blackwater mercenaries massacre

Prosecutors argued the men did not face hostile gunfire when they began shooting, and continued to shoot despite the lack of threats. "These are four innocent guys, and it is completely justified," Bill Coffield, a lawyer for Evan Liberty, told the AP. https://www.ournewearthnews.com/2022/03/04/massacre-in-ukraine-caught-on-camera-and-probably-still-unfolding-viewer-discretion-advised-please-pray/. Shots were fired everywhere. They are coming to defend freedom, defend life. He saw the man next to him run. It was as if someone had targeted the area in his SUV where a persons head would have been. [2] Reactions [ edit] Their bodies were beaten and burned, with their charred corpses then dragged through the city streets before being hanged over a bridge crossing the Euphrates River. They started out as a private security firm providing training support to law enforcement, the justice department, and military organizations and received their first contract from the United States government in 2000 after the bombing of the USS Cole. Four Blackwater operatives were found guilty one of murder in a 2007 Baghdad massacre. Blackwater and the Corporate Mercenaries who've - NationofChange 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. [77] "Prosecutors should therefore have built their case against the men without them", a BBC report explained. [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. Blackwater mercenary Nicholas Slatten sentenced to life in prison for He was shot while seated in a public bus. Nicholas Slatten, 35, was a former security guard at the private US military firm Blackwater and was based in Baghdad. [83], In September 2013, the charges against Ball were dropped. [I]f such a thing happened in America or Britain, would the American president or American citizens accept it? He was told that he had to go to a neurologic hospital on the other side of Baghdad. The Iraqi government and Iraqi police investigator Faris Saadi Abdul stated that the killings were unprovoked. [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. Thats what lawyers do in the United States: We fight for those who cant fight for themselves. Sequence of events triggering the Nisour Square massacre, Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, Private Security Company Association of Iraq, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security, Inspector General of the U.S. State Department, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, "U.S. Ali was the youngest of Blackwaters victims that day. The U.N. Human Rights Office says it's "deeply concerned" by the pardons. [43], 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. "The ministry believes that this decision did not take into account the seriousness of the crime committed and was inconsistent with the U.S. administration's declared commitment to the values of human rights, justice, and the rule of law, and regrettably ignores the dignity of the victims," it said. When he arrived at the hospital, it was a war zone. [41] Senate Democratic leaders said they planned to pass similar legislation as soon as possible. Iraqi traffic police initially tried to wave down the Blackwater men that there was no threat, but they too had to run for cover. 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. 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". Mohammed knew his sons injuries were fatal, but he had to try. Russias reluctant and delayed military intervention in Ukraine is fundamentally a war of power projection, a shot across the bow to perfidious former allies, the East European states, whove been joining the EU and NATO in droves since the break-up of Soviet Union in 1991, that the collective security of Eurasian nations is a shared responsibility, and NATOs eastward expansion along Russias western flank not only imperils the security of resurgent Russia but also compromises the balance of power in the multipolar world. [10][11] The next day, Blackwater Worldwide's license to operate in Iraq was temporarily revoked. Depicting a doomsday scenario in order to malign Russias calculated offensive in Ukraine to minimize collateral damage, mainstream reporting focused today on thefire that broke out [1] at Zaporizhzhia plant, one of Europes largest nuclear power plants situated 550 km southeast of Kyiv. Majid survived because he was on the passenger side of the car and was protected from most of the barrage of bullets. The civil lawsuit was filed as a wrongful death and personal injury suit against the men and companies responsible for my clients losses. [64], 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. A. A State Department employee who was walking into the department's Baghdad operations center on the day of the incident heard a radio call from the convoy: "Contact, contact, contact! Consider what the world of media would look like without The Intercept. Why Is Assange in Jail and Not Seymour Hersh? He was driving on flat tires and with a shattered windshield. 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. Prosecutors asserted the heavily armed Raven 23 Blackwater convoy launched an unprovoked attack using sniper fire, machine-guns and grenade launchers. Mohammed turned his bullet-riddled SUV around and drove back to the closest hospital only a few blocks behind him. Joining is simple and doesnt need to cost a lot: You can become a sustaining member for as little as $3 or $5 a month. I sued Blackwater, its founder Erik Prince, and the four men who were convicted of murder, manslaughter, or weapons charges in a civil lawsuit filed in North Carolina, the home of Blackwaters headquarters and training facility in Moyock. The Kia continued to roll forward after the driver was killed, according to an eyewitness, and Raven 23 continued to fire on it, killing the passenger (the driver's mother); eventually, the Kia was struck by a grenade and was incinerated. [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. This includes the right to see perpetrators serve punishments proportionate to the seriousness of their conduct. (Iraqi police) or any of the local security forces fired back at them", the official continued. They claimed they were fired on, but. 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. 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. He received poor treatment because his injuries were less life threatening, but he was left with a disfigured and useless arm. [40] The US House passed a bill, titled the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to prosecution by U.S. More than 3,000 troops remain in Iraq, according to defense officials, with a drawdown scheduled for January. Mohammed was thrilled when the U.S. entered Baghdad years earlier in 2003. The Blackwater mercenaries were among the most flagrant killers in Iraq but hardly unique. Blackwater Trial: What You Need to Know - NBC News Mohammed had not been shot. Nicky Woolf in New York. But when the shooting started, his life and the lives of his entire family changed forever. After selling Blackwater to a group of investors in 2010, Erik Prince, a former US Navy Seals officer and the swashbuckling founder of Blackwater, has founded another security company Frontier Services Group, registered at Hong Kong Stock Exchange, that advises and provides aviation and logistical solutions to Chinese oligarchs for the security of their lucrative business projects in Africa. On January 31, 2009, the U.S. State Department notified Blackwater that it would not be renewing its security contract with the company. courts. The bullets rained through the roofs of cars, taxis and buses, he says. Slatten, whom prosecutors said started the shooting, was sentenced to life in prison. [1][2][3] The killings outraged Iraqis and strained relations between Iraq and the United States. [3][84] Prosecutors stated they reached their decision after an "assessment of the admissible evidence against him". Donald Trump has pardoned the four contractors jailed over the killing of 14 civilians. Mohammed quickly got out of the car and saw blood inside the rear window. Notorious mercenaries convicted of massacre in Iraq pardoned by Trump Trump Pardons Blackwater Mercenaries, Ex- - Democracy Now! Following Russias intervention in Ukraine, Germany alone hasproudly bragged[4] of dispatching caches of 500 US-made surface-to-air Stinger missiles and 2,700 Soviet-era, shoulder-fired Strelamissiles to Ukraines conscript military. They beat citizens and scorn them. Then-Vice President Joe Biden held a press conference to tell the citizens of Iraq that they would not be abandoned. [54] He received an honorable discharge in 2002 and then enlisted in the Texas National Guard. [29] The banning was described by P. W. Singer, an expert on the private military industry, as "inevitable", given the US government's reliance on and lack of oversight of the private military industry in Iraq. Abraham Al Mafrage was a 70-year-old farmer and father of seven who was also shot in the head and died that day. "This incident motivated the Iraqi authorities to seek the withdrawal of American troops from the country. Trump's Blackwater Guard Pardons Cause Shock And Dismay : NPR The man that just spoken to him was dead. Former Blackwater guards sentenced for massacre of unarmed Iraqi It wasnt. Machine gunfire would cause his lifeless body to shake in his pool of blood. In this 2007 video, witnesses shed light on the killing of 17 Iraqis by American contractors in Baghdad.Read the article here: http://nyti.ms/1u1cNzySubscrib. "I am overwhelmed with emotion at this fantastic news.". Blackwater was founded by ex-Navy SEAL Erik Prince in 1997 as a shooting range and military training ground in Moyock, North Carolina. Blackwater Mercenaries Sentenced for 2007 Iraq Massacre Nassar Hamza was 67 years old when he was shot and wounded in the arm. Five independent UN experts condemned United States President Donald Trump's pardoning of private security contractors, convicted in 2015 for war crimes in Iraq, on Wednesday. Thats all it takes to support the journalism you rely on. When the first indictments were dismissed on New Years Eve in 2009, they were told that the prosecutions would continue. As he was leaving, his youngest son, who was affectionately given the nickname Alawi, asked to go with his father. The fire has since been extinguished after the plant was captured by Russian troops and no radiation leakage has been detected. 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. The ones who were killed on the street were shot running for their lives. Rather than mitigating the suffering of Ukraines disenfranchised masses held hostage by the Zelensky regime, the self-styled champions of human rights are doing all they can to lure Russia into their bear trap project, a term borrowed from the Soviet-Afghan War of the eighties when Western regimes used Pakistans security forces and generous funding from the oil-rich Gulf States for providing guerrilla warfare training and lethal weaponry to Afghan jihadists to bleed the security forces of former the Soviet Union in the protracted war. American troops invaded Iraq in 2003 and toppled Saddam Hussein's regime. Baghdad massacre: US court finds ex-Blackwater mercenary guilty of [93], On December 19, 2018, Slatten was found guilty of murder[94] and again was sentenced to life in prison on August 14, 2019. Trump's pardon of mercenaries guilty of massacre in Iraq leads to It was an honor to represent these victims and their families. 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. [19] A Blackwater spokeswoman responded to the findings by saying Blackwater "supports the stringent accountability of the industry. [29] Several sources have stated that the explosion was caused by a mortar round, though this is not reflected in the State Department's incident report. The Blackwater Shooting (2007) | The New York Times - YouTube That day changed my life forever. He had tried to run but was lying in a pool of blood killed by machine gunfire from the armored cars. The Blackwater guards appeared to have fired grenade launchers in addition to machine guns, according to the report. The Iraqi government ordered Blackwater to leave Iraq as soon as a joint Iraqi-U.S. committee finished drafting new guidelines on private contractors under the Iraqi-U.S. security agreement. Trump's pardon of Blackwater 'Four' highlights deep divisions over Iraq The pardons have reduced American talk of human rights to mere "slogans," he said, adding, "They prefer animals over humans, and then they talk about human rights, justice and humanity. Of the $10 billion humanitarian and military assistance for Ukraine announced by the Biden administration, the top brass of the Pentagon is reportedly making preparations for allocating a significant portion of the funds for providing military training and arms to almost a million refugees who have fled Ukraine following the war. It was chaotic. Ukraine War Anniversary: UN and China Work for Peace, Devilish Zelensky, Kiev Hid Its Dead Soldiers in the Ravines. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. AP To understand the carnage that happened on the streets that day, you need to hear it in Mohammeds words as he explained it to me. December 23, 2020 at 2:57 pm. The 14 victims killed by the Blackwater guards on trial were listed as Ahmed Haithem Ahmed Al Rubiay, Mahassin Mohssen Kadhum Al-Khazali, Osama Fadhil Abbas, Ali Mohammed Hafedh Abdul Razzaq, Mohamed Abbas Mahmoud, Qasim Mohamed Abbas Mahmoud, Saadi Ali Abbas Alkarkh, Mushtaq Karim Abd Al-Razzaq, Ghaniyah Hassan Ali, Ibrahim Abid Ayash, Hamoud Saeed Abttan, Uday Ismail Ibrahiem, Mahdi Sahib Nasir and Ali Khalil Abdul Hussein. "I think what that does is it sends the wrong message to the people of Iraq, who we told we were going to come in and protect, and to the rest of the world, that the pillars of justice upon which the United States is based on has a crack in it," he says. The traffic circle, Nisour Square, was only a block away from one of the main entrance gates to Baghdads Green Zone. Machine gunfire tore through his body. The American judiciary is fair and equitable. Prosecutors said the Blackwater convoy launched an unprovoked attack using sniper fire, machine guns and grenade launchers. My clients assuredly feel ignored, mistreated, and used. The September 16, 2007 shootings by Blackwater mercenaries left 14 Iraqis dead and wounded 18 others in Baghdad's Nisour Square. Mohammed met members of the U.S. Army on the streets and handed out candy and juice when he saw them. The Nisour Square massacre was the FBI's most comprehensive and expensive criminal investigation since 9/11. [63], A U.S. judge's decision to dismiss all charges against Blackwater on January 1, 2010, sparked outrage in the Arab world. [68][69], 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. NPR reports that sometime after the Al-Qaeda bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000, where 17 sailors were killed, Blackwater won a $46 million contract from the U.S government for "training sailors in counterterrorism." After the September 11th attacks, Blackwater expanded their security-related work . Trump's pardon of Blackwater contractors convicted of massacre greeted [28] TST 22 arrived at Nisour Square after Raven 23 had left; when TST 22 tried to withdraw, its route was blocked by Iraqi Army and Police vehicles. Witnesses described how the American men ambushed the civilians unprovoked, firing on Baghdad's Nisour Square with heavy gunfire and grenade launchers. Before embarking on the clandestine Kyiv visit, Erik Prince consulted with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Director National Intelligence Avril Haines, with whom his relationship goes a long way the back to the early nineties after she purchased a bar in Fells Point, Baltimore, which had been seized in a drug raid.

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