It wasnt. ", "By investigating these crimes and completing legal proceedings, the US complied with its obligations under international law," she added. They claimed they were fired on, but. The Blackwater guards appeared to have fired grenade launchers in addition to machine guns, according to the report. [41], On September 18, 2007, an Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman said Blackwater is "not allowed to operate anywhere in the Republic of Iraq". During the litigation, an appeal was ongoing in the 4h Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. Ukraine War Anniversary: UN and China Work for Peace, Devilish Zelensky, Kiev Hid Its Dead Soldiers in the Ravines. [38] Waxman stated that "the controversy over Blackwater is an unfortunate demonstration of the perils of excessive reliance on private security contractors. ", Trump Grants Slew Of Pardons, Including To George Papadopoulos And Duncan Hunter, Blackwater Guards Found Guilty In 2007 Shootings In Iraq, Lawyer For Victims' Families On Trump Pardoning 4 Former Blackwater Contractors. Donald Trump has pardoned four security guards from the private military firm Blackwater who were serving jail sentences for killing 14 civilians including two children in Baghdad in 2007, a massacre that sparked an international outcry over the use of mercenaries in war. When he arrived at the hospital, it was a war zone. Its worth recalling that before the Biden-Putin summit at Geneva last June, Russia had a similar troop build-up along Ukraines borders. The massacre took place in 2007, when the four were working as guards for Blackwater, a private military contractor, on an assignment in Baghdad. "This incident motivated the Iraqi authorities to seek the withdrawal of American troops from the country. No wonder Russia formally issued an ultimatum on Tuesday, March 1, that it would target the hub of covert warfare. The four armored vehicles drove away. Instead of returning the favor, however, the conceited leader of supposedly the worlds sole surviving superpower turned down the hand of friendship and even snubbed Putin. Thats all it takes to support the journalism you rely on. WaPo says, 'Investigators for the military and the FBI later described . He was shot in the abdomen. Abraham Al Mafrage was a 70-year-old farmer and father of seven who was also shot in the head and died that day. Before VT Nuclear Education: The Beirut Nuclear Coverup, The Hidden History of the Incredibly Evil Khazarian Mafia. . An Iraqi looks at a burned car in Nisour Square in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Yarmukh, on Sept. 24, 2007, eight days after Blackwater guards who were escorting U.S. Embassy officials opened fire there. Mohammed was a businessman dealing in auto salvage. Because any state, particularly those pursuing socialist policies, that dares to challenge the Western monopoly over global trade and economic policies is internationally isolated and its national economy goes bankrupt over a period of time. He was told that he had to go to a neurologic hospital on the other side of Baghdad. Six of my Blackwater brethren contractors are on the helicopter going to Tikrit. Nicholas Slatten, Evan Liberty, Paul Slough and Devin Heard were convicted on charges of first-degree murder and manslaughter by a federal jury in October 2014. The Associated Press contributed to this report. [16] The FBI investigation found that, of the 17 Iraqis killed by the guards, at least 14 were shot without cause. He had tried to run but was lying in a pool of blood killed by machine gunfire from the armored cars. [26][27] A U.S. Army convoy arrived at 12:39p.m., backed by air cover, to escort TST 22 back to the Green Zone. . Although NATO powers did provide Stingers to their jihadist proxies that helped turn the tide in the Soviet-Afghan war in the eighties, since then, despite providing anti-tank munitions and rest of weapons to militant groups during the proxy wars in Libya and Syria, Western powers have consistently avoided providing MANPADS to proxy forces, because such deadly anti-aircraft munitions could become a long-term threat not only to military aircraft but also to civilian airlines. He received poor treatment because his injuries were less life threatening, but he was left with a disfigured and useless arm. The Nisour Square massacre was the FBIs most comprehensive and expensive criminal investigation since 9/11. Shots were fired everywhere. "How are. [99], Clemency caused outrage among Iraqi citizens and family members of the victims. "[32] According to Blackwater vice-president Marty Strong, the convoy was hit with "a large explosive device" and "repeated small arms fire" which disabled a vehicle. Are they going to release me?". Spring flowers are planted in Nisour Square, the site of a deadly shootout by Blackwater private security contractors in 2007, in Baghdad on April 15, 2015. "Victims of gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law also have the right to a remedy. The report found that the use of contractors such as Blackwater was a "new form of mercenary activity" and illegal under international law; however, the United States is not a signatory of the 1989 UN Mercenary Convention banning the use of mercenaries. But its the much more subtle and insidious tactic of economic warfare for which Russia has no antidote, as the global neocolonial order is being led by the United States and its Western European clients since the signing of the Bretton Woods Accord in 1945 following the Second World War. The deaths provoked international outrage and raised questions about the use of private security firms in war zones. Also quoted in the memorandum was David Boslego, a retired US army colonel, who said the massacre was a grossly excessive use of force and grossly inappropriate for an entity whose only job was to provide personal protection to somebody in an armoured vehicle. The Blackwater mess has roiled Capitol Hill and shined light on the many questions surrounding the legal status, management, oversight and accountability of the private military force in Iraq,. It was chaotic. As Mohammed held his sons hand, he convulsed and died in the back of the ambulance. [70] A second civil lawsuit filed jointly by the families of six victims against Blackwater was settled on January 6, 2012 for an undisclosed sum. [36] Several Iraqi and American investigations have been conducted into the incident. President Donald Trump's decision to pardon four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of a massacre in Baghdad has been met with fury by the victims' families in Iraq. Dickinson says the great expense that the FBI put into the prosecution of the case has now come to nothing. But NATOs covert operators embedded with Ukraines security forces reassured them that the war wasnt over and implored them to give their Western mentors a face-saving by mounting at least a semblance of resistance against the fierce onslaught by Russias professional security forces. Ali was the youngest of Blackwaters victims that day. Nicky Woolf in New York. When Slattens conviction was overturned, I was concerned that the case would be ignored. [46] On September 21, CNN reported that Blackwater would resume normal operations the following day. He died in the hospital hallway surrounded by family as he was asking for water. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [10][11] The next day, Blackwater Worldwide's license to operate in Iraq was temporarily revoked. [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. Victims were everywhere. On Tuesday, President Trump pardoned four former Blackwater contractors convicted in the killings. He was driving on flat tires and with a shattered windshield. In addition to the Kinani family, I represented five other families and victims. An initial prosecution was thrown out by a federal judge sparking outrage in Iraq but the then vice-president, Joe Biden, promised to pursue a fresh prosecution, which succeeded in 2015. hide caption. Being so close to the Green Zone, he thought someone important might be entering or leaving the area. [62] After a group of Iraqi ministers backed the Iraqi Interior Ministry's decision to shut down Blackwater USA's operations in Iraq,[29] Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called on the U.S. government to end its contract with Blackwater[39] and called on Blackwater to pay the families $8million in compensation. In 2002, Blackwater received its first contract from the United States government. Mohammed quickly got out of the car and saw blood inside the rear window. This includes the right to see perpetrators serve punishments proportionate to the seriousness of their conduct. 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 . https://t.co/O88HKyb3wd, Kevin Reed | wsws.org (@KevinReedWSWS) March 4, 2022. The incident was allegedly resolved only after another Blackwater contractor pointed his weapon at the man still firing and ordered him to stop. But when the shooting started, his life and the lives of his entire family changed forever. [66] Howard Krongard, who was appointed Inspector General of the U.S. State Department in 2005,[67] resigned in December 2007 after he was accused by the House Oversight Committee of improperly interfering with investigations into the Blackwater Baghdad shootings. 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. "On what basis did Trump depend on to release them? courts. [84], The other four went on trial starting on June 17, 2014;[5] ten weeks of testimony and 28 days of jury deliberations resulted in convictions for all four men on October 22, 2014. [24] The driver of the Kia was shot once in the head by a Blackwater contractor and was killed. Each time the criminal charges were seemed lost, the U.S. Department of Justice told them they were not forgotten that we would continue to pursue the convictions of those who committed the crimes against them. He was left with shrapnel in his body from the rocket launched grenade that was fired into his vehicle as he escaped. Since the harrowing Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad in 2007, the Blackwater private military contractor, renamed as Academi in 2011 and becoming a subsidiary of Constellis Group following a merger with Triple Canopy in 2014, has built quite a business empire for itself. Slatten, whom prosecutors said started the shooting, was sentenced to life in prison. Mohammed forced a doctor to look at Ali. Paul Dickinson is a lawyer who represented six Iraqi families in a civil lawsuit against Blackwater and its founder, Erik Prince (who is the brother of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos). This is not for the faint of heart but allegedly a video from the Ukraine conflict at a check-point at Mariupol which is surrounded by Russian troops. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Blackwater is an American private military company . 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.
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