This is an evil out-of-control mercenary company that deals in death for cash and has no socially redeeming functions.
Five Blackwater guards charged
Security workers indicted in 2007 shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead
Five Blackwater Worldwide security guards have been indicted and a sixth was negotiating a plea with prosecutors for a 2007 shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead and became an anti-American rallying cry for insurgents, people close to the case said Friday.
Prosecutors obtained the indictment late Thursday and had it put under seal until it is made public, perhaps as early as Monday. All who discussed the case did so on condition of anonymity because the matters remain sealed.
Six guards have been under investigation since a convoy of heavily armed Blackwater contractors opened fire in a crowded Baghdad intersection on Sept. 16, 2007. Witnesses say the shooting was unprovoked but Blackwater, hired by the State Department to guard U.S. diplomats, says its guards were ambushed by insurgents while responding to a car bombing.
Young children were among the victims, and the shooting strained relations between the U.S. and Iraq. After the shooting, Blackwater became the subject of congressional hearings in Washington and insurgent propaganda videos in Iraq.
The exact charges in the indictment were unclear, but the Justice Department has been considering manslaughter and assault charges against the guards for weeks. Prosecutors have also been considering bringing charges under a law, passed as part of a 1988 drug bill, that carries a mandatory 30-year prison sentence for using a machine gun in a crime of violence.
One of the six guards has been negotiating to reduce the charges against him in return for cooperation. If completed, such a deal could provide prosecutors with a key witness against the other five guards. Others in the convoy have already testified before a federal grand jury about the shooting.
Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd declined comment.
Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said, "We've consistently said that we do not believe the guards acted unlawfully. If it is determined they did, we would support holding them accountable."
During my time working in Iraq Blackwater shot at me twice in the GREEN ZONE. They should be amd should have been disbanded long ago. Give a 10 year old a real weapon, tell him he can play war for real with no repocussions and you have a Blackwater PSD team member that shoots at anything that moves.
I know excatly what happened on that fateful day. One or more of the team members hear a loud bang and they opened fire on every nearby vehicale without ascertaining a target.
Good for the US Justice department I hope there prison term is a long one.
Unless you were there I am sure you DONT know what happened. The iraqis are always shooting at us forces while using civilians as cover. These guys were just doing their job. The US shoudnt be there in the 1st place. The us soldiers have been murdering for oil for the last 6 years. I say pull everyone out let that country destroy itself. The entire US military are killing civilians in their bombings as well. How come those pilots or the guys who plan those raids are not on trial. Blackwater is the scapegoat. Yet they havent lost anyone they have been paid to protect. Its war people, sometimes the innocent get caught in the middle. If you dont want it to happen...STOP INVADING OTHER COUNTRIES
Blackwater is no scapegoat. until now they have been, by Bremer edict, unaccountable to either US or Iraqi law - But I agree with the rest what you say.