More were arriving in the backs of trucks. He was left with shrapnel in his body from the rocket launched grenade that was fired into his vehicle as he escaped. [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. After capturing Kherson yesterday, Russian forces even apprehended several suspicious and armed foreign nationals who are currently being interrogated by Russias military intelligence GRU. The Iraqi government condemned the pardons, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying in a statement late on Wednesday that it would follow up with the U.S. through diplomatic channels to urge a reconsideration. Rogers. Being so close to the Green Zone, he thought someone important might be entering or leaving the area. [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. 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. She turned the location into an exotic bookstore and caf, offering erotica readings, among other licentious pastimes. Spring flowers are planted in Nisour Square, the site of a deadly shootout by Blackwater private security contractors in 2007, in Baghdad on April 15, 2015. President Donald Trump pardoned four former Blackwater mercenaries on Tuesday who had been convicted for their role in the Nisour Square massacre that left 14 people dead in Baghdad in 2007. He saw the man next to him run. And afterward, Iraqi citizens wanted to ensure that those who had done this were held responsible. Mohammed had not been shot. [26][29], An Iraqi government account of the incident stated that as the convoy drew close to Nisour Square, a Kia sedan with a woman and her adult son in it was approaching the square from a distance, driving slowly on the wrong side of the road, and that the driver ignored a police officer's whistle to clear a path for the convoy. Its worth recalling that before the Biden-Putin summit at Geneva last June, Russia had a similar troop build-up along Ukraines borders. "How are. [99], Clemency caused outrage among Iraqi citizens and family members of the victims. "Paul Slough and his colleagues didn't deserve to spend one minute in prison," Brian Heberlig, a lawyer for Slough, told The Associated Press. [89][90][91] The panel also recommended that Slatten undergo a re-trial on the grounds that it was unjustifiable to try him with his co-defendants, and that he should have been tried separately. [54] He received an honorable discharge in 2002 and then enlisted in the Texas National Guard. [54] He enlisted in 1999, and served in Bosnia with the 3rd Infantry Division. [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. Everything was eerily quiet. Contractor Banned by Iraq Over Shootings", "F.B.I. On January 31, 2009, the U.S. State Department notified Blackwater that it would not be renewing its security contract with the company. A burnt car at the site where Blackwater guards opened fire on a crowd in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2007. The expense was to show the people of Iraq that the U.S. government would hold people accountable for their crimes, no matter when or where they were committed. 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. Four Blackwater operatives were found guilty one of murder in a 2007 Baghdad massacre. Who would be responsible for the myopic and vindictive policy of providing anti-aircraft munitions to Ukraines irregular militias once Kyiv falls and those MANPADS are found in black markets posing a grave risk to civilian airlines across the globe? [93], On December 19, 2018, Slatten was found guilty of murder[94] and again was sentenced to life in prison on August 14, 2019. He suffered from his wounds for over a year until he died from a brain injury. A caption at the bottom of the screen states . [I]f such a thing happened in America or Britain, would the American president or American citizens accept it? The Nisour Square massacre was the FBIs most comprehensive and expensive criminal investigation since 9/11. He was shot in the abdomen. That day changed my life forever. He was shot through the roof of his car as the Blackwater convoy drove past firing down into traffic. 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. The key people in this have not spoken with investigators. [23]:32 Shortly after assuming their positions, "Raven 23" began firing on civilians in response to an approaching car, killing fourteen and wounding twenty more. Before VT Nuclear Education: The Beirut Nuclear Coverup, The Hidden History of the Incredibly Evil Khazarian Mafia. [2] Reactions [ edit] The four guards Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slatten were part of an armoured convoy that opened fire indiscriminately with machine-guns, grenade launchers and a sniper on a crowd of unarmed people in a square in the Iraqi capital. Further, besides advising and assisting the UAEs petro-monarchy in strengthening the police state, Erik Prince alsoreportedly provided[3] weapons and modified aircraft to eastern Libyas warlord and former CIA asset Khalifa Haftar, backed by Egypt and UAE, in his thwarted military campaign against the Tripoli government lasting from April 2019 to June 2020. The hospital was too busy. 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. A federal district court judge sentenced four former Blackwater Worldwide mercenaries to lengthy prison terms on Monday for their role in the Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad, Iraq in 2007. The convictions made the victims feel that justice had been obtained. He was shot while seated in a public bus. Liberty is one of four former Blackwater mercenaries pardoned by President Donald Trump in one of . 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. [73], The trial was set for early 2010,[74] but the charges were dismissed by United States District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Ricardo Urbina on December 31, 2009, who ruled that the Justice Department had mishandled evidence and violated the guards' constitutional rights. [83], In September 2013, the charges against Ball were dropped. Bulk comes from private military companies of the Blackwater/Academi kind. Donald Trump has pardoned the four contractors jailed over the killing of 14 civilians. Mohammed met members of the U.S. Army on the streets and handed out candy and juice when he saw them. He never received treatment. He was shot through the back with a massive exit wound in his chest. Ali was the youngest of Blackwaters victims that day. 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. How is Eric Prince still breathing? He could not understand what was happening or why. [24] The driver of the Kia was shot once in the head by a Blackwater contractor and was killed. [56], On April 1, 2011, the Associated Press reported on Erik Prince's seven-hour testimony about what allegedly transpired. "[46] Hasan Jaber Salman, a lawyer who was one of the wounded, said that "no one did anything to provoke Blackwater" and that "as we turned back they opened fire at all cars from behind"[61] An Iraqi police officer who was directing traffic at the scene said Blackwater guards "became the terrorists" when they opened fire on civilians unprovoked, while a businessman said he wasn't seeking compensation but only "the truth" from the guards. They are coming to defend freedom, defend life. It wasnt. Nicky Woolf in New York. Despite having immense firepower at its disposal that could readily turn the tide in conflicts as protracted as Syrias proxy war, the Russian advance in Ukraine has been slower than expected according to most estimates because Russia is only targeting military infrastructure and doing all it can to minimize collateral damage, particularly needless civilian losses in the former Soviet republic whose majority population is sympathetic to Russia. Each step of the way, the U.S. legal system ensured that these men were given fair and just prosecutions. The State Department announced an American-Iraqi joint commission to investigate both the shooting and the broader issue of employing private security contractors. [6][85][86] Jurors sided with prosecutors' contention that the shooting was a criminal act, not a battlefield encounter gone wrong. [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. LONDON and BAGHDAD -- When news broke that Mohammed Kinani's son's killers, Blackwater private military contractors hired by the U.S. government in Baghdad, were pardoned Wednesday by President Trump, Kinani said it was like losing his 9-year-old boy all over again. RT has asked experts to share their thoughts on what the incident meant for Washington's Middle East policy and the likelihood of another tragedy like this. [63], A U.S. judge's decision to dismiss all charges against Blackwater on January 1, 2010, sparked outrage in the Arab world. Prosecutors said the Blackwater convoy launched an unprovoked attack using sniper fire, machine guns and grenade launchers. Mohammed forced a doctor to look at Ali. This includes the right to see perpetrators serve punishments proportionate to the seriousness of their conduct. Adela Sulimanis a London-based reporter for NBC News Digital. Mohammed quickly got out of the car and saw blood inside the rear window. [37][38] The incident caused Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to call on the U.S. government to end its contract with Blackwater USA,[39] and for the Iraqi government to push for an apology, compensation for victims or their families and for the guards involved in the shooting to be held "accountable". [44] Blackwater's operations on behalf of the U.S. Department of State and the CIA may be unaffected by license revocation. [87], On April 13, 2015, federal district judge Royce C. Lamberth sentenced Slatten to life in prison, while the other three guards were sentenced to 30 years in prison each. Iraqi traffic police initially tried to wave down the Blackwater men that there was no threat, but they too had to run for cover. He was driving on flat tires and with a shattered windshield. That changed yesterday with President Donald Trumps pardons. [36] Several Iraqi and American investigations have been conducted into the incident. What Is Blackwater? This is not for the faint of heart but allegedly a video from the Ukraine conflict at a check-point at Mariupol which is surrounded by Russian troops. Slatten faced a potential sentence of life in prison. The Nisour Square massacre was the FBI's most comprehensive and expensive criminal investigation since 9/11. [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. American troops invaded Iraq in 2003 and toppled Saddam Hussein's regime. 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. Prosecutors argued the men did not face hostile gunfire when they began shooting, and continued to shoot despite the lack of threats. Blackwater mercenaries in helicopters also fired into traffic from overhead. About the author:Nauman Sadiq is an Islamabad-based geopolitical and national security analyst focused on geostrategic affairs and hybrid warfare in the Af-Pak and the Middle East regions. The Blackwater guards were firing indiscriminately. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq increasingly relied on private contractors, Blackwater being only the most infamous. The Nisour Square Massacre, in which Blackwater mercenaries fired hundreds of rounds in a crowded Baghdad traffic square, killing fourteen Iraqis, including ten women and two children, and . By Andrew Emett - August 16, 2019 1269 SOURCE NationofChange [34], In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, Blackwater's rights to conduct work in Iraq were temporarily suspended. 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. [36], On September 19, as a result of the incident, the United States temporarily suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.
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