Daily Nonsense

Defense Lawyers for the Blackwater 5 had thought to influence justice by having their clients surrender in Utah.  A state that traditionally supports the military, the lawyers for the defense hoped to find a sympathetic jury there.

Those hopes were squashed like bugs underfoot when a federal judge there ordered the defendants to report to a District of Columbia courthouse on January 6th of next year.  Considering the likelihood that this will be a high profile case that is sure to set precedent, I can only applaud the judge’s decision to move venue to the capitol.

Of course, the larger issues remain.  Will the corporation itself and the legislators who approved the no-bid contract which allowed Blackwater to be in Iraq in the first place ever be called to task?  Probably not in this lifetime, but Karma is a bitch and we will certainly hope for justice.

 

Judge: Blackwater guards must report to DC court

Staff and agencies
08 December, 2008

Blackwater charges: 14 counts of manslaughter

The shooting by the largest U.S. security contractor in Iraq sparked international condemnation, launched congressional hearings and inspired anti-American insurgent propaganda.

A sixth Blackwater guard struck a deal with prosecutors, turned on his former colleagues, and pleaded guilty to killing one Iraqi and wounding another.

Prosecutors said the slain included young children, women, people fleeing in cars and a man whose arms were raised in surrender as he was shot in the chest.

Blackwater, which was not charged in the case, maintains its guards were protecting themselves from what they believed was an imminent car bomb attack.

In all, 17 Iraqis were killed in the assault. But Assistant Attorney General Patrick Rowan said evidence in the case could only prove the guards shot 14, although he left open the possibility of future charges.

The guards are Donald Ball, a former Marine from West Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard, a former Marine from Knoxville, Tenn.; Evan Liberty, a former Marine from Rochester, N.H.; Nick Slatten, a former Army sergeant from Sparta, Tenn., and Paul Slough, an Army veteran from Keller, Texas.

The sixth guard, who is cooperating with the government, is Jeremy Ridgeway of California. He pleaded guilty to one count each of manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and aiding and abetting. In his plea agreement with prosecutors, Ridgeway admitted there was no threat from a white Kia sedan whose driver, a medical student, was killed and his mother, in the front passenger seat, was injured.

Following a car bombing elsewhere in the city, the heavily armed Blackwater convoy sought to shut down an intersection. Prosecutors said the convoy, known by the call sign Raven 23, had violated an order not to leave the U.S.-controlled Green Zone.

Khalid Ibrahim, a 40-year-old electrician who said his father, Ibrahim Abid, 78, died in the shooting, welcomed the charges.

"The killers must pay for their crime against innocent civilians, Ibrahim said in Iraq. "Justice must be achieved so that we can have rest from the agony we are living in. We know that the conviction of the people behind the shooting will not bring my father to life, but we will have peace in our minds and hearts."

But the drama is far from over. After more than a year of investigative missteps and fierce debate, the Justice Department now faces stiff challenges to the evidence and legal grounds at the heart of its case.

Most importantly, prosecutors must prove they did not rely on protected statements the guards gave to State Department investigators within hours of the shootings.

The State Department gave limited immunity to all the guards in the four-car convoy, promising not to prosecute them based on the initial statements recounting how the violence began. The move left Justice Department and FBI investigators with a crime scene long gone cold and with limited forensic evidence to bolster their case.

"We fully expect that the defendants will raise the issue," Rowan said. "We‘ve been very careful and very painstaking in the way we have investigated this case, the way we have assembled evidence. And we fully expect to prevail when the court hears that issue."

Defense attorneys also will argue that the guards cannot be charged under a law intended to cover soldiers and military contractors since the men worked as civilian contractors for the State Department. Rowan, however, said Blackwater was supporting the military‘s mission in Baghdad and the law therefore applies to them.

It is the first time prosecutors have used that argument to prosecute contractors. The Justice Department recently lost a somewhat similar case against former Marine Jose Luis Nazario Jr., who was charged in Riverside, Calif., with killing four unarmed Iraqi detainees.

The Moyock, N.C.-based Blackwater said it stands behind the guards despite being "extremely disappointed and surprised" that one had pleaded guilty.

[Thanks, News One]

Remember those 17 Iraqi civilians murdered by member of the ‘elite’ security force, Blackwater?  On September 16th, 2007, a firefight (if the strafing of civilians with automatic weapons can be considered a firefight!) in Nisour Square left 17 civilians dead, 14 of whom the FBI has determined were unjustifiable.

Well, the 5 Blackwater murderers implicated in that heinous crime have agreed to surrender to US authorities in their home state of Utah. Specific charges against the murderous crew will be made public today.  Eye-witnesses are expected to testify that the killings were unprovoked.

Some of my original posts:

• Blackwater: Murderer, confession revealed.

• FBI Confirms: Blackwater Employees are Murderers

• Blackwater: Murderer, confession revealed.

Blackwater guards ‘to surrender’

Five employees of the US security firm Blackwater charged over the 2007 fatal shooting of 17 Iraqis will surrender to US federal authorities, reports say.

Contracted to defend US diplomats, the firm says its guards acted in self-defence when they opened fire when ambushed by Baghdad insurgents.

Details of the charges are expected to be made public on Monday, with reports saying the men will surrender in Utah.

The Iraqi government has welcomed the move to hold "criminals accountable".

The killings have become a central issue in Iraq’s relationship with the US and raised questions about the oversight of US contractors operating in war zones.

Witnesses and family members maintain the shooting on 16 September 2007 was unprovoked.

‘Politically motivated’

Although the indictment was made in Washington, the Associated Press reported that the men would surrender to federal marshals in Utah, the home state of one of the five guards, Donald Ball.

That way the men could argue that the case should be heard in Utah, considered more conservative and pro-gun than Washington, AP said.

"Donald Ball committed no crime," said his lawyer, Steven McCool. "We are confident that any jury will see this for what it is: a politically motivated prosecution to appease the Iraqi government."

Defence lawyers are expected to file a series of challenges before the guards can even go to trial.

While the exact charges remain unclear, the US justice department has been considering manslaughter and assault charges against the guards for weeks.

The New York Times has previously reported that an FBI investigation had concluded that 14 of the deaths at the busy Baghdad intersection were unjustified.

Young children were among the victims.

As well as Mr Ball, the other men indicted are Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nick Slatten and Paul Slough.

A sixth Blackwater employee is negotiating a plea deal in return for testifying against his colleagues, AP reported, adding that the indicted men are decorated military veterans.

Contractor conditions

The problem of private armed guards in Iraq remains unresolved, mainly because they continue to provide security for the many American and other foreign officials in the country.

US law is unclear on whether contractors can be charged in the US or anywhere else for crimes committed overseas.

In October 2007, the Iraqi government approved a draft law revoking the immunity from prosecution that private security contractors enjoyed under Iraqi law.

The US has since put in place new guidelines for security contractors.

Based at a vast ranch complex in North Carolina, Blackwater is one of the main private providers of security within Iraq, and its contract there was extended in April.

[Thanks, BBC News]

There appears to be a common theme to the reported killings attributed to Blackwater employees in Iraq.  The vast majority of those who died at the slimy hands of Blackwater employees were unarmed non-combatants.  This latest incident involved the cold-blooded murder of the New York Times’ dog who lived in their Iraqi compound.

The common thread here reminds me of a kid I knew in the 6th grade who used to get his thrills beating the shit out of 3rd graders.

New York Times in Iraq: "Blackwater shot our dog"
Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:05pm EST

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The U.S. embassy in Iraq is investigating another deadly shooting incident involving its Blackwater bodyguards — this time of the New York Times’s dog.

Staff at the newspaper’s Baghdad bureau said Blackwater bodyguards shot Hentish dead last week before a visit by a U.S. diplomat to the Times compound.

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said the dog had attacked one of Blackwater’s bomb-sniffer dogs while a security team was sweeping the compound for explosives.

"The K-9 handler made several unsuccessful attempts to get the dog to retreat, including placing himself between the dogs. When those efforts failed, the K-9 handler unfortunately was forced to use a pistol to protect the company’s K-9 and himself," she said in an e-mail to Reuters.

The U.S. embassy employs about 1,000 armed Blackwater staff to protect American diplomats in Baghdad.

The firm’s role became a serious issue in Iraqi-U.S. relations when its guards opened fire on a Baghdad street in September, killing 17 people. Blackwater says its employees acted lawfully in that incident, which is under investigation.

State Department investigators have made two follow-up visits to the Times compound to investigate the shooting of Hentish, correspondent Alissa Rubin said.

"They were very solicitous and I thought took the incident very seriously," Rubin said. "It’s not a dog that everyone’s close to in the compound.

"But it’s a dog that’s been around a long time. It lived its whole life there."

(Reporting by Peter Graff; editing by Robert Woodward)

[Thanks, Reuters]

When it comes to the shady, no-bid contracts, Blackwater is certainly a winner.  When it comes to putting projects out in a public forum, not only the company, but also their supporters get the big Screw You from John Q. Public.

The citizens of Potrero, California, a quiet little mountain town west of San Diego, have made their choice as clear as a summer sky.  They not only don’t want a huge Blackwater training facility built just outside of town, they don’t want city officials who support the plan!  Voting to recall all five members of an advisory planning board that endorsed the global security firm’s plan, Potrero citizens are using their democratic right to vote to say NO to Blackwater.  Well done, that’s what I say!

Calif. Town Rejects Blackwater Plan
By ALLISON HOFFMAN – 8 hours ago

POTRERO, Calif. (AP) — Residents balked at putting a Blackwater training camp near this sleepy mountain village, voting to recall all five members of an advisory planning board that endorsed the global security firm’s plan.

The results of a mail-in-ballot recall were announced early Wednesday, several hours after polls closed Tuesday night. The board members — Jerry Johnson, Mary Johnson, Gordon Hammers, Janet Wright and Thell Fowler — lost by wide margins.

Blackwater wanted to turn an 800-acre former chicken farm into a training camp for law enforcement officers. The facility would have included 11 firing ranges, a driving track and a helipad. But opposition to the plan intensified in September, after Blackwater guards were investigated in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad.

A call to a Blackwater spokesman early Wednesday was not immediately returned.

Final say over the project rests with the county board of supervisors, who won’t consider the plan until environmental impact reports have been completed.

The issue became so controversial here that it divided residents in this community of about 850 people. Supporters said Blackwater would bring development and turn Potrero into a middle-class town.

Opponents say the training center would increase noise and traffic, compromising the quiet country atmosphere of the area, set into scrub-covered mountains about 45 miles east of San Diego.

The proposed training camp site is remote and shielded by mountains, but it is also a short drive from downtown San Diego and its array of military bases and federal law-enforcement field offices — including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.

Since the Baghdad shootings, Blackwater says it is focusing on its training operations and trying to wean itself from overseas contracts.

[Thanks, AP]

One of the biggest issues in the Blackwater case has to do with accountability. Can Blackwater and it’s homicidal employees be held accountable for the atrocities committed in Iraq.

There is a large debate going on right now as the U.S. Justice Department tussles with the basic issue of if and how we can hold the employees and the company accountable for the cold blooded murders of those innocent civilians in Nisoor Square and the three guards taken down by cold, calculated sniper fire that originated ironically enough, from the roof of the Iraqi Justice Ministry.

If nothing else, this is the opportunity for our 81st US Attorney General, Mikey Mukasey, to shine and put behind him all of the negative press for both his office and the US in general. All he has to do is prosecute, ask for the death penalty and televise the executions.

NPR reports:

Justice Department Grapples with Blackwater Case

by Dina Temple-Raston

From the moment the Blackwater shooting scandal first broke, legal experts have debated whether U.S. civilian contractors can stand trial for crimes they are accused of committing in Iraq. Now the Justice Department is tasked with finding an American law that applies to the incident.

Details of the Blackwater shooting in September are achingly familiar by now. A convoy of Blackwater vehicles entered a Baghdad traffic circle on Sept. 16 and, a short time later, shots rang out.

Blackwater has said its guards began firing into oncoming cars in self-defense. A subsequent FBI inquiry reportedly determined that the shootout was unprovoked. What everyone agrees on is that 17 Iraqis died in the incident.

[Thanks, NPR]

A Federal grand Jury has started taking testimony this week in a civil suit against Blackwater.  The suit has been filed by family members of some of the 17 civilians brutally murdered in Nisoor Square this past September 16th.

Kenneth Kohl and Stephen Ponticiello, Justice Department national security prosecutors, both of whom are handling the Blackwater case, spent much of Tuesday afternoon in the grand jury room.  They were some of the first to be called to give testimony in what is sure to be an exciting and controversial suit.  Kudos to the families and lawyers who are pursuing this suit against Blackwater.

Lawsuit, Grand Jury Focus on Blackwater

By LARA JAKES JORDAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal grand jury investigating Blackwater Worldwide heard witnesses Tuesday as a private lawsuit accused the government contractor’s bodyguards of ignoring orders and abandoning their posts shortly before taking part in a Baghdad shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

Filed this week in U.S. District Court in Washington, the civil complaint also accuses North Carolina-based Blackwater of failing to give drug tests to its guards in Baghdad — even though an estimated one in four of them was using steroids or other "judgment altering substances."

A Blackwater spokeswoman said Tuesday its employees are banned from using steroids or other enhancement drugs but declined to comment on the other charges detailed in the 18-page lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of five Iraqis who were killed and two who were injured during the Sept. 16 shooting in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square. The shootings enraged the Iraqi government, and the Justice Department is investigating whether it can bring criminal charges in the case, even though the State Department promised limited immunity to the Blackwater guards.

[Thanks, Google & AP]

Apparently, the FBI has concluded it’s investigation into the September 16th slaying of 17 Iraqi civilians and has determined that 14 of the 17 were unjustified killings. I think that means that those people were gunned down, murdered, in cold blood.

This couldn’t come at a more auspicious time. I’m pretty sure that our new Attorney General, Mikey Mukasey, is looking for something to keep him busy at his new job. This looks like just the ticket. All he’s got to do is round up ‘turret gunner #3′ and his cronies, put them on trial and have them executed for war crimes. I know it sounds like a lot to do, but come on, he’s got 14 months….

FBI concludes 14 Blackwater killings unjustified

THE WASHINGTON POST

November 15, 2007

WASHINGTON – The FBI has concluded the Sept. 16 killing of 14 Iraqi civilians by Blackwater security contractors in Baghdad was unjustified under State Department rules for private guards, officials said yesterday.

The deaths of three other civilians in the same incident may have been within guidelines for the use of deadly force, they said. FBI investigators spent two weeks in Baghdad last month and have briefed prosecutors on their findings, but a formal “prosecutive memo” laying out key elements of the case has not been sent to the Justice Department, which will decide if legal proceedings should proceed.

[Thanks, Washington Post & Newsday]

Paul, the Blackwater employee responsible for the murders of 14 out of the 17 Iraqi civilian deaths on September 16th of this years has confessed. In an exclusive report by ABC News, the text of the statement (confession) made by ‘turret gunner #3′ otherwise known as Paul, has been made public.

The statement describes a scene much different from that reported by both the FBI and the Iraqi government. In particular, Paul describes small arms fire originating from a shack located 50 meters behind their position. Neither the FBI nor the Iraqi investigators can find any evidence to support this fanciful excuse for wantonly taking the lives of women and children. Download and read a copy of the statement from ABC here.

Now that we have evidence and a confession of homicidal wrongdoing, when can we expect the trial?

Exclusive: Blackwater Turret Gunner ‘Paul’: Why I Opened Fire in Baghdad

The Turret Gunner Says He Feared For His Life As He Opened Fire

By BRIAN ROSS
Nov. 14, 2007

A 29-year-old U.S. Army veteran hired by Blackwater last year is at the center of the investigation into the Sept. 16 shooting incident that killed at least 17 civilians, U.S. officials say.

Identified in government documents with a first name of “Paul,” he was the turret gunner on a Blackwater security detail that day and repeatedly fired at perceived enemy targets, including a bus, according to a sworn statement he gave to State Department investigators three days after the incident.

In the statement, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, “Paul” says he feared for his life when, as a turret gunner, he opened fire on multiple vehicles and individuals.

The FBI has concluded at least 14 of the deaths were unjustified, according to The New York Times, and the case is reportedly focusing on “turret gunner 3.”

[Thanks, ABCNews]

In a report by the FBI into the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians on September 16, 2007, 14 of the 17 deaths have been found to be unprovoked. Although the incident is still under investigation, certain findings have been forwarded on to the Justice Department for review.

Focused primarily on the actions of ’turret gunner #3’, the report describes how the unprovoked attack by the Blackwater ’guards’ resulted in the loss of 14 innocent Iraqi lives. With the controversy surrounding the legality of the supposed immunity granted the murderous clique, certain federal officials are having trouble envisioning a satisfactory prosecution of these cold-blooded killers.

This could be the first (and potentially biggest) issue faced by recently appointed Attorney General, Michael Mukasey. A confirmed Bush yes man, Mukasey brings no originality of thought or positive presence to the office. As our highest ranked law enforcement officer, Mukasey inspires thoughts of Beaufort T Justice rather than Walker, Texas Ranger.

These Blackwater employees do not need to be coddled nor protected. They need to be prosecuted and convicted as the murderous scum that they are. Aiding and abetting this kind of war crime can only reflect poorly upon our already beleaguered international reputation.

Reading List:

• Blackwater killed 14 Iraqis without cause: FBI report @ AFP via Google
• Too Many Shots @ Slate
• FBI: Blackwater Shootings Unjustified @ The Moderate Voice
• F.B.I. Says Guards Killed 14 Iraqis Without Cause @ The NY Times

The Democrats have introduced a bill in the House of Representatives which essentially pink slips Blackwater, DynCorp, and Triple Canopy. The bill, aptly named “Stop Outsourcing Security Act,” would essentially put those three companies out of business in Iraq.

It’s really too late to repair the damage Blackwater has inflicted on our national image. Snipers, silencers and inflated civilian casualties, Blackwater and Bush are neck and neck in making the Good Old US of A look like a bunch of murderous idiots. How have we let this situation reach this point?

Democrats’ New Bill Gives Blackwater, Contractors Six Months Notice In Iraq

November 9, 2007 01:26 PM

A group of House members and one Senator came together on Tuesday to introduce the “Stop Outsourcing Security Act,” a bill that will give pink slips to private security guards employed by contractors like Blackwater USA in Iraq and other settings.

“Our bill would essentially put private security contractors out of business in Iraq, Afghanistan and in war zones around the world,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) in a press release. “Private contracting companies have forfeited their right to represent the United States because their reckless actions have jeopardized our mission in Iraq, put our troops in harms way, and resulted in the unnecessary deaths of many innocent Iraqi civilians.”

[Thanks, HuffingtonPost]

Related Stories:

• New Law May Spell End To Iraq Contractors @ CBS News
• A bill to ban Blackwater … and save democracy? @ The Baltimore Sun

For Blackwater Worldwide, this could be the worst week ever. Facing growing criticism for their methods, practices and actions in Iraq, the private security team faces legislation that would ban them from Iraq.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill recently introduced a bill that would replace the hundreds of over-paid mercenaries with military or State Department guards. With support growing a similar bill was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont.

The controversy surrounding Blackwater and the September 16 murder of 17 Iraqi civilians has been augmented by the investigation of three Blackwater attributed sniper murders last February, the lawsuit that they are facing in Florida and the recent allegations of weapons smuggling .

Yep, Blackwater is having a tough week, and I couldn’t think of a nicer bunch of guys to wish it upon. Let’s just hope that all of these $1000.00 dollar a day mercenary soldiers have socked away enough of our tax dollars to afford good lawyers once they are put on trial in Iraq for war atrocities. I would hate to think they were not well represented in court.

Suggested Reading:

• How Blackwater Sniper Fire Felled 3 Iraqi Guards @ The Washington Post
• Blackwater case revealing @ The Denver Post
• A bill to ban Blackwater … and save democracy? @ The Swamp
• Blood, Tears, and Blackwater @ The Anchor

Well, it looks like Blackwater’s murderous orgy days might be coming to a close. The State Department might be losing control of their pet psychopaths with the stronger arm of the US military taking over. And I say, it’s about time.

There has been enough history of the crazy American ‘cowboy’ acting like an above the law asshole, we really shouldn’t have to put up with this kind of negative American publicity. It’s tough enough right now to hold our nation head up high what with the hurtin’ that George ‘Dumbya’ Bush has put on our image.

But I digress.

The US Military will take a harder stance with these homicidal maniacs and rein them in while ensuring that the diplomats stay alive. The article that follows is a pretty good outline of the problem and the solution:

Editorial: Right to curtail Blackwater

November 3, 2007

Putting private security firms in Iraq under U.S. military supervision is a long overdue measure that might control abusive behavior by armed guards in that chaotic war and ensure better coordination with military operations.

It took the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians by Blackwater Worldwide guards in Baghdad to persuade Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to reach an agreement with Defense Secretary Robert Gates this week, placing security convoys protecting U.S. diplomats under military control. It’s about time.

Until now, private security firms under State Department contract – Blackwater, Triple Canopy and DynCorp International – have acted without regard to the rules of engagement that govern the use of lethal force by U.S. troops.

They have failed to inform U.S. commanders of their movements, which often have interfered with military operations, and have operated in a sort of legal limbo, essentially unaccountable for their actions. They were granted immunity from Iraqi laws by earlier occupation authorities.

U.S. commanders have welcomed the change, which will involve the imposition of common rules of engagement in hostile situations, contractor training and, perhaps most critical, the monitoring of privately run convoys in combat zones.
The Iraqi cabinet has approved legislation that would end the immunity from prosecution under Iraqi laws that private security firms have enjoyed. But even if it’s approved by the Iraqi parliament, it is doubtful that in the chaos of the war and the dysfunction of that government, any such law would be applied successfully.

It’s equally unclear which U.S. civilian laws would apply to contractors in Iraq, or whether they might fall under U.S. military laws. Congress is considering legislation to fill the gap. Until then, it will be incumbent on U.S. commanders in Iraq to curtail egregious abuses by private guards.

[Thanks, Newsday.com]

Other Resources:

• Blackwater shouldn’t be beyond the law FROM OUR READERS @ the FreeP
• Blackwater does not belong in Iraq @ The Daily Herald

With these newest allegations of secretly exporting sound suppressors for weapons (most commonly known as a silencer), Blackwater isn’t able to silence the criticism of the press, the public or some of our lawmakers.

Why would a company engaged in what is supposed to be legal security contractor duties need to equip their murderous operatives with silencers?  I’m sure that once everyone at Blackwater agrees on the same story they’ll say something silly like needing a sniper for the protection of the Iraqi citizens diplomats they are paid to protect.

With the wolves nipping at their proverbial heels Blackwater looks like a company I’m sure many politicians wish they had never heard of.

I hope that the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) gets involved in this and rips Blackwater a new one.

Did Blackwater sneak silencers into Iraq?

Security firm under investigation for allegedly sidestepping export controls

By Aram Roston
Investigative producer
NBC News
updated 8:56 a.m. PT, Thurs., Nov. 1, 2007

WASHINGTON – Federal agents are investigating allegations that the Blackwater USA security firm illegally exported dozens of firearms sound suppressors — commonly known as silencers — to Iraq and other countries for use by company operatives, sources close to the investigation tell NBC News.

Investigators from various federal agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the State Department and the Commerce Department, are digging into the allegations that the company exported the silencers without getting necessary export approval, according to law enforcement sources, who spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity. The sources said the investigation is part of a broader examination of potential firearms and export violations.

Coincidentally, the company’s main responsibility in Iraq is protecting officials of the State Department, the agency that regulates exports of arms. The firm had more than $500 million in federal contracts in 2006.  (Click through for the rest of the article.)

[Thanks, MSNBC]

Additional Resources:

• Feds investigating Blackwater’s silencer exports @ thinkprogress.org
• Blackwater Sneaks Silencers Into Iraq @ alternet.org

As the beleaguered reputation of Blackwater comes under increasingly negative media scrutiny, the company is starting something new to try and save face. Public Relations!

Hiring an impressive variety of lawyers, lobbyists, press advisers as well as the PR firm of Burson-Marsteller, Blackwater will look to improve it’s reputation in the coming months. I’m curious how this approach might have helped Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Mohammad. A good PR firm and we Americans would have forgotten about all those DC snipings, right?

Maybe not, I think we’re all capable of recognizing aberrant behavior when we see it and the actions of sociopathic murders is kind of easy to spot. My question is why my government continues to allow these people the basic freedoms that they gunned out of those 17 civilians in Baghdad 7 weeks ago.

Blackwater Mounts a Defense With Top Washington Talent

By JOHN M. BRODER and JAMES RISEN

Published: November 1, 2007

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 — Blackwater Worldwide, its reputation in tatters and its lucrative government contracts in jeopardy, is mounting an aggressive legal, political and public relations counterstrike.

It has hired a bipartisan stable of big-name Washington lawyers, lobbyists and press advisers, including the public relations powerhouse Burson-Marsteller, which was brought in briefly, but at a critical moment, to help Blackwater’s chairman, Erik D. Prince, prepare for his first Congressional hearing.

Blackwater for a time retained Kenneth D. Starr, the former Whitewater independent counsel, and Fred F. Fielding, who is now the White House counsel, to help handle suits filed by the families of slain Blackwater employees.

Another outside public relations specialist, Mark Corallo, former chief spokesman for Attorney General John Ashcroft, quit working for Blackwater late last year because he said he was uncomfortable with what he termed some executives’ cowboy mentality.

Blackwater is pursuing a bold legal strategy, going so far in a North Carolina case as to seek a gag order on the lawyers for the families of four Blackwater employees killed in an ambush in Falluja in 2004. The company argues that the dead men had signed contracts that prohibited them from talking to the press about Blackwater and that this restriction extended to their lawyers and their estates even after death.

One of Blackwater’s Washington lawyers is Beth Nolan, who served as White House counsel for the last two years of the Clinton administration. (Ms. Nolan is leaving private practice at the end of November to become general counsel at George Washington University.) Another is Stephen M. Ryan, a top white-collar defense lawyer and former general counsel of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.

The company’s chief Washington lobbyist is Paul Behrends, who worked at the now-defunct Alexander Strategy Group, a Republican firm with close ties to the jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Mr. Behrends, who now works at C & M Capitolink, a Washington lobbying firm, declined to discuss his work for Blackwater, which has paid his company $300,000 since last year.

[Thanks, NYTimes]

It appears the the Iraqi governments decision to modify the laws which have enabled Blackwater employees to escape from prosecution for the war time (war-crime?) murders of 17 Iraqi civilians is causing a little bit of controversy. The question that will ultimately be answered here is whether or not the government that is currently in power in Iraq is a ‘real’ government or just a puppet government put in place by the Bush administration so they could effectively control the country and the oil.

With the US government still unsure as to the nature and level of immunity supposedly granted the Blackwater killers it’s time that the Iraqi government stood up for the rights of their citizens and against the oppressive and unfair occupation forces and took care of their own business. The real question is whether the US will allow them to start taking control of their destiny.

The morning LA Times has a good piece on the issue:

Justice in Iraq

Questionable offers of immunity to Blackwater guards may hinder a U.S. inquiry into the deaths of 17 Iraqis.

October 31, 2007

Conflicts of interest are bad. Private conflicts of interest that damage the national interest are inexcusable. And the news that State Department investigators — apparently acting without authority — promised immunity from prosecution to Blackwater USA contractors being interviewed about their role in the killings of 17 Iraqi civilians is nothing short of scandalous.

The Blackwater case is rightly viewed in Iraq as a test of national sovereignty. Either Iraq is a sovereign state that has the right to see that murders committed on its territory are prosecuted — no matter who the suspects work for — or it is an occupied nation subject to “victor’s justice.”

Washington has promised Baghdad a full and fair investigation of the September shootings, followed by prosecution, if warranted, of the contractors who opened fire. The contractors must be presumed innocent unless proved otherwise. But the appearance of fairness and the objectivity of the U.S. investigation have been badly compromised by the rogue grant of immunity to potential suspects by an arm of the State Department, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. That bureau appears to have such a close relationship with the politically well-connected Blackwater firm that it should never have been allowed to conduct an investigation in the first place. Now FBI investigators, who were called in to take over from Diplomatic Security two weeks after the shootings, complain that promises of immunity offered to at least four Blackwater employees will make prosecutions more difficult.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, demanded Tuesday that State Department officials appear on Friday to answer questions about the immunity grants. Congress should also begin investigating growing evidence of an overly cozy relationship between the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and Blackwater. It appears that the bureau hired the contractors, supervised their activities, allowed them to use deadly force, began to investigate the long-simmering allegations of excessive use of force only after the outcry over the September shootings, and then promised some contractors immunity without asking permission from the Justice Department. This behavior is more disturbing given reports that Blackwater has hired former State Department officials at high salaries, raising questions about whether the “revolving door” presented a conflict of interest for investigators. Certainly Blackwater seems to have unwarranted influence in Washington, as evidenced by the letter it procured from the State Department ordering it not to disclose information to Waxman’s committee. Who’s in charge here, the U.S. government or Blackwater?

The United States has held up its legal system as a model for the Iraqis to emulate. If the ill-conceived intertwining of public and private security functions in a war zone means that the U.S. cannot conduct a proper investigation or prosecution of contractors it licensed to kill, America’s vaunted justice will ring shamefully hollow.

In a move which brings to mind the old proverb ‘close-the-barn-door-after-the-horse-gets-out’, the Iraqi government has approved a draft law which will remove the ill-advised immunity that private security contractors (read Blackwater) currently enjoy.

With controversy surrounding the promise of immunity from prosecution supposedly granted to the guards after 17 Iraqi civilians were murdered in Baghdad just 6 weeks ago, the Iraqi courts might remain the last chance for justice. The State Department and the US Department of Justice are currently involved in a childish argument regarding who has the right to grant immunity to suspected murderers.

In this case it’s even more important that someone has the ability to prosecute since EVERY ONE OF THE SUSPECTS was offered immunity.

The BBC has the story:

Iraq to end contractor immunity

The Iraqi government has approved a draft law revoking the immunity from prosecution private security contractors enjoy under Iraqi law.

The law, which has been referred to parliament, would revoke an order set up after the US-led invasion in 2003.

The move comes six weeks after the fatal shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad by US firm Blackwater.

Earlier, reports said the US state department might have offered partial immunity to the guards involved.

The deals would protect the guards against prosecution for anything they might say in interviews as long as their statements were true.