Blackwater guards surrender on 14 counts of manslaughter for roles in Iraq shooting.
Blackwater guards surrender on 14 counts of manslaughter for roles in Iraq shooting.
Five former Blackwater security guards surrendered to federal authorities today in Utah “over charges stemming from the 2007 shootings in Baghdad that killed 17 Iraqis.” Subsequently, the Justice Department unsealed a 35-count indictment charging the five former security guards “with voluntary manslaughter, attempt to commit manslaughter, and weapons violations.” From the Justice Department press release:
If convicted of the charges against them, the defendants face a potential maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment for each count of manslaughter, seven years of imprisonment for each count of attempt to commit manslaughter, and a mandatory minimum imprisonment of 30 years for the firearms count.
The charges represent the “first prosecution under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) to be filed against non-Defense Department private contractors.” A sixth guard “admitted in a plea deal to killing at least one Iraqi in the shooting.”
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SHOULDN’T THEY BE TRIED IN IRAQ?
December 8th, 2008 at 12:39 pmI guess they aren’t among those who were supposed to be greeted as liberators in Iraqnam?
December 8th, 2008 at 12:39 pmProbation and community service, anyone…?
December 8th, 2008 at 12:42 pmHere’s hoping the defense calls Donald Rumsfeld to the stand.
December 8th, 2008 at 12:45 pmPerhaps they can serve their sentences in Abu Gharaib (sp?) under the watchful eye of Iraqi guards.
December 8th, 2008 at 12:51 pmWhy are they being tried in America? Shouldn’t they be tried in Iraq?
December 8th, 2008 at 12:52 pmHang ‘em from the nearest bridge.
¶ AIO
December 8th, 2008 at 12:57 pmAnd who authorized them to kill whom ever they thought was a threat to them?
Preemptive strike??? Sounds familiar.
Trial in the USA so that they get off scott free???
Just like all the criminals in the Bush administration is going to do…get off scott free.
December 8th, 2008 at 12:59 pmTry them in a neutral venue! Iran?
December 8th, 2008 at 1:04 pmlock’em up!!
December 8th, 2008 at 1:09 pmThese men not only killed Iraqis but also American Soldiers too. Check the report of the shooting of Pat Tillman and you’ll see the fire came from hired contractors.
December 8th, 2008 at 1:14 pmSince when does mass murder pass for manslaughter? Watch for pardons for all atrocities committed under this administration. I’m guessing the only reason more pardons haven’t been announced is because the attorneys are busy trying to craft language that can’t be overturned.
Sickening criminals.
PEACE
December 8th, 2008 at 1:30 pmit’s the barrel, not the apples (although they should be prosecuted as well)
December 8th, 2008 at 1:31 pmRemember the story of Condi’s State Dept promissing immunity from prosecution to these Blackwater thugs? I wonder how that’s working out for them:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/29/AR2007102901266.html
December 8th, 2008 at 1:31 pmAnd now our government needs to send them back to Iraq to be tried by them. That’s where the crime was committed and those were Iraqi’s who were killed.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:01 pmWrong charge. It should be second degree murder: a killing caused by dangerous conduct and the offender’s obvious lack of concern for human life. Voluntary manslaughter is: commonly defined as an intentional killing in which the offender had no prior intent to kill, such as a killing that occurs in the “heat of passion.” The circumstances leading to the killing must be the kind that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed; otherwise, the killing may be charged as a first-degree or second-degree murder.
So are they claiming that these mercenaries were emotionally or mentally disturbed at the time of the killings? Seems to me that first definition of murder two fits much better.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:39 pmLooks like a new industry is forming: Denial as in the atrocious conduct of the U.S. in the middle east vs the modern revisionist denial of the holocaust.
December 8th, 2008 at 3:41 pm