Thursday, December 31, 2009

All Charges in Blackwater Case Are Dismissed

"A federal judge dismissed all charges Thursday against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians in a crowded Baghdad intersection in 2007.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina said Justice Department prosecutors improperly built their case on sworn statements that had been given under a promise of immunity. Urbina said the government's explanations were 'contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility.'

The decision throws out a case steeped in international politics. The September 2007 shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad. The Iraqi government wanted the guards to face trial in Iraq and officials there said they would closely watch how the U.S. judicial system handled the case.

'We're obviously disappointed by the decision,' Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said. 'We're still in the process of reviewing the opinion and considering our options.'

Prosecutors can appeal the 90-page ruling.

Blackwater contractors had been hired to guard U.S. diplomats in Iraq. The shooting led to the unraveling of the North Carolina-based company, which since has changed its management and changed its name to Xe Services."

I'm not sure if people remember this, but it was BIG news at the time. I think this incident had some influence on the Iraqi government's decision to discontinue all American military support in the country. Obviously, nobody knows FOR SURE what happened but I think Blackwater must have been involved in some kind of a hostile engagement between the Iraqi civilians if they've changed their management and name. Maybe Blackwater got off easy but with a few repercussions? I'm not sure and no one else is either, disregarding actual witnesses in the area at the time. It just seems to be Blackwater's word against the Iraqi government's. There could be a MILLION factors involved here. In any case, I know Blackwater is a credible and successful PMC and it would be an outright shame to see them crumble over this. Maybe U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina thinks the same? He officially says that the Iraqi government built their case poorly, but I'm sure there's more to it.

If you didn't want to read the wall, I was ultimately saying that after analyzing the article, it seems that Blackwater was involved in SOME way, maybe not the way the Iraqis could be possibly exaggerating, but in a way that involved them to be completely built from the ground up all over again, with some extra provisions. America has some very valuable PMCs that help oversee diplomatic relations in its arsenal and I strongly believe Blackwater is one of them.

Comment away and discuss.

-Andrew Oxendine 3°

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