told that he had to go to a neurologic hospital on the other side of Baghdad. And none of the I.P. The logs depicted "a hectic eight minutes in which the guards repeatedly reported incoming gunfire from insurgents and Iraqi police". [95][96] Heard, Liberty, and Slough were resentenced on September 5, 2019 to terms approximately half the original 30-year periods. Although NATO powers did provide Stingers to their jihadist proxies that helped turn the tide in the Soviet-Afghan war in the eighties, since then, despite providing anti-tank munitions and rest of weapons to militant groups during the proxy wars in Libya and Syria, Western powers have consistently avoided providing MANPADS to proxy forces, because such deadly anti-aircraft munitions could become a long-term threat not only to military aircraft but also to civilian airlines. Despite losing the empire in the nineties, as far as military power is concerned, Russia with its enormous arsenal of conventional as well as nuclear weapons still more or less equals the military power of the United States, as is obvious from the unfolding Ukraine war where all the NATO could do is watch it from distance, and not even attempting to enforce a no-fly zone lest the conflict spirals into a mutually destructive nuclear war. [64], US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates testified before Congress that the Pentagon has sufficient legal authority to control its contractors, but that commanders lack sufficient "means and resources" to exercise adequate oversight. When Mohammed saw the convoy enter the traffic circle, he initially thought they were regular U.S. Army members. A 20,000-strong mercenary army is being assembled in Poland. And it will be a success, Im sure. But unsurprisingly, he did not describe who those thousands of daredevil volunteers willing to sacrifice lives and limbs in a foreign war were. Trumps pardon of the Blackwater mercenaries who murdered 14 Iraqi civilians at Nisour Square shows the world what justice means in the United States. Iraqi traffic police initially tried to wave down the Blackwater men that there was no threat, but they too had to run for cover. Their cover: "return of Ukrainians from the French Foreign Legion.". Survivors and victims' relatives of a 2007 shooting in Iraq by Blackwater contractors meet with United States prosecutors in Baghdad in 2008. They would turn Blackwater into roadkill. Each step of the way, the U.S. legal system ensured that these men were given fair and just prosecutions. Joining is simple and doesnt need to cost a lot: You can become a sustaining member for as little as $3 or $5 a month. Dozens of witnesses were brought to the United States to testify about what happened. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The fire has since been extinguished after the plant was captured by Russian troops and no radiation leakage has been detected. Nassar Hamza was 67 years old when he was shot and wounded in the arm. 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. Likewise, the civil case ran through North Carolina state court, was removed to federal court, and then sent back to state court. Although Mohammed was going to return quickly with his sister and Alis cousins for a visit, Mohammed told his son that he could go with him. Dec. 24, 2020 Mohammed Hafedh Abdulrazzaq Kinani with a photo of his 9-year-old son, Ali, who was killed by Blackwater. [19] According to this account, the security team fired warning shots and then lethal fire at the Kia. [19] The three justifiable killings were those of the two passengers in the white Kia sedan and an unidentified Iraqi nearby. Prince strongly criticized the way in which federal authorities had handled the investigation and disputed the claims that U.S. or Blackwater personnel were to blame for the shootings. Mahde Shamke was 25 years old and driving a taxi to support his parents and siblings. Blackwater Mercenaries: NATOs Secret Weapon in Ukraine War, VT RADIO: Alternative Foreign Policy Talk, Khazarian Mafia at War: The Jewish Oligarch Who Planned the Terror, Russias Future Predicted by Well-Known Christian Saints, Most Front-Line Ukrainian Soldiers Killed Within 4 Hours, How Russia managed to survive Western sanctions, How War Began The Genesis of NATOs Coup in Ukraine , From Global Warming Denial to Holocaust Denial, On this day in 1940, Woody Guthrie writes This Land Is, Former U.S. President Carter to Hospice, Will Pariah Trump Attend State, Dr. Fauci Admits COVID Shots Didnt Have A Chance Of Controlling. To understand the carnage that happened on the streets that day, you need to hear it in Mohammeds words as he explained it to me. ", Human Rights Watch says the pardons "show contempt for the rule of law.". In addition to the Kinani family, I represented five other families and victims. "It was obviously excessive", a U.S. military official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Washington Post. "Pardoning them contributes to impunity and has the effect of emboldening others to commit such crimes in the future. [8][98] A White House statement said the men had a "long history of service to the nation" as veterans of the US Armed Forces, and that there was strong support for the pardons from the public and elected officials. Victims were everywhere. [78] The opinion elaborated "the government failed to establish that the Iraqi witnesses it presented to the second grand jury were not in any way influenced by their previous exposure to the defendants' compelled statements. The Blackwater Shooting (2007) | The New York Times - YouTube "We've backed off that. 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? 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. When #Blackwater mercenaries were murdering civilians in the #IraqWar, did these voices demand seizure of yachts owned by CEO Erik Prince? Monday's sentencing was. The deaths provoked international outrage and raised questions about the use of private security firms in war zones. It looks at the rise of private security contractors such as Blackwater in the era of modern warfare. Lead FBI investigator in Blackwater case likens Iraq massacre to My Lai Sarah Holewinski, Washington director at Human Rights Watch, said Trump's pardons were an insult to justice, "but it's also an insult to the victims. He was ensured a fair trial and convicted for his crimes. Prosecutors asserted the heavily armed Raven 23 Blackwater convoy launched an unprovoked attack using sniper fire, machine-guns and grenade launchers. Blackwater Founder Remains Free and Rich While His Former Employees Go [33], Three Blackwater guards who witnessed the incident later said that they believed the shootings were unjustified. Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes NPR reports that sometime after the Al-Qaeda bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000, where 17 sailors were killed, Blackwater won a $46 million contract from the U.S government for "training sailors in counterterrorism." After the September 11th attacks, Blackwater expanded their security-related work . That may be the overriding damage caused by these pardons. Paul Dickinson[emailprotected]farrin.com. Liberty is one of four former Blackwater mercenaries pardoned by President Donald Trump in one of . FBI scientists couldn't match bullets from the square to guns carried by the Blackwater guards and FBI investigators found foreign cartridge cases of a kind not used by U.S. or Blackwater personnel. He died in the hospital hallway surrounded by family as he was asking for water. 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. The 14 victims killed by the Blackwater guards on trial were listed as Ahmed Haithem Ahmed Al Rubiay, Mahassin Mohssen Kadhum Al-Khazali, Osama Fadhil Abbas, Ali Mohammed Hafedh Abdul Razzaq, Mohamed Abbas Mahmoud, Qasim Mohamed Abbas Mahmoud, Saadi Ali Abbas Alkarkh, Mushtaq Karim Abd Al-Razzaq, Ghaniyah Hassan Ali, Ibrahim Abid Ayash, Hamoud Saeed Abttan, Uday Ismail Ibrahiem, Mahdi Sahib Nasir and Ali Khalil Abdul Hussein. Nicky Woolf in New York. He was in the car next to Mohammed. )[60], Baghdad resident Halim Mashkoor told AP Television News, "We see the security firms doing whatever they want in the streets. He was shot through the roof of his car as the Blackwater convoy drove past firing down into traffic. Blackwater has been renamed and falls under the Constellis group of companies, a risk management business formed in 2010. That changed yesterday with President Donald Trumps pardons. U.S. military reports appear to corroborate the Iraqi government's contention that Blackwater was at fault in the incident. October 22 2014, 9:58 a.m. A federal jury in Washington, D.C., returned guilty verdicts against four . Trump's Blackwater Guard Pardons Cause Shock And Dismay : NPR He despised Saddam Hussein and his oppressive and vindictive ways. The civil lawsuit was filed as a wrongful death and personal injury suit against the men and companies responsible for my clients losses. Contractor Banned by Iraq Over Shootings", "F.B.I. [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". WaPo says, 'Investigators for the military and the FBI later described . 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 efforts of the investigators, the prosecutors, and the men and women who supported them was immeasurable. [45] Also, it is not clear whether the license revocation is permanent. [41], Richard J. Griffin, the Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security, who made key decisions regarding the department's oversight of private security contractor Blackwater USA, resigned in November 2007, after a critical review by the House Oversight Committee found that his office had failed to adequately supervise private contractors during the Blackwater Baghdad shootings. "Paul Slough and his colleagues didn't deserve to spend one minute in prison," Brian Heberlig, a lawyer for Slough, told The Associated Press. [40], On October 11, 2007, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed suit against Blackwater USA under the Alien Tort Claims Act on behalf of an injured Iraqi and the families of three of the seventeen Iraqis who were killed by Blackwater employees during the September 16, 2007, shooting incident. And afterward, Iraqi citizens wanted to ensure that those who had done this were held responsible. 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. Suddenly, bullets began to riddle Mohammeds car. Or should I say Why is he still breathing? More were arriving in the backs of trucks. The result of the long legal battle is that each man was ensured a fair trial, free of partiality and without unjust favor. Trump's pardon of mercenaries guilty of massacre in Iraq leads to [1] Russian forces seize huge Ukrainian nuclear plant, fire extinguisher: https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/top-wrap-1-europes-largest-nuclear-power-plant-fire-after-russian-attack-mayor-2022-03-04/. Mohammed forced a doctor to look at Ali. Donald Trump has pardoned the four contractors jailed over the killing of 14 civilians. "Pardoning the Blackwater contractors is an affront to justice and to the victims of the Nisour Square massacre and their families," said Jelena Aparac, Chair . IE 11 is not supported. Erik Prince said that he didn't believe the FBI had fully investigated the sources of all the used bullets in Nisour Square, arguing that it would have been helpful if the defense had been in possession of a complete ballistics report. LONDON and BAGHDAD -- When news broke that Mohammed Kinani's son's killers, Blackwater private military contractors hired by the U.S. government in Baghdad, were pardoned Wednesday by President Trump, Kinani said it was like losing his 9-year-old boy all over again. A. [59] (The Protocol makes no distinction between defensive and offensive actions, but the U.S. does make such a distinction, in that it does not regard defensive actions by security guards to be combat. The only way these men could be brought to justice was in the United States. I am overwhelmed with emotion at this fantastic news.. [54], Radio logs released in December 2008 seemed to affirm that the guards had been responding to an attack on September 16. [55], On April 1, 2009, the Associated Press reported that forensic tests on bullets were inconclusive. [81] A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found "systemic" errors in the district court's 2009 decision to dismiss charges against the five former Blackwater guards and added "We find that the district court's findings depend on an erroneous view of the law". Mohammed turned his bullet-riddled SUV around and drove back to the closest hospital only a few blocks behind him. It wasnt unusual for regular U.S. Army convoys to stop traffic. Its worth recalling that before the Biden-Putin summit at Geneva last June, Russia had a similar troop build-up along Ukraines borders. The pardons have reduced American talk of human rights to mere "slogans," he said, adding, "They prefer animals over humans, and then they talk about human rights, justice and humanity. [3] Erik Prince provided weapons and aircraft to eastern Libyas warlord Khalifa Haftar: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/world/middleeast/libya-mercenaries-arms-embargo.html. "I'm really shocked. Blackwater and the Corporate Mercenaries who've - NationofChange [50], On October 4, 2007, U.S. military reports indicated Blackwater's guards had opened fire without provocation and used excessive force. [24] The driver of the Kia was shot once in the head by a Blackwater contractor and was killed. [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". Why Is Assange in Jail and Not Seymour Hersh? U.S. troops were coming under fire in Baghdad and major Iraqi cities from the resistance forces. How many covert wars, miscarriages of justice, and dystopian technologies would remain hidden if our reporters werent on the beat? The Blackwater incident cost the American military in the Middle East a lot more, experts interviewed by RT believe. On Tuesday, President Trump pardoned 15 people, including Dustin Heard (from left), Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten and Paul Slough, the four former government contractors convicted for a 2007 massacre in Baghdad that left more than a dozen Iraqi civilians dead.
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