Charges Against Blackwater Dismissed

I just hope Erik Prince eventually has to answer for those murder and prostitution allegations against him.
Too bad impersonating a Christian isn't illegal, too, but hopefully he'll be held accountable for that in the next life.

 

Based on the outraged reaction of the Iraqi government and the fact that they tried unsuccessfully to get Blackwater banned from their country, I'm guessing my guess is a better guess than your guess:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/01/iraq-us-blackwater-case-trial

Iraqi officials and relatives of 17 Iraqis who were killed in a crowded Baghdad square in September 2007 in an allegedly unprovoked shooting spree by Blackwater private security guards reacted with fury today to the decision by a US federal judge to dismiss all charges against five of the guards.

A spokesman for the Iraqi government said the collapse of the case in the US courts would lead to an intensified criminal prosecution of Blackwater through the Iraqi legal system. Ali al-Dabbagh said the criminal suit was already well advanced against the firm, which would not be allowed to restart its private military work in the country.

"The government will monitor proceedings against Blackwater in Iraqi courts to prosecute the company and will preserve the rights of Iraqi citizens, of the victims and their families affected by this crime," he said.

Abdul Wahab Abdul Kader, 35, who was shot in the arm, said he was bitterly disappointed. ""I call for the government to stop all foreign security companies working in Iraq. Their work here has been full of dangers for us and has caused real peril."

Haitham Ahmed, whose wife and son were killed, said the dismissal of the case cast doubt on the integrity of the US justice system. He told Associated Press: "The whole thing has been a farce. The rights of our victims and the rights of the innocent people should not be wasted."

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Sounds like Justice f-ed up.

 

Did they get this mad when suicide bombers killed innocent people?

 

Amen Hondo. I did not see a lot of anger coming from Iraq when the bodies of former Navy Seals turned Blackwater guards were strung up and set a fire.

 

You can also read some accounts of the events that differ greatly than The Guardian account.

Not every civilian death in a war zone is a crime. As I pointed out, there aren't prosecutions every time a non-combatant is killed in a predator drone strike.

Not every mistake in a war zone is a crime. Do we prosecute service members involved in friendly fire incidents?

 

We certainly do prosecute service members if the friendly fire incident is intentional.

We also prosecute people who intentionally kill innocents in a war zone.

The issue here is intent -- not whether it was an accident or a mistake.

 

Ace, I guess I thought that the point you made went without saying. I said as much in an earlier reply which is posted below.

Obviously a friendly fire incident can result in charges.

 

They mowed down 17 civilians at a street corner because an old lady in a Kia didn't slow down quickly enough. Their own State Department has ruled they acted improperly. And at least one of them kept firing even after being ordered to stop.

The U.N., meanwhile, has determined that Blackwater's employees acted as mercenaries, which is illegal under international law, albeit under a branch of international law that the U.S. can't be arsed to sign on to. Comparing them to service members in friendly-fire incidents is disingenuous. They're not soldiers.

 

That'd be awful hard to tell from those balconies in Amman, now wouldn't it?

 

It certainly goes without saying that not every civilian death in a war zone is a crime and not every mistake in a war zone is a crime.

It seemed to me like you were trying to lump this in the "it's war, shit happens" category and dismiss it.

I was just pointing out the other side.