Posted on 04/13/2015 3:12:02 PM PDT by Timber Rattler
A federal judge sentenced former Blackwater security guard Nicholas Slatten to life in prison and three others to 30-year terms for their roles in a 2007 shooting that killed 14 Iraqi civilians and wounded 17 others.
The carnage in Baghdad's Nisoor Square caused an international uproar over the use of private security guards in a war zone.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Slatten, who witnesses said was the first to fire shots in the incident, to life on a charge of first-degree murder. The three other guards - Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard - were each sentenced to 30 years and one day in prison for charges that included manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and using firearms while committing a felony.
Lamberth announced the sentences after a daylong hearing at which defense lawyers had argued for leniency and presented character witnesses for their clients, and prosecutors asked that those sentences - the minimums mandatory under the law - be made even harsher. He rejected both requests.
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
Absolutely. Lesson learned for “contractors”.
What jurisdiction does an American Judge have over actions in Iraq with a State Department contract?
Yup. They would have gotten a lesser sentence if they had just shot the diplomats and joined the terrorists.
ERIC PRINCE:
Founder of Blackwater, HUGE patriot, super hard-working guy, a real mover of Heaven and earth.
You know what he says about working for Da Gummint..? He wouldn’t do it again in a MILLION YEARS, he hates their guts, even if they made him rich.
It’s so bad he prefers working for the commie Chinese in Africa —it’s that bad. That like one of US HERE saying that, pretty incredible.
Leon Panetta later outed Prince as a CIA asset, something that painted a target on his back.
Know WHY Panetta did that? He doesn’t, and no one does.
Cruelty? Who knows...?
GREAT BOOK!
They shot a 9 year old kid in the head, just for the heck of it. They totally damaged the relations US had with Iraq. I’m glad they got the sentence they did.
Cite that please. From a good source, not hearsay.
But murder in the U. S., rapes, sex acts with minors...
Eh, not as important as this.
I haven’t followed the trial and the whole story as close as I should have, but these are some stiff penalties.
Charles Manson even comes up for parole.
Read the column.
The defense held up a picture of the 9 year old kid for their closing statements. That’s one of the things the court found them guilty of.
No, I was not there, so I cannot guarantee 100% that happened. If it didn’t, then I guess it’s too bad they’re going to prison.
All white. 3 strikes right there.
It's sure easy to pass judgement when your life wasn't on the line in a hostile sewer when the bullets flew.
Time for a pardon.
What took the government long to prosecute?
The killings happened almost eight years ago.
First charged by the Bush Justice Department and then prosecuted by Obama and Holder.
These men were being shot at in a war zone. Most (if not all) were former US soldiers with honorable service.
The initial chrges were thrown out, but a fedral appeal court revived it and brough them to trial.
the Judge, when face d woith over 100 honorable MAericans showing up to speak in their defense, indicated he was moved by their support.
He then said it was clear to him that “these fine young men just panicked.”
So how do you translate someone who is under fire in a war zone and panics to pre-meditated murder?
No, this was more of Holder’s DOJ going out of its way to throw the book at former US soldiers, hired by the State Department to protect diplomats, who were involved in “Bush’s War,” in Iraq and make an example of them.
This is Holder executing Obama’s directive and clear feeling that anything traditional American is the culprit in the world and needs to be “punished.”
In reality, there was no example, IMHO, to be made, if US interests, and the reality of the situation were takne into account..
I wonder, what did the court expect these men to do? Their duty was to provide security for vehicles carrying U.S. Diplomats that came under fire at a crowded intersection. Their options were to either hold their fire and hope the terrorists didn’t kill them and the Diplomats they were charged with protecting, or they could return fire and gain fire superiority even though there would surely be collateral damage.
As these men and the U.S. Diplomats are still alive, they made the right decision. If we ever get an American back into the Presidency, they will surely be pardoned, but death can never be pardoned, so, IMHO, they made the right decision.
You have some proof of that?
Royce Lamberth is the “government whimsy” judge, who does not so much enforce the law, but carry out whatever extra-judicial punishments the Washington Beltway wants. Some of his great decisions and non-decisions include:
Cobell v. Kempthorne in which a group of American Indians sued the U.S. Department of the Interior for allegedly mismanaging a trust intended for their benefit. After an extended cluster, Lamberth was removed for finding on behalf of the Indians, instead of what he was supposed to do.
In May 2003, in a case brought by the families of the 241 servicemen who were killed in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, Lamberth declared that Beirut, in the midst of the Lebanese Civil War, did not constitute a war zone; and that the U.S. Marines stationed there were not, in fact, soldiers.
Ruled against the airing of the movie Hillary: The Movie, requiring it to follow the strict rules of campaign ads.
Lamberth officiated the dog-and-pony show of Kenneth Starr to waste millions of dollars and years to find that the Clintons never, ever did anything wrong, other than Bill wearing a stained blue dress or something.
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