Prosecutors asserted the heavily armed Raven 23 Blackwater convoy launched an unprovoked attack using sniper fire, machine-guns and grenade launchers. Then-Vice President Joe Biden held a press conference to tell the citizens of Iraq that they would not be abandoned. 3", is named Paul Slough. My law firm received a call from an immigration attorney the next year seeking representation for the Blackwaters victims, and I was eventually retained to represent the Kinani family in a civil lawsuit against Blackwater, Prince, and various other Blackwater companies and, of course, the men who were charged and eventually convicted of murder, manslaughter, and weapons charges for their conduct. Again, I knew my clients would be pleased to know that justice had been served and their rights had been protected. [36], On September 19, as a result of the incident, the United States temporarily suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. [19] A Blackwater spokeswoman responded to the findings by saying Blackwater "supports the stringent accountability of the industry. In 2002, Blackwater received its first contract from the United States government. Dickinson says that the victims' families are likely to feel let down and abandoned by the U.S. government. [38] Waxman stated that "the controversy over Blackwater is an unfortunate demonstration of the perils of excessive reliance on private security contractors. The four armored vehicles drove away. 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. More than 3,000 troops remain in Iraq, according to defense officials, with a drawdown scheduled for January. [9], Blackwater guards claimed that the convoy was ambushed and that they fired at the attackers in defense of the convoy. [21]:116, During opening arguments for a criminal trial held in 2014, defense lawyers representing former Blackwater members of Raven 23 argued the men felt the approaching Kia was a credible threat as a possible car bomb, and opened fire in self-defense. Iraqi authorities say 17 people were killed; the Department of Justice has said the total was 14. The massacre took place in 2007, when the four were working as guards for Blackwater, a private military contractor, on an assignment in Baghdad. They claimed they were fired on, but prosecutors said the Blackwater guards opened fire first. Blackwater mercenary Nicholas Slatten sentenced to life in prison for He could not understand what was happening or why. The man that just spoken to him was dead. Adela Sulimanis a London-based reporter for NBC News Digital. Three Ex-Blackwater Guards Are Resentenced in Iraq War Massacre The men will serve about half of their original 30-year sentences for their roles in a 2007 shooting of unarmed civilians in Iraq . Majid Al Kareem was 51 years old when he was shot. U.S. military reports appear to corroborate the Iraqi government's contention that Blackwater was at fault in the incident. Trump's pardon of Blackwater 'Four' highlights deep divisions over Iraq He was shot through the back with a massive exit wound in his chest. For us, for everyone. Before VT Nuclear Education: The Beirut Nuclear Coverup, The Hidden History of the Incredibly Evil Khazarian Mafia. The order confines most Americans to a 3.5 square miles (9.1km2) area in the center of the city so that they are unable to visit other areas without traveling in a helicopter. As shootings in the square were not uncommon, it is unclear whether the shells were from the shooting in question or from other incidents. The Nisour Square massacre was one of the most publicized US crimes of the 8-year Iraq war. [45] Also, it is not clear whether the license revocation is permanent. Blackwater was founded by ex-Navy SEAL Erik Prince in 1997 as a shooting range and military training ground in Moyock, North Carolina. Almost everyone who was killed or injured was shot in cars, taxis, or buses. When Blackwater security guard Nicholas Slatten was tried and convicted for murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, the U.S. legal system determined that he needed a new trial. [34], In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, Blackwater's rights to conduct work in Iraq were temporarily suspended. [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/. [4] In 2014, four Blackwater employees were tried[5] and convicted in U.S. federal court; one of murder, and the other three of manslaughter and firearms charges;[6] all four convicted were controversially pardoned[7] by President Donald Trump in December 2020,[8] in violation of international law. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. [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". The Blackwater guards included Nicholas Slatten, who was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder for his role in the 2007 Nisoor Square massacre, when he and other . The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting (now Constellis), a private military company contracted by the US government to provide security services in Iraq, shot at Iraqi civilians, killing 17 and injuring 20 in Nisour Square, Baghdad, while escorting a U.S. embassy convoy. The incident was allegedly resolved only after another Blackwater contractor pointed his weapon at the man still firing and ordered him to stop. [15] The incident sparked at least five investigations, including one from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Nasser's younger brother, Mahdi Saheb Nasser, was 22 and working as a taxi driver when he was killed in September 2007 alongside other unarmed civilians in Baghdad's Nisur Square. Witnesses described how the American men ambushed the civilians unprovoked, firing on Baghdad's Nisour Square with heavy gunfire and grenade launchers. 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. [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. The kind of reporting we do is essential to democracy, but it is not easy, cheap, or profitable. Russian-American political scientist Malek Dudakov called the shooting a landmark event and a major international scandal. After it was added, defense attorneys contended a 30-year sentence would be too severe, since the law was intended to deter gang members from carrying automatic weapons. [89][90][91] The panel also recommended that Slatten undergo a re-trial on the grounds that it was unjustifiable to try him with his co-defendants, and that he should have been tried separately. In fact, private military contractors in close coordination and consultation with covert operators from CIA and Western intelligence agencies are not only training Ukraines conscript forces in the use of caches of Stingers and Javelins provided by Germany and the rest of the European nations as military assistance to Ukraine but are also directing the whole defense strategy of Ukraine by taking an active part in combat operations in some of the most hard-fought battles against Russias security forces north of Kyiv and at Kharkiv and Donbas. I had never imagined that Trump or any other politician would affect American justice.". I felt I had done that, and I knew the prosecutors were doing that. American troops invaded Iraq in 2003 and toppled Saddam Hussein's regime. The Nisour Square massacre was the FBIs most comprehensive and expensive criminal investigation since 9/11. The Intercept is an independent nonprofit news outlet. As Mohammed held his sons hand, he convulsed and died in the back of the ambulance. Blackwater Guards Found Guilty in 2007 Iraq Killings Nicholas Slatten, 35, was a former security guard at the private US military firm Blackwater and was based in Baghdad. [2] 16,000 volunteers coming to Ukraine, Zelensky: https://www.rt.com/russia/551149-zelensky-ukraine-foreign-fighters/. Slatten, whom prosecutors said started the shooting, was sentenced to life in prison. My clients assuredly feel ignored, mistreated, and used. Six of my Blackwater brethren contractors are on the helicopter going to Tikrit. 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. The convictions made the victims feel that justice had been obtained. They would turn Blackwater into roadkill. Scores of Iraqis injured in anti-government protests in Baghdad, Who will protect us?: Baghdad residents wait out fighting as city grinds to halt, Iraqi cleric tells loyalists to return to their homes after fighting in Baghdad, Deadly violence in Baghdad after leading cleric Moqtada al-Sadr says he is quitting politics, Shia factions mass in Baghdad raising fears of more unrest, Protesters storm Iraq parliament again amid unrest over Iran-backed groups, Iran may eventually get its way in protracted power struggle in Iraq, Hundreds of protesters storm Iraq parliament in support of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, Briton jailed in Iraq for smuggling antiquities to be freed, says lawyer. In 2014, four former government contractors who worked for Blackwater Worldwide, a security firm founded by Erik Prince an ally of Trump and the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos were convicted in federal court in Washington in connection with the killings. Ghasson Mahmood was a 55-year-old civil engineer. Trump's pardon of Blackwater contractors convicted of massacre greeted 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. [6][86] Bringing the weapons charges was disputed within the Justice Department, which initially opposed including them in the indictment. [47], The U.S. State Department said it planned to investigate what it called a "terrible incident". Former Blackwater mercenary convicted of Baghdad civilian massacre "We've backed off that. The Blackwater mercenaries were among the most flagrant killers in Iraq but hardly unique.
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