Case Dismissed Against Blackwater Murderers

In September of 2007, five private security officers working for Blackwater Security opened fire at a crowded intersection in Baghdad. They killed 17 Iraqis and wounded numerous others in Nisoor Square (pictured). Iraqi citizens had hoped these killers would be brought to justice, but now it looks like that is not going to happen.

The Bush administration screwed up the case from the very beginning. Right after the incident happened, the State Department questioned the security officers and promised them immunity from prosecution for their testimony. This was before the FBI arrived and tried to investigate. The officers refused to speak with the FBI, so all the FBI had to rely on was their statements to the State Department (which were tainted by the promise of immunity).

The officers, who were finally charged with manslaughter and firearms violations, have claimed they were responding to an attack. But the Iraqi witnesses and victims and the Iraqi government have always disputed that.

Last Thursday, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina threw out the case against the five security officers. He did not rule they were innocent, but that prosecutors had relied on the tainted State Department interviews to prepare their case. So it looks like these mass murderers will now go free because of the incompetent bungling of the Bush administration's State Department.

The Iraqi government says it will appeal the judge's ruling, but I doubt that will do any good. This case was screwed up back in 2007 and I don't think it can be fixed now. As one Iraqi policeman said, "This brings a bad reputation to the American government and people. The Iraqi government can't do anything. They are helpless."

One of the victims of the shooting said, "This negates Iraqi blood and life. If the Iraqis did this with the Americans, definitely the results would be different. Blackwater is connected to the U.S. Embassy and Secretary of State. If an Iraqi cut off the finger of an American, they would not be satisfied until they got half the riches of Iraq. This judicial ruling means Blackwater did nothing in Nisoor Square."

Another victim simply said, "This is typical of American justice."

I can understand how these people must feel. After the killing of 17 innocent people and the wounding of many others, the United States government is going to do absolutely nothing about it (and in fact, still employ private security officers in Iraq). This is clearly a miscarriage of justice.