Operatives emerged from the four vehicles and started opening fire on a perceived threat. His father may be the one man standing between Blackwater and total impunity. Subscribe 947. Somali Pirates in Intense Firefight With U.S. Maritime Security Operators, CQB Between Hamas & IDF During The Brutal Nahal Oz Tunnel Attack, Chaos of war. Members of Blackwater are petitioning the Supreme Court in an effort to find the justice that has eluded them. 1:03. Analyzes how nisour square shooting was the last straw for blackwater. If you found this article, please share it: Where we discuss economics, history, and everything in between. [66] Howard Krongard, who was appointed Inspector General of the U.S. State Department in 2005,[67] resigned in December 2007 after he was accused by the House Oversight Committee of improperly interfering with investigations into the Blackwater Baghdad shootings. Former Blackwater security guard, convicted of murder in 2014 for his role in the Nisour Square massacre. When the smoke cleared, 17 Iraqi civilians lay dead. Instead, they tried to help and protect Blackwater by cleaning up evidence in the square and promising the employees involved immunity for what they told State Department officials, which they didnt have the authority to do. The logs depicted "a hectic eight minutes in which the guards repeatedly reported incoming gunfire from insurgents and Iraqi police". In September 2007, Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard fired live ammunition and threw grenades into Nisour Square, a busy traffic roundabout in Baghdad, killing 14 . Brendt Christensen: 22127-026: Blackwater guards were also known for driving on the wrong side of the road and crashing into civilian cars. IE 11 is not supported. [95][96] Heard, Liberty, and Slough were resentenced on September 5, 2019 to terms approximately half the original 30-year periods. We are trying to do for the national security apparatus what FedEx did for the Postal Service. While they weren't the only private contractor to provide military security, the name Blackwater would soon be so notorious that the company would change their name. According to The New York Times, after the initial gunfire on the first car, the Blackwater guards "unleashed an overwhelming barrage of gunfire" onto Iraqi people who were trying to flee. After the September 11th attacks, Blackwater expanded their security-related work and followed the U.S. military into Afghanistan. This time, only four out of the five guards were charged, since the charges against Ball were dropped based on "prosecutorial discretion. What Really Happened in the 2008 Georgian War and Why it Matters The unprovoked murder of 17 unarmed civilians in 2007, including women and children, was a horror show that enraged Iraqis, even after years of violence following the U.S. invasion. "The civilians that were fired upon, they didn't have any weapons to fire back at them. TwoFeather - 268 Views. And Blackwater didn't make the investigation easy. [8][98] A White House statement said the men had a "long history of service to the nation" as veterans of the US Armed Forces, and that there was strong support for the pardons from the public and elected officials. Raven 23's commander Jimmy Watson reportedly made the "tactical decision" to go to Nisour Square and block traffic for an evacuation route. Meanwhile, the Blackwater guards continue to maintain that they "didn't shoot at anybody that wasn't shooting at me," as Liberty stated in an interview with the Associated Press. Russian security team lacks support in Iraq. [44] Blackwater's operations on behalf of the U.S. Department of State and the CIA may be unaffected by license revocation. Opines that the iraqi shooting by blackwater guards was unethical and impacted public impressions of all private security companies operating overseas. In events that are eerily similar to the horrific My Lai massacre of 1968, the Blackwater guards continued to fire at unarmed civilians. [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. As of 2021, their name is Academi after being taken over by an "unnamed group of private investors.". Just weeks before Blackwater guards fatally shot 17 civilians at Baghdad's Nisour Square in 2007, the State Department began investigating the security contractor's operations in Iraq. ft. B: 12 ft. x 10 ft. = 120 sq. However, as The New York Times reports, "not one witness heard or saw any gunfire coming from Iraqis around the square." May 9, 2015, 9:30 PM. I also love stand-up comedy! On September 16, 2007, a car bomb went off in Baghdad, Iraq, near the Izdihar Compound, where a U.S. diplomat was meeting with Iraqi officials, at approximately 11:53 AM. The committee was co-chaired by Abd al Qadir, the Iraqi Minister of Defense, and Patricia A. Butenis, the Charg d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. 3", is named Paul Slough. nitro2k. [37] A senior aide to al-Maliki said that three of the Blackwater guards were Iraqis and could be subject to prosecution. U.S. military reports appear to corroborate the Iraqi government's contention that Blackwater was at fault in the incident. 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. - Asser Institute (Decision Date: 31 December 2009)", "Ex-Blackwater Guards Face Renewed Charges", "Blackwater guards face new U.S. charges for Iraq shooting deaths", "Legal questions loom in Blackwater convictions", "Blackwater guards found guilty in Iraq shootings", "Emails Reveal Discord Over Blackwater Charges", "Ex-Blackwater Guards Sentenced to Long Prison Terms in 2007 Killings of Iraqi Civilians", "U.S. Appeals Court Tosses Ex-Blackwater Guard's Conviction in 2007 Baghdad Massacre", "Murder conviction in Blackwater case thrown out, other sentences overturned", "In Blackwater Case, Court Rejects a Murder Conviction and Voids 3 Sentences", Recent Case: D.C. [59] (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. When the guards got to the intersection at Nisour Square where the massacre took place, some of them got out of the trucks to stop traffic so the convoy could get through. [21][75] In the memorandum opinion, Judge Urbina ruled the cases against Slough, Liberty, Heard, Ball, and Slatten had been improperly built on testimony given in exchange for immunity;[76] that evidence included statements the guards had been compelled to give to State Department investigators, and as these statements would have been self-incriminating, they could not be used as evidence under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Of the 17 that lost their lives, two were children under the age of 12, with the youngest aged 9 years old. Slough was found guilty of one firearms offense, 17 counts of attempted manslaughter, and 13 counts of voluntary manslaughter. [49], An Interior Ministry spokesman said Iraqi authorities had completed their investigation into the shooting and concluded that Blackwater guards were responsible for the deaths. The BBC reports that during Slatten's second trial in 2018, a mistrial was declared after the jury deliberated for 16 days. [19] A Blackwater spokeswoman responded to the findings by saying Blackwater "supports the stringent accountability of the industry. However, according to "Blackwater" by Jeremy Scahill, the report was written by Darren Hanner, a Blackwater contractor. POV from Ukrainian tank during an offensive, Point blank kills: intense trench firefight caught on GoPro camera. (Iraqi police) or any of the local security forces fired back at them", the official continued. 3:48. And none of the I.P. In some instances, like in 2004 when Blackwater members were hired to locate and assassinate top Al-Qaeda operatives, they failed to capture or kill anyone. [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. In the span of 20 minutes, 17 Iraqi people were killed and another 24 were left wounded. NBC News reports that they repainted and repaired their trucks in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, despite the fact that the repairs "essentially destroyed evidence" that would've shown if Blackwater was facing hostile gunfire. But this was likely due to the fact that the U.S.Iraq Status of Forces Agreement, which took effect in 2009, ended contractor immunity. The Nisour Square massacre was one of the most publicized US crimes of the 8-year Iraq war. Around this time, another Blackwater team of 15 guards known as Raven 23 headed out of the International Zone to offer support, despite the fact that, according to United States v. Slough, they were given an order "not to leave the Green Zone [also known as International Zone]." [28] Nicholas Slatten was found guilty of first-degree murder, and Slough, Liberty and Heard were found guilty of voluntary and attempted manslaughter charges, and of using a machine gun to commit a violent crime. Convoy Attacked in Baghdad, Sparking a Shootout", "3 Blackwater Guards Called Baghdad Shootings Unjustified", "Blackwater Denies Any Wrongdoing in Shooting Incident (Update1)", "Iraqi leader urges U.S. to cancel Blackwater contract", "Iraqi Investigators say Videotape Shows Blackwater Guards Fired Without Aggravation", "House Passes Bill That Would Hike Penalties for U.S. Security Contractors in Iraq", "Private Security Company Association Iraq", "Iraqi Government Disputes Blackwater USA's Version of Shooting", "Iraq battle was self-defense, security firm says", "FBI takes lead in probe over Blackwater crisis", "Blackwater most often shoots first, congressional report says", "Report: Blackwater Killings Unjustified", "From Texas to Iraq, and Center of Blackwater Case", No forensic match for ammo in Blackwater shooting, "The Associated Press: APNewsBreak: Blackwater founder questions FBI work", "Overcoming post-colonial myopia: A call to recognize and regulate private military companie"s, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Army, "Wounded Iraqis: 'No one did anything' to provoke Blackwater", "Blackwater incident witness: 'It was hell', Family Members of Slain Iraqis Sue Blackwater USA for Deadly Baghdad Shooting, "Blackwater Verdict a U.S. 'Snub' of Iraqi Leader Nouri al-Maliki: Kayhan, Islamic Republic of Iran", "White House: Contractor bill would have 'intolerable' effects", "Blackwater settles Nisoor Square lawsuit", "5 Blackwater guards face manslaughter charges", "Blackwater Guard in Secret Deal to Testify in Massacre Case", "US judge sets trial in 2010 for Blackwater guards", "Appeals court revives Blackwater shooting case", "US judge dismisses charges in Blackwater Iraq killings", "Reopening of Blackwater Case Confuses Iraqi Victims", "Biden Says U.S. Will Appeal Blackwater Case Dismissal (Published 2010)", "ICD - Slough et al. [41] Senate Democratic leaders said they planned to pass similar legislation as soon as possible. Footage was nowhere to be found and many other things that would have justified the actions of Raven 23 after they were being fired upon by enemy forces. FCC Coleman is located in central Florida, . The Blackwater team also claimed that some of the "aggressors" were dressed like Iraqi Police as well as civilians. 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 the car towards the Blackwater TST. Subscribe 944. The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting (now Constellis), a private military company contracted by the US government to provide security services in Iraq, shot at Iraqi civilians, killing 17 and injuring 20 in Nisour Square, Baghdad, while escorting a U.S. embassy convoy. The military's report, which was completed within a month of the Nisour Square. More abstractly, though, Draper's volume angered me because it showed how Wolfowitz, Cheney, and others had abused the craft of intelligence that had comprised the better part of my military careerin Draper's words, as "a drunk . Erik Prince. Despite the reports and investigations that determined that the use of force was unjustified, the Blackwater guards maintain that they'd "never take an innocent life. Very easy. Ultimately, Blackwater repeatedly insisted that their guards "were fired upon and responded appropriately." Easy. Ali Khalaf Salman, a traffic cop who was there, recounted seeing an American shoot Ahmed. Within 10 days of the massacre, it appeared as though the State Department had already investigated the incident based on a report leaked to the media. Other times, Blackwater guards left a trail of civilian casualties. [21]:116, During opening arguments for a criminal trial held in 2014, defense lawyers representing former Blackwater members of Raven 23 argued the men felt the approaching Kia was a credible threat as a possible car bomb, and opened fire in self-defense. [54] He received an honorable discharge in 2002 and then enlisted in the Texas National Guard. The lawyer who represented families of the victims of the Nisour Square massacre shares their story. [56], On April 1, 2011, the Associated Press reported on Erik Prince's seven-hour testimony about what allegedly transpired. ft. = 141 sq. The incident led to at least five investigations and although the Blackwater guards repeatedly claimed that their actions were justified, several of them came to the opposite conclusion. Says Guards Killed 14 Iraqis Without Cause", "Blackwater guards lose bid to appeal charges in Iraqi civilian shooting case", "U.S. troops in Iraq will need immunity: U.S. chief", "Jurors' Note Hints at Conviction in Blackwater Case", "Former Blackwater Guards Convicted in Iraq Shooting", "Shock And Dismay After Trump Pardons Blackwater Guards Who Killed 14 Iraqi Civilians", "Trump Pardons Two Russia Inquiry Figures and Blackwater Guards", "Trump pardon of Blackwater Iraq contractors violates international law - UN", "Iraqi Inquiry Says Shooting Was Unprovoked", "Blackwater guards fired unprovoked: Iraq police evidence", "Pentagon Dispatches Investigators to Iraq to Probe Private Security Contractors", "Joint Iraqi-U.S. review begins in wake of Blackwater firefight", "Blackwater faulted by U.S. military: report", "Iraq determined to rein in private security guards", "The Iraqi Account of the Killings [infographic]", "Former Blackwater Employee Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Murder in 2007 Shooting at Nisur Square in Iraq", "US Lawyers for Blackwater Guards: 2007 Baghdad Shooting was Self-Defense", "From Errand to Fatal Shot to Hail of Fire to 17 Deaths", "Four Former Blackwater Employees Found Guilty of Charges in Fatal Nisur Square Shooting in Iraq", "Iraqi ministers back Blackwater shutdown - CNN.com", "Iraqi Report Says Blackwater Guards Fired First", "State Dept. As he slumped forward, his weight on the accelerator meant the car kept moving. The firearm offense carries a mandatory sentence of 30 years, the attempted manslaughter conviction carries a maximum sentence of 7 years, and the voluntary manslaughter conviction carried a maximum sentence of 15 years. They said the guards reacted lawfully to gunfire deliberately aimed at them. 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. Drawn from the ranks of the Navy SEALs, Delta Force, former "Anything that moved in Nusoor Square was shot. Two days after the meeting with Carroll, Richter and Thomas were told by an embassy official to "leave Iraq immediately.". [19] According to this account, the security team fired warning shots and then lethal fire at the Kia. 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