The Blackwater guards were firing indiscriminately. "How are these criminals released after they killed 17 innocent people?" Mahde Shamke was 25 years old and driving a taxi to support his parents and siblings. [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 White House further stated that the Court of Appeals "ruled that additional evidence should have been presented at Mr Slatten's trial", and recently that prosecutors said "that the lead Iraqi investigator, who prosecutors relied heavily on to verify that there were no insurgent victims and to collect evidence, may have had ties to insurgent groups himself". "The civilians that were fired upon, they didn't have any weapons to fire back at them. The four armored vehicles drove away. That may be the overriding damage caused by these pardons. [33], Three Blackwater guards who witnessed the incident later said that they believed the shootings were unjustified. Three former employees of the US private military contractor once known as Blackwater were sentenced to 30 years in prison on Monday and a fourth received a life sentence . He was left with shrapnel in his body from the rocket launched grenade that was fired into his vehicle as he escaped. The Machiavellian plan of NATOs military strategists is to establish refugee settlements with the humanitarian assistance in the border regions of Ukraines neighboring countries Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria, and then provide guerrilla warfare training and lethal arms to all able-bodied men of military age in order to bleed Russias security forces in the protracted irregular warfare. Blackwater Trial: What You Need to Know - NBC News 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. When Mohammed looked to his right, the driver of the car next to him shouted that the soldiers had just shot into another car in front of them. Before Nord Stream Sabotage, VT RADIO: Exposing East Palestine Train Derailment Disaster with VTs Jack Heart, Dr. Fauci Admits COVID Shots Didnt Have A Chance Of Controlling The Pandemic, More Home Care Services Needed for Military Veterans, VA is Lying Facebook Group is Social Media Done Right, Pregnant Dog Found Starving to Death in Cage Needs Help to be Reunited With Marine Who Rescued Her, Healthy Eating Options More Accessible to Military Community through the Exchange, Israels Illegal Violent Occupation: When De-Escalate Means Ramp Up, Citizen Kane Rupert Murdoch Openly Admits Fox News is Complete Bullshit. Dickinson says that the victims' families are likely to feel let down and abandoned by the U.S. government. 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 massacre that sparked an international outcry over the use of mercenaries in war. The Untold Truth Of The Blackwater Massacre - Grunge [97], On December 22, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump granted full presidential pardons to Slatten, Slough, Liberty, and Heard. [19] The three justifiable killings were those of the two passengers in the white Kia sedan and an unidentified Iraqi nearby. A 20,000-strong mercenary army is being assembled in Poland. 15 years after US Blackwater mercenaries massacred civilians in Baghdad Scores of Iraqis injured in anti-government protests in Baghdad, Who will protect us?: Baghdad residents wait out fighting as city grinds to halt, Iraqi cleric tells loyalists to return to their homes after fighting in Baghdad, Deadly violence in Baghdad after leading cleric Moqtada al-Sadr says he is quitting politics, Shia factions mass in Baghdad raising fears of more unrest, Protesters storm Iraq parliament again amid unrest over Iran-backed groups, Iran may eventually get its way in protracted power struggle in Iraq, Hundreds of protesters storm Iraq parliament in support of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, Briton jailed in Iraq for smuggling antiquities to be freed, says lawyer. By signing up, I agree to receive emails from The Intercept and to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Consider what the world of media would look like without The Intercept. None of the bullets the lab had available could be matched to the rifles used by the guards. 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. Blackwater was founded by ex-Navy SEAL Erik Prince in 1997 as a shooting range and military training ground in Moyock, North Carolina. Because any state, particularly those pursuing socialist policies, that dares to challenge the Western monopoly over global trade and economic policies is internationally isolated and its national economy goes bankrupt over a period of time. Dark Truth Exposed: East Palestine Rail Disaster, BOAC 707 Sabotage, Why people should start business in Lithuania, Best Strategy To Play Online Baccarat Games, Effects of Incontinence in Various Areas of Life, Conversations from the porch Episode 19 with Jack Heart &, Covert Operations In Vietnam: The Incomplete History of US-Norway Collaboration. 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. [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. [41], On September 18, 2007, an Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman said Blackwater is "not allowed to operate anywhere in the Republic of Iraq". [42] A spokesman stated that the ban would last for the duration of the investigation, and that it would not be permanent. I represented the Kinani family and five other victims of the Blackwater guards who were convicted of killing at least 14 innocent Iraqi citizens that day and injured dozens more. Blackwater Mercenaries Sentenced for 2007 Iraq Massacre [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. Nicholas Slatten was sentenced to life in prison without parole after being convicted of murder, while Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard were convicted of manslaughter and weapons charges. [44] Blackwater's operations on behalf of the U.S. Department of State and the CIA may be unaffected by license revocation. Abraham Al Mafrage was a 70-year-old farmer and father of seven who was also shot in the head and died that day. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of the, at the best online prices at eBay! It was funded with millions that. My clients assuredly feel ignored, mistreated, and used. Erik Prince said that he didn't believe the FBI had fully investigated the sources of all the used bullets in Nisour Square, arguing that it would have been helpful if the defense had been in possession of a complete ballistics report. In his testimony, Prince noted that, "It seems the ballistics analysis was done to prove the guilt of the Americans, not to just try to identify what happened there." When the first indictments were dismissed on New Years Eve in 2009, they were told that the prosecutions would continue. Being so close to the Green Zone, he thought someone important might be entering or leaving the area. Depicting a doomsday scenario in order to malign Russias calculated offensive in Ukraine to minimize collateral damage, mainstream reporting focused today on thefire that broke out [1] at Zaporizhzhia plant, one of Europes largest nuclear power plants situated 550 km southeast of Kyiv. Majid Al Kareem was 51 years old when he was shot. Before VT Nuclear Education: The Beirut Nuclear Coverup, The Hidden History of the Incredibly Evil Khazarian Mafia. The Nisour Square massacre was one of the lowest episodes of the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq. He was shot through the back with a massive exit wound in his chest. 'I hope she's scarred for life' Recalling my time as a Blackwater Erik Prince, chairman of the Prince Group, LLC and Blackwater USA, tesifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in 2007. pardon four Blackwater private security contractors, US announces troop withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan. Ali was the youngest of Blackwaters victims that day. Majid survived because he was on the passenger side of the car and was protected from most of the barrage of bullets. Trump Pardons Blackwater 4 for Nisour Square Massacre in Iraq, because The Nisour Square massacre was the FBI's most comprehensive and expensive criminal investigation since 9/11. . In 2002, Blackwater received its first contract from the United States government. [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. President Donald Trump's decision to pardon four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of a massacre in Baghdad has been met with fury by the victims' families in Iraq. Defence lawyers argued their clients returned fire after being ambushed by Iraqi insurgents. Machine gunfire tore through his body. [17], Just before noon on September 16, 2007, a car bomb exploded near the Izdihar Compound where US and Iraqi officials were meeting,[20]:547 and a 19-man Blackwater Tactical Support Team (TST) consisting of a convoy of four trucks, answering to the call sign "Raven 23", took up positions on the south side of Nisour Square to secure an evacuation route for the US officials and another Blackwater team providing security for them. That notion has now been shown to be false, Dickinson says. The pardons could damage the United States' reputation abroad, as they undo the significance of the convictions, which had demonstrated that U.S. military contractors could be held accountable if they conducted criminal actions. It was his business partner who lay in the pool of blood and was repeatedly shot. Now justice has been undone by the stroke of a pen," Sarah Holewinski, the organization's Washington director, said in a statement. [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. Slatten, whom prosecutors said started the shooting, was sentenced to life in prison. If it is determined that one person was complicit in the wrongdoing, we would support accountability in that. Blackwater Guards Found Guilty in 2007 Iraq Killings [37], Henry Waxman, the chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which held hearings on the use of Private Security Contractors in February 2007, said his committee would hold hearings "to understand what has happened and the extent of the damage to U.S. security interests". Boslego also said the attack had a negative effect on our mission, [an] adverse effect It made our relationship with the Iraqis in general more strained.. Not a one! When Mohammed opened the door, his son fell toward him as his skull opened and a large part of Alis brain fell onto the pavement between his fathers feet. When he arrived at the hospital, it was a war zone. Private Military Companies: Blackwater - Silent Professionals 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. ", Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics, Jasem Mohammed Hashem, who was working as a police officer when he was shot in the head in the attack, was also disappointed by Trump's decision to free the men who, he said, "opened fire randomly at the citizens.". They left in 2011 but returned in 2014 after the Islamic State militant group overran large parts of the country. [37], Blackwater, which had been operating in Iraq without an Iraqi government license, applied for one after the incident, but the application was rejected by Iraqi officials in January 2009. As many as 504 children, women and older men were killed by a US infantry company, members of which also raped numerous women and girls. Trump's pardon of mercenaries guilty of massacre in Iraq leads to Before. He saw the man next to him run. 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. An Iraqi looks at a burned car in Nisour Square in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Yarmukh, on Sept. 24, 2007, eight days after Blackwater guards who were escorting U.S. Embassy officials opened fire there. [43], The Private Security Company Association of Iraq, in a document last updated on July 3, 2007, listed Blackwater as not having a license to operate in Iraq despite their attempts to apply for one. Slattern was sentenced to life and the others to 30 years in prison each. As shootings in the square were not uncommon, it is unclear whether the shells were from the shooting in question or from other incidents. They claimed they were fired on, but. Contractor Banned by Iraq Over Shootings", "F.B.I. Who would hold party elites accountable to the values they proclaim to have? "This was Baghdad's Bloody Sunday," Dickinson told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly on Wednesday.