US mulls unusual tactic as Blackwater charges loom

US mulls unusual tactic as Blackwater charges loom

news.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON – Blackwater Worldwide guards involved in the deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting of Iraqi civilians could face mandatory 30-year prison sentences under an aggressive anti-drug law being considered as the Justice Department readies indictments, people close to the case said.

Charges could be announced as early as Monday for the shooting, which left 17 civilians dead and strained U.S. relations with the fledgling Iraqi government. Prosecutors have been reviewing a draft indictment and considering manslaughter and assault charges for weeks. A team of prosecutors returned to the grand jury room Thursday and called no witnesses.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I thought this case was all but dead, but as I can see it was that the prosecutors at the Justice Dept, where looking under what law they could charge him.

This guys are in trouble, although I can't see a jury here in the U.S. convicting this guys, at least it would send a message to this quasi mercenaries that they are not above the law.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Hey Bunch,

Why you think a jury won't convict?

Seems to me with all the atmosphere of war crimes and crimes against humanity, these guys will be convicted.

reply to post by jam321


It just that I have a hard time believing that a american jury would convict this guys. I know it has happen before in court martials, but those are different, a civilian jury I think would give this guys the benefit of the doubt any single day, or at least I think.

I hope I'm wrong though.

Why quasi-mercenaries? Because they are an American company?

Call them what they are. Mercenary services. Guns for hire.

Well, they need to hurry up and convict them so they can be pardoned before Bush leaves office.

reply to post by jam321


I don't see these convictions sticking, the law is not really applicable to this situation. It bodes poorly for the courts that laws are now so elastic that any prosecutor can basically retool a law to secure a conviction for any reason, especially one so blatantly political in nature. This is a very bad precedent for them to set, and will probably undermine this law's use in future cases.

Ok..Im sure the masses will make a half witted attempt to draw me into an argument which I will not do after I post my OPINION. First of all The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 is so ridiculous and Im sitting here laughing at the lawmakers for that feeble minded law. Second I will admit that if innocent lives were lost for no good reason then the individuals responsible for that bloodshed should be punished to the fullest extent of the law, However there is this little thing called war going on and the individuals that were assigned to that convoy have their orders and their mission which was to protect whoever was riding in that convoy, Most reports say that the convoy came under attack and the men then came under attck returned fire resulting in 17 deaths..Witnesses state it was unprovoked and the convoy never came under fire, I have a problem with that because some of these men whom I know on a personal basis work for Blackwater and could have very well been involved in this incident, I have served with them during their time and my time in the Army, These men are so highly trained and intelligent that I find it hard to believe that they would just open fire on innocent civilians unless they were enaged and their convoy was in harms way, we also dont know who they were protecting and who was in that convoy so we have a conflicting story and this is one case I would not want to be involved with. I think this situation sucks, I feel its time to yank everybody out of Iraq and return home. Im sorry to want to defend these men from Blackwater but some of those men I call friends and If they are found guilty then they deserved it and I will feel bad for them but even worse for the innocent lives that were taken and taken for no good reason but these guys know better and are trained to be professionals so there is something more to this and we probably wont ever know...






[edit on 4-12-2008 by cmd18B]

These guys are scapegoats.
Whoever told them to fire needs to be prosecuted.

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


But then on the other hand their is no applicable law that this guys could be prosecuted with.

OK!!! I have an idea, let the Iraqi courts handle it!! Why not since we have no applicables laws, let have the country in which the incident happen take care of it.

Now that I think about it, I think you have a point, maybe all this is just meant to try them but not get a conviction, but the government could still say that they try to do something about it.

reply to post by cmd18B


Not wanting to drag you in here, but its not a war.
The hostilities were announced over some years back.

So you know these particular individuals personally?
Youve spoken to them and are happy to reveal details of the incident while its still going on in a courthouse?
I dont believe that for a second.

We do agree, the troops and mercenaries need to come home asap,

Personally, I think this convoy was fired upon but a very minor assault. Maybe a pistol shot or a couple of ak rounds. We've seen ambushes and attacks, they usually happen with IEDS, multiple RPG's, and sustained machine gun fire, this particular incident was nothing. Maybe a kid with his daddies gun.

I believe these men opened fire on innocent people deliberatley after being fired upon. Let the Iraqi's deal out their own law, after all isnt that why we are there!

reply to post by Agit8dChop

Thanks for the reply chop..Its not my intention to fight with another member in here, I should clear up that I do know some individuals that work for Blackwater but I cannot be certain they were involved in this so I apoligize for a little confusion which I will edit my previous post....

Good call!


As many good mercenaries/soliders exist in Iraq, bad ones do to.
Ones who rape and murder for no reason.

Its rare you hear about it,
but this case stuck out in my mind, as an unfortunate few who just snapped and killed anyone around them.

Crappy this situation exists for them to be there in the first place, but it doesnt matter. Murders murder in my mind!

In combat, or when engaged, slow is dead. Therefore fast is good, and for those who would survive, fast rage rules. If it moves, you kill it. It so happens that innocents get killed in crossfires. Bad luck.

But if you're serious about living, in that environment where these clowns dress in civilian clothes, then there can be no prosecution. Start hanging the guys caught starting firefights while in civilian clothes. They are to blame for these "civilian" deaths.

No prosecution. These prosecutors are apparently bored and don't have enough work to do. Relocate them to LA or New York.