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On December 31, 2009, a U.S. district judge dismissed all the manslaughter charges on the grounds that the case against the Blackwater guards had been improperly built on testimony given in exchange for immunity.<ref name="Pelton">{{cite web|last=Pelton|first=Robert Young|title=An American Commando in Exile|url=http://www.mensjournal.com/an-american-commando-in-exile|work=Men's Journal|publisher=Men's Journal|accessdate=28 May 2011}}</ref> A decision harshly criticized by Prime Minister [[Nouri al-Maliki]].
On December 31, 2009, a U.S. district judge dismissed all the manslaughter charges on the grounds that the case against the Blackwater guards had been improperly built on testimony given in exchange for immunity.<ref name="Pelton">{{cite web|last=Pelton|first=Robert Young|title=An American Commando in Exile|url=http://www.mensjournal.com/an-american-commando-in-exile|work=Men's Journal|publisher=Men's Journal|accessdate=28 May 2011}}</ref> A decision harshly criticized by Prime Minister [[Nouri al-Maliki]].


On April 1, 2011, the [[Associated Press]] reported that the FBI scientists were unable to match bullets from the square to guns carried by the Blackwater guards and investigators found foreign cartridge cases not used by U.S. or Blackwater personnel, though "shootings are not uncommon in Nisoor Square and those shells could have been left behind before or after the Blackwater shooting."<ref >{{cite news| url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/04/01/apnewsbreak_blackwater_founder_questions_fbi_work/ | work=The Boston Globe | first=Mike | last=Baker | title=APNewsBreak: Blackwater founder questions FBI work | date=2011-04-01}}</ref> On January 6, 2012 Blackwater settled a lawsuit filed on behalf of six of the victims, for an undisclosed sum.<ref>http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/06/2904465/blackwater-settles-with-families.html</ref>
On April 1, 2011, the [[Associated Press]] reported that the FBI scientists were unable to match bullets from the square to guns carried by the Blackwater guards and investigators found foreign cartridge cases not used by U.S. or Blackwater personnel.<ref >{{cite news| url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/04/01/apnewsbreak_blackwater_founder_questions_fbi_work/ | work=The Boston Globe | first=Mike | last=Baker | title=APNewsBreak: Blackwater founder questions FBI work | date=2011-04-01}}</ref> On January 6, 2012 Blackwater settled a lawsuit filed on behalf of six of the victims, for an undisclosed sum.<ref>http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/06/2904465/blackwater-settles-with-families.html</ref>


In April 2011 a US federal appeals court reinstated the manslaughter charges against Blackwater guards after closed-door testimony. The proceedings are ongoing.<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/05/blackwater-guards-lose-appeal-iraq-shooting</ref>
In April 2011 a US federal appeals court reinstated the manslaughter charges against Blackwater guards after closed-door testimony. The proceedings are ongoing.<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/05/blackwater-guards-lose-appeal-iraq-shooting</ref>

Revision as of 03:48, 23 June 2012

33°18′08″N 44°21′23″E / 33.30222°N 44.35639°E / 33.30222; 44.35639 On September 16, 2007, Blackwater military contractors shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, Baghdad.[1]

The fatalities occurred while a Blackwater Personal Security Detail (PSD) was clearing the way for a convoy of US State Department vehicles transporting diplomats to a meeting in western Baghdad with officials of the United States Agency for International Development. Blackwater and some of his guards said that the convoy had been ambushed and that they had fired at the attackers in defense of the convoy. The Iraqi government, three Blackwater guards present at the scene, Iraqi witnesses and prosecutes on the other hand allege that the killings were unprovoked and unjustified.

The next day, Blackwater Worldwide's license to operate in Iraq was temporarily revoked.[2] The US State Department has said that "innocent life was lost"[3] while US military reports indicate Blackwater's guards opened fire without provocation and may have used excessive force.[4] The Iraqi government vowed to punish Blackwater.[5] The incident sparked at least five investigations, including one from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[6][7] However, all charges against the contractors were dismissed.

On December 31, 2009, a U.S. district judge dismissed all the manslaughter charges on the grounds that the case against the Blackwater guards had been improperly built on testimony given in exchange for immunity.[8] A decision harshly criticized by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

On April 1, 2011, the Associated Press reported that the FBI scientists were unable to match bullets from the square to guns carried by the Blackwater guards and investigators found foreign cartridge cases not used by U.S. or Blackwater personnel.[9] On January 6, 2012 Blackwater settled a lawsuit filed on behalf of six of the victims, for an undisclosed sum.[10]

In April 2011 a US federal appeals court reinstated the manslaughter charges against Blackwater guards after closed-door testimony. The proceedings are ongoing.[11]

Incident

An SR-25 semi-automatic rifle identical to the weapon used by at least one Blackwater USA operator in the incident.[12]

The Blackwater guards' account of the incident differed from that set forth in an Iraqi government account. The latter claimed that as the convoy drew close to Nisour Square, a Kia sedan with a woman and her grown son in it was approaching the square from a distance, driving slowly on the wrong side of the road, and that the driver ignored a police officer's whistle to clear a path for the convoy.[13] According to this account, the security team fired warning shots and then lethal fire at the Kia. Then set off stun grenades to clear the scene. Iraqi police and Iraqi Army soldiers, mistaking the stun grenades for fragmentation grenades, opened fire at the Blackwater men, to which they responded.[14][15]

In the account by the Blackwater firm, it stated that the driver of the Kia sedan had kept driving toward the convoy, ignoring verbal orders, hand signals, and water bottles which were thrown at the car, and continued to approach even when fired upon. An Iraqi policeman went over to the car possibly to help the passenger, but the vehicle kept moving and it looked to the guards as if the policeman was pushing it. In their view, this confirmed that they were under attack by a vehicle bomb, whereupon they fired at the car, killing both people in it as well as the Iraqi policeman.[16] In response to the guards' killing of the Iraqi policemen, other Iraqi police officers began to fire on at the Blackwater men. Since insurgents in Iraq often disguise themselves by wearing police uniforms, the guards could not be sure they were dealing with actual police. They communicated to the State Department operations center that they were under attack. A State Department employee who, walking into the department's Baghdad operations center on the day of the incident, heard a radio call from the convoy: “Contact, contact, contact! We are taking fire from insurgents and Iraqi police.”[16] 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.[17] Several sources have stated that the explosion was caused by a mortar round, though this is not reflected in the Department of State incident report.[18][19] Blackwater has denied Iraqi allegations that one of their helicopters fired from the air during the incident.[20][21]

A State Department report stated that eight to ten attackers opened fire "from multiple nearby locations, with some aggressors dressed in civilian apparel and others in Iraqi police uniforms."[18] The report said that as the convoy tried to leave, its route was blocked by insurgents armed with machine guns at 12:08 pm. According to another US government report, "The team returned fire to several identified targets" before leaving the area and a second convoy en route to help was "blocked/surrounded by several Iraqi police and Iraqi national guard vehicles and armed personnel."[19] A US Army convoy, possibly the same one delayed by Iraqi forces, arrived approximately a half hour later, backed by air cover, to escort the convoy back to the Green Zone.[17]

On September 27, the New York Times reported that during the chaotic incident at Nisour Square, one member of the Blackwater security team continued to fire on civilians, despite urgent cease-fire calls from colleagues. It is unclear whether the team-member mistook the civilians for insurgents. The incident was resolved only after another Blackwater contractor pointed his weapon at the man still firing and ordered him to stop.[22]

Impact

In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, Blackwater's rights to conduct work in Iraq were temporarily suspended.[23] Several Iraqi and American investigations have or are being conducted in to the incident.[24][25] The incident has caused Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to call on the U.S. government to end its contract with Blackwater USA,[26] and for the Iraqi government to push for an apology, compensation for victims or their families and for the guards involved in the shooting to be held "accountable."[27] The US House passed a bill that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to prosecution by U.S. courts.[28] The U.S. Senate will reportedly consider similar legislation.[28]

License to operate in Iraq

On September 18, 2007, Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf, an Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman, said Blackwater is "not allowed to operate anywhere in the Republic of Iraq." Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh stated that the ban would last for the duration of the investigation, and that it would not be permanent.[17] The banning was described by P. W. Singer, an expert on the private military industry, as "inevitable", given the US governments' reliance on and lack of oversight of the private military industry in Iraq.[29]

The Private Security Company Association of Iraq, in a document last updated on July 3, 2007, listed Blackwater as not having a license to operate in Iraq despite their attempts to apply for one.[30] Blackwater's operations on behalf of the US Department of State and the CIA may be unaffected by this claimed license revocation.[31] Also, it is not clear whether the license revocation is permanent.[23]

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. The order confines most Americans to a 3.5 square miles (9.1 km2) area in the center of the city so that they are unable to visit other areas without traveling in a helicopter. The order did not say when the suspension would expire.[32] On September 21, CNN reported that Blackwater would resume normal operations the following day.[24]

Blackwater, which had been operating in Iraq without an Iraqi government license, applied for one after the incident, but the application was rejected by Iraqi officials in January 2009. The Iraqi government ordered Blackwater to leave Iraq as soon as a joint Iraqi-US committee finished drafting new guidelines on private contractors under the Iraqi-US security agreement. On January 31, 2009 the US State Department notified Blackwater that it would not be renewing its security contract with the company.[33]

Investigations

The U.S. State Department said it planned to investigate what it called a "terrible incident."[34] According to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised a "fair and transparent" investigation into the incident. The State Department announced an American-Iraqi joint commission to investigate both the shooting and the broader issue of employing private security contractors. The committee was co-chaired by Abd al Qadir, the Iraqi Minister of Defense and Patricia A. Butenis, the Chargé d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.[24]

Henry Waxman, the chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which held hearings on the use of Private Security Contractors in February 2007 said his committee would hold hearings "to understand what has happened and the extent of the damage to U.S. security interests."[25] Waxman stated that "the controversy over Blackwater is an unfortunate demonstration of the perils of excessive reliance on private security contractors."[17]

On October 4, 2007 the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that it would be taking the lead in the investigation of the shooting incident.[35]

Findings

Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said Iraqi authorities had completed their investigation into the shooting and concluded that Blackwater guards were responsible for the deaths. US Military reports appear to corroborate the Iraqi government's contention that Blackwater was at fault in the incident.[4]

On October 2, 2007 the Democratic staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released a report stating that Blackwater USA guards have used deadly force weekly in Iraq and have inflicted "significant casualties and property damage." The report found that the guards fired their weapons an average of 1.4 times a week. The report further said that Blackwater reports that its forces fired first in over 80 percent of the cases.[36]

On October 4, 2007 U.S. military reports indicated Blackwater's guards opened fire without provocation and used excessive force. "It was obviously excessive", a U.S. military official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Washington Post. "The civilians that were fired upon, they didn't have any weapons to fire back at them. And none of the IP (Iraqi police) or any of the local security forces fired back at them", the official continued. The Blackwater guards appeared to have fired grenade launchers in addition to machine guns, according to the report.[4]

On October 13, 2007, the FBI reported that it had concluded that at least 14 of the 17 Iraqis who died in the square had been killed without cause.[13] The three justifiable killings were those of the two passengers in the white Kia sedan and an unidentified Iraqi nearby.[13] Anne Tyrrell, a Blackwater spokeswoman, responded to the findings by saying Blackwater "supports the stringent accountability of the industry. If it is determined that one person was complicit in the wrongdoing, we would support accountability in that. The key people in this have not spoken with investigators."[37][38][39]

On January 19, 2008, the New York Times reported that the contractor responsible for many of the deaths in the engagement, previously known only as "turret gunner no. 3", is named Paul Slough.[40] He enlisted in 1999, and served in Bosnia with the 3rd Infantry Division.[40] He received an honorable discharge in 2002 and then enlisted in the Texas National Guard.[40] He served one tour in Iraq before being hired as a Personal Security Specialist in Iraq.[40] Nothing in the New York Times report suggested a history of irresponsible or "cowboy-like" behavior.[40]

Radio logs released in December 2008 seemed to affirm that the guards had been responding to an attack on September 16. The logs depicted “a hectic eight minutes in which the guards repeatedly reported incoming gunfire from insurgents and Iraqi police.”[41]

On April 1, 2009, the Associated Press reported that forensic tests on bullets were inconclusive. None of the bullets the lab had available could be matched to the rifles used by the guards.[42]

On April 1, 2011, the Associated Press reported on Erik Prince's seven-hour testimony about what allegedly transpired. Prince strongly criticized the way in which federal authorities had handled the investigation and disputed the claims that U.S. or Blackwater personnel were to blame for the shootings. In his testimony, Prince noted that, "It seems the ballistics analysis was done to prove the guilt of the Americans, not to just try to identify what happened there." Erik Prince said that he didn't believe the FBI had fully investigated the sources of all the used bullets in Nisour Square, arguing that it would have been helpful if the defense had been in possession of a complete ballistics report. FBI scientists couldn't match bullets from the square to guns carried by the Blackwater guards and FBI investigators found foreign cartridge cases of a kind not used by U.S. or Blackwater personnel. As shootings in the square were not uncommon, it is unclear whether the shells were from the shooting in question or from other incidents.[43]

UN October 2007 report

In October 2007 the United Nations released a two year study that stated that private contractors, although hired as "security guards", were performing military duties. 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.[44] Nor is the US a signatory of the 1977 additional Protocol to the 1949 Geneva Conventions in which Article 47 specifies that mercenaries are civilians who "take a direct part in the hostilities" and are "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain."[45] (The Protocol makes no distinction between defensive and offensive actions, but the U.S. does make such a distinction, in that it does not regard defensive actions by security guards to be combat)[46]

Iraqi reaction

Unlike many deaths blamed on foreign contractors, this shooting took place in downtown Baghdad, an area with dozens of witnesses.[citation needed] "We see the security firms ... doing whatever they want in the streets. They beat citizens and scorn them", Baghdad resident Halim Mashkoor told AP Television News. He asked, "if such a thing happened in America or Britain, would the American president or American citizens accept it?"[32] Hasan Jaber Salman, a lawyer who was one of the wounded, said that "no one did anything to provoke Blackwater" and that "as we turned back they opened fire at all cars from behind"[47] An Iraqi police officer who was directing traffic at the scene said Blackwater guards "became the terrorists" when they opened fire on civilians unprovoked, while a businessman said he wasn't seeking compensation but only "the truth" from the guards.[48] After a group of Iraqi ministers backed the Iraqi Interior Ministry's decision to shut down Blackwater USA's operations in Iraq,[17] Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called on the U.S. government to end its contract with Blackwater[26] and called on Blackwater to pay the families $8 million in compensation.[49]

Reaction from Arab world

A U.S. judge's decision to dismiss all charges against Blackwater on January 1, 2010, sparked outrage in the Arab world.[50]

Actions against contractors

On September 24, 2007, the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior announced it would file criminal charges against the Blackwater staff involved in the shooting, although it is unclear how some of them will be brought to trial.[24] A senior aide to al-Maliki said that three of the Blackwater guards were Iraqis and could be subject to prosecution. The aide also said that the Iraqi government was pushing for an apology, compensation for victims or their families and for the guards involved in the shooting to be held "accountable."[27]

US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates testified before Congress that the Pentagon has sufficient legal authority to control its contractors, but that commanders lack sufficient "means and resources" to exercise adequate oversight.[2]

On October 4, 2007 the US House passed a bill that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act[51] and thus prosecution by U.S. courts.[28] Senate Democratic leaders have said they plan to pass similar legislation as soon as possible.[28]

On December 31, 2009, a U.S. district judge dismissed all the manslaughter charges because the case against the Blackwater guards had been improperly built on testimony given in exchange for immunity.[8] Military expert Jim Hanson opined that the shootout “was a horrible tragedy and innocents were killed, but it was not a crime.” Although U.S. and Iraqi government investigations had “claimed there was no justification for deadly force,” they had overlooked “clear and compelling proof that the guards opened fire because of a perceived threat and continued in response to incoming fire at the convoy.”[16]

Further court action

On October 11, 2007, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed suit against Blackwater USA under the Alien Tort Claims Act on behalf of an injured Iraqi and the families of three of the seventeen Iraqis who were killed by Blackwater employees during a September 16, 2007 shooting incident.[49]

The Justice Department was originally not expected to bring criminal charges against the corporation, but in December 2008, it announced that it was filing complaints against five of the Blackwater employees, and ordered them to surrender to the FBI. Charged with manslaughter were Donald Ball, a former Marine from West Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard, a former Marine from Knoxville, Tennessee; Evan Liberty, a former Marine from Rochester, New Hampshire; Nick Slatten, a former Army sergeant from Sparta, Tennessee, and Paul Slough, an Army veteran from Keller, Texas.[52] A sixth Blackwater guard, Jeremy Ridgeway of California, struck a deal with prosecutors, turned on his former colleagues, and pleaded guilty to one count each of manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and aiding and abetting.[52]

The trial was set for early 2010,[53] but the charges were dismissed by District Judge Ricardo Urbina, who ruled that the Justice Department had mishandled evidence and violated the guards' constitutional rights.[54] The disputed evidence included statements the guards were compelled to give to state department investigators: As these statements would have been self-incriminating, they were therefore protected under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. "Prosecutors should therefore have built their case against the men without them", a BBC report explained.[55]

The district court found that the government had mishandled the case by using tainted statements the guards provided in the initial investigation.[56] The official court document explained that “the government failed to establish that the Iraqi witnesses it presented to the second grand jury were not in any way influenced by their previous exposure to the defendants’ compelled statements. This evidentiary use of tainted information constitutes yet another Kastigar violation.” [57]

On 22 April 2011 a federal appeals-court panel revived the Justice Department's prosecution of the former Blackwater Worldwide guards accused. A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found "systemic" errors in the district court's 2009 decision to dismiss charges against the five former Blackwater guards. [58] On 5 June 2012 the US Supreme Court declined to review the Appeal Court ruling, allowing the trial to proceed.[59]

See also

References

  1. ^ Johnston, David (2007-11-14). "F.B.I. Says Guards Killed 14 Iraqis Without Cause". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-11-30. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b Pentagon Dispatches Investigators to Iraq to Probe Private Security Contractors
  3. ^ U.S., Iraq to probe firefight involving Blackwater
  4. ^ a b c Blackwater faulted by U.S. military: report
  5. ^ Iraq determined to rein in private security guards
  6. ^ Johnston, David; Broder, John M. (2007-11-14). "F.B.I. Says Guards Killed 14 Iraqis Without Cause". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  7. ^ FBI Opens Probe Into Blackwater
  8. ^ a b Pelton, Robert Young. "An American Commando in Exile". Men's Journal. Men's Journal. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  9. ^ Baker, Mike (2011-04-01). "APNewsBreak: Blackwater founder questions FBI work". The Boston Globe.
  10. ^ http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/06/2904465/blackwater-settles-with-families.html
  11. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/05/blackwater-guards-lose-appeal-iraq-shooting
  12. ^ 5 Witnesses Insist Iraqis Didn't Fire On Guards: State Dept. to Study System for Security By Sudarsan Raghavan and Karen DeYoung, Washington Post September 29, 2007; Page A01
  13. ^ a b c Johnston, David; Broder, John M. (2007-11-14). "F.B.I. Says Guards Killed 14 Iraqis Without Cause". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  14. ^ Tavernise, Sabrina (2007-09-19). "Iraqi Report Says Blackwater Guards Fired First". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-03. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ A New York Times graphic of the events that took place, according to the Iraqi investigation.
  16. ^ a b c Hanson, Jim. "The end of the warrior witch hunt". The Washington Times. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  17. ^ a b c d e CNN http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/09/18/blackwater.iraq/index.html. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) [dead link]
  18. ^ a b Hanner, Darren (2007-09-16). "SAF Attack on COM Team" (PDF). U.S. Embassy Baghdad. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
  19. ^ a b Zagorin, Adam (2007-09-17). "Iraq Limits Blackwater's Operations". TIME. Retrieved 2007-10-03. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ Glanz, James; Rubin, Alissa J. (2007-10-03). "From Errand to Fatal Shot to Hail of Fire to 17 Deaths". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  21. ^ Partlow, Joshua (2007-09-17). "State Dept. Convoy Attacked in Baghdad, Sparking a Shootout". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
  22. ^ Glanz, James (2007-09-28). "Blackwater Shooting Scene Was Chaotic". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-08. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ a b Will Iraq Kick Out Blackwater? by Adam Zagorin & Brian Bennett, Time, September 17, 2007: "A spokesman for Iraq's Interior Ministry has told reporters it has cancelled Blackwater's license and will launch an investigation into whether excessive force was used in the incident.
  24. ^ a b c d Iraq: Blackwater staff to face charges
  25. ^ a b Blackwater Denies Any Wrongdoing in Shooting Incident
  26. ^ a b Iraqi leader urges U.S. to cancel Blackwater contract
  27. ^ a b Iraqi Investigators say Videotape Shows Blackwater Guards Fired Without Aggravation
  28. ^ a b c d House Passes Bill That Would Hike Penalties for U.S. Security Contractors in Iraq
  29. ^ Blackwater Ban "Inevitable" by Noah Shachtman, Wired Blog, September 17, 2007.
  30. ^ Private Security Company Association of Iraq, list retrieved, September 17, 2007.
  31. ^ Blackwater: Banned in Iraq? (Updated), Wired Blog, Sharon Weinberger.
  32. ^ a b U.S. Bans Travel of Officials Outside of Green Zone
  33. ^ New York Times, No Pact for Blackwater, January 31, 2009, p. 12.
  34. ^ Blackwater security firm banned from Iraq
  35. ^ "FBI takes lead in probe over Blackwater crisis". AFP. 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
  36. ^ Blackwater most often shoots first, congressional report says
  37. ^ Report: Blackwater Killings Unjustified
  38. ^ http://abcnews.go.com/images/Blotter/Gunner_blackwater_abcnews_071114.pdf
  39. ^ Nizza, Mike (2007-11-14). "The Blackwater Gunner's Account". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  40. ^ a b c d e Thompson, Ginger (2008-01-19). "From Texas to Iraq, and Center of Blackwater Case". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  41. ^ "News Briefs". Kentucky.com. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  42. ^ Apuzzo, Matt, No forensic match for ammo in Blackwater shooting, Associated Press, 1 April 2009
  43. ^ http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jaBAqI3aMzPCsVroMB60O7uU_Pyw?docId=951ee95178d8412aa12868866fe23bfb
  44. ^ Higgins Alexander G.US rejects UN mercenary report USA Today, October 17, 2007 (syndicated article by Associated Press)
  45. ^ Milliard, Todd S.; Overcoming post-colonial myopia: A call to recognize and regulate private military companies(PDF), in Military Law Review Vol 173, June 2003. At the time of publication Major Milliard was a Judge Advocate in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Army. pp. 35–37
  46. ^ Higgins Alexander G.US rejects UN mercenary report USA Today, October 17, 2007 (syndicated article by Associated Press) "A spokesman for the U.S. Mission to U.N. offices in Geneva released a statement Wednesday 'The security guards working for U.S. government contractors in Iraq and elsewhere protect clearly defined United States government areas, and their work is defensive in nature'"
  47. ^ Wounded Iraqis: 'No one did anything' to provoke Blackwater
  48. ^ Blackwater incident witness: 'It was hell'
  49. ^ a b "Family Members of Slain Iraqis Sue Blackwater USA for Deadly Baghdad Shooting." Democracy Now!. 2007-10-11. Retrieved on 2007-10-11
  50. ^ Kayhan, Islamic Republic of Iran "Blackwater Verdict a U.S. 'Snub' of Iraqi Leader Nouri al-Maliki"
  51. ^ "White House: Contractor bill would have 'intolerable' effects". CNN. 2007-10-03. Archived from the original on 2010-01-10.
  52. ^ a b Jordan, Lara Jakes (8 December 2008). "5 Blackwater guards face manslaughter charges". Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved 9 December 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  53. ^ Vicini, James (2009-01-06). "US judge sets trial in 2010 for Blackwater guards". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
  54. ^ Pickler, Nedra. "Appeals court revives Blackwater shooting case". The Washington Times. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  55. ^ "US judge dismisses charges in Blackwater Iraq killings". BBC News website. 31 12 09. Retrieved August 23, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  56. ^ Perez, Evan (2011-04-22). "Appeals Court Revives Blackwater Case". The Wall Street Journal.
  57. ^ "United States of America v. Paul A. Slough et. al". United States District Court for the District of Columbia. p. 74. Retrieved November 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  58. ^ "Appeals Court Revives Case Against Blackwater Guards". New York Times website. 22 04 11. Retrieved June 07, 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  59. ^ "Blackwater guards lose bid to appeal charges in Iraqi civilian shooting case". The Guardian website. 05 06 12. Retrieved June 07, 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)

External links

Press reports

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