Posted on 12/08/2008 8:55:12 AM PST by BCW
WASHINGTON – Five Blackwater Worldwide security guards surrendered and were being held for a court appearance Monday in connection with an investigation into a deadly 2007 shooting at a busy Baghdad intersection. The five guards are charged with manslaughter and using a machine gun in a crime of violence. Though they are charged in a sealed indictment in Washington, they surrendered at a federal courthouse in Salt Lake City. The Justice Department is preparing to make the charges public later Monday. Seventeen Iraqis were killed in the September 2007 shooting. Witnesses said the heavily armed U.S. contractors opened fire unprovoked, killing innocent motorists and children at a crowded intersection. Blackwater, the largest security contractor in Iraq, says its guards were ambushed by insurgents while responding to a car bombing. "We think it's pure and simple a case of self-defense," Paul Cassell, a Utah attorney on the defense team, said Monday as the guards were being booked. "Tragically people did die." Though the case has already been assigned to U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina in Washington, attorneys want the case moved to Utah, where they would presumably find a more conservative jury pool and one more likely to support the Iraq war. 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I was south of this area and counted up over 250 death in a 45 day period in 2006 where Shia slaughtered Sunnis in revenge attacks. Quoting some Arab saying that justice needs to be heard is liken to a rapist shouting that he doesn't want to be beaten up once in prison - it makes no sense!
Anyone operating in Iraq who has gone through an ambush can understand that there is never a crime scene. Any insurgent that falls dead from counter-fire will be striped of his possessions by those around him - that's the way it works over there and will always work.
The US public and especially Wash DC has no idea what guerrilla warfare is all about and can't wrap their little heads around it - nor take the time to understand - and will always sell out for the sake of "looking good."
I support BW and the brothers within! God be with them - because the State Dept is not!
They should have booted the diplomats into the street and driven off.
Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
I wish these guys well and support them 100% on protecting their own and their client’s lives in a war zone
Insurgencies are fought by civilian fighters who operate among civilians, launch their attacks from among civilians, use civilians as human shields, and then escape and hide among civilians.
It is impossible to fight this kind of insurgency without killing civilians. If you do not have the nerve to confront and accept civilian casualties, you have already lost and you may as well surrender.
If you do not have the nerve to confront and accept civilian casualties, you do not have the right to send good men into this situation. They are going to do what they have to do to stay alive and complete the mission you sent them to do. If you can’t back them up, you have no right to send them in the first place.
His life is on the line. All he asks from you is to not flake on him.
Can anyone identify the statutes that allows federal (not military) prosecution for alleged crimes committed in countries other than the US and gives the US govt. jurisdiction for actions of individuals outside of the country.
My fear is that, like the Haditha Marines, the US government wants to throw these Blackwater guards under the bus in a twisted attempt to foster “good will” among the Iraqi politicians and appease domestic Democrats. The deck is stacked. These guys are toast. If I was one of these guys I might have chosen to disappear rather than turn myself in.
These guys aren’t under military jurisdiction
They work for the US Dept of State - and it is the DOS that runs Iraq - no the US military.
Some are under the belief that DoD runs everything - which is not true.
So for the US military to send in a “team” to investigate and then bring in the FBI - is stupid. There were several investigations by competent DoS DDS special agents - but that wasn’t good enough for the hatred top level military leaders have for companies such as Blackwater...
I have been in both houses - BW are the best operators out there - Marines, Special Forces, Seals, MP’s, etc... the traditional morons that make the military leadership have no love for these guys - because they are not the traditional types...
It’s a slap in the face to have the FBI come in and overstep the special agents of Diplomatic Security...it’s BULLSH*T!
You are aware Blackwater's thrown these guys under a bus, right?
God Bless those brave American Men! It seems their leaders have abandoned them...
Today’s reports indicate that they have been charged on the anti-drug law that imposes a mandatory 30-year sentence for using a machine gun in the commission of a crime of violence. Clearly, this should be obvious, this law is not intended to cover people who have the legal right to use machine guns and who have been hired by the US Government to use machine guns and are doing so pursuant to their agreement with the US when the incident occurs.
(Although I think the prosecutors used a similar theory - although less draconian law - going after to the two border guards and that this was upheld by the 5th Circuit - using a firearm in a crime violence; this never made the slightest sense to me).
Also, the act that confers jurisdiction only applies to contractors who are supporting the DOD mission. Under the prosecutors’ theory, EVERYTHING that the DOS does in Iraq would have to be in support of the DOD. This is certainly not at all how things are structured in Iraq (for example, Crocker doesn’t work for Odierno, Gates, etc....).
This is a disgrace.
Seems to me that the Defense was smart enough to push this into a jurisdiction where the jury pool probably will be much more conservative.
Indeed. I assume "Washington" means D.C., where a jury would be comprised of anti-American, anti-U.S. military, BDS suffering psycho Obama supporters.
Our government is a diswgrace. They are now harassing their own employees. This is on Bush's watch. (Federal prosecuters.) So were the two border guards.
They have enough laws to make anyone a criminal if they want to, and they do want to from time to time.
I don’t think it was BW - it was the DoS that didn’t stand up and tell the FBI and military to shove it.
Now, I will agree with you that BW should have also stood up and promoted the fact that this was an ambush - but under contract - they can’t talk to the media. So they had to remain silent. So again, it falls on the shoulders of the Secretary of State to stand up and tell the DoD and FBI heads to back off and announce that they were cleared.
The military had a shooting after this inside BIAP and killed an entire car of Iraqi’s - never heard a peep of it - I read it in an Iraqi newspaper - but it was covered up. It’s nice how they damn one entity but protect some officer’s evaluation report - wouldn’t want someone not to be promoted over some silly shooting...
On general principles, I will continue to back the Blackwater contractors involved in this incident. If one or more of these men did go rogue, I would want that to come to light. It is imperitive to me, that the innocent are not smeared or blamed for the actions of one or two team members who may have veered from standard policies.
I will keep an open mind on this, but I am also going to be keeping as good an eye on it as I can, so that these guys don’t get railroaded.
Case must be weak as hell.
This is somebody’s BS political agenda.
Screw State.
You are spot-on, Jeff.
WRONG!!!!!!!!! This development does not change our support for those who maintain that they acted appropriately in response to a perceived threat. Blackwater does not have access to all of the information gathered by investigators. Based on the information available to us, however, we understand that these individuals acted within the rules set forth for them by the government and that no criminal violations occurred. Read the whole Blackwater statement on DRUDGE...
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