According to the civil lawsuit filed against Blackwater by Saadoon's family, Moonen was drunk when he shot and killed Saadoon "for no reason." And examine the transcripts of the Iraqi witness statements to deconstruct why the body count and survivor accounts changed so wildly in the aftermath of the incident. In 2003, the firm was tasked with its first overseas contract following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 when it was given a $21 million contract to provide security and two military-grade helicopters for the head of the U.S. occupation in Iraq, Paul Bremer. After roughly 20 minutes of shooting, the Blackwater guards convoy drove out of the square, leaving multicolored smoke bombs in their wake. This is a mashup from the men of Raven 23 (SRS EP . As shootings in the square were not uncommon, it is unclear whether the shells were from the shooting in question or from other incidents. From firing rifles into traffic and smashing cars out of the way to running a woman over trying to cross the street, the footage added fuel to evidence that the PMC "encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life." Subscribe 947. Unfortunately, Blackwater continued to operate in Iraq and the United States didn't cancel their contract. "It was obviously excessive", a U.S. military official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Washington Post. Erik Prince. 10:45. According to eyewitness accounts of both Iraqi civilians and other Blackwater employees, several Blackwater guards began shooting recklessly at Iraqi civilians in the square, even those who were fleeing or turning their cars around to flee. Although 17 people were killed, the FBI only charged the Blackwater guards in 14 of the deaths for violating rules regarding the use of deadly force. In addition, the vehicles that were meant to protect diplomats were "poorly maintained," and during one party, four drunk Blackwater guards had crashed a $180,000 armored vehicle into a concrete barrier. 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. [1][2][3] The killings outraged Iraqis and strained relations between Iraq and the United States. On September 16, a Blackwater USA security unit returning to base after having dropped off the person it was guarding opened fire at Nisour Square, near Baghdad's Green Zone. A security detail from the . [64], US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates testified before Congress that the Pentagon has sufficient legal authority to control its contractors, but that commanders lack sufficient "means and resources" to exercise adequate oversight. There was also an incident on December 24, 2006, when Andrew Moonen, a Blackwater guard, murdered Raheem Khalaf Saadoon, a security guard for Adel Abdul Mahdi, the Iraqi vice president. However, according to The New York Times, the Iraqi government technically didn't have the legal authority to do so since the U.S.-led transitional government shielded security contractors from Iraqi laws, per CNN. It looks at the rise of private security contractors such as Blackwater in the era of modern warfare. The Intercept reports that others who tried to run for cover were killed by machine gunfire. However, there's never been any evidence that the Blackwater convoy took hostile fire. [41], On September 18, 2007, an Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman said Blackwater is "not allowed to operate anywhere in the Republic of Iraq". The report further said that Blackwater had reported that its forces fired first in over 80 percent of the cases. [24] The driver of the Kia was shot once in the head by a Blackwater contractor and was killed. One journalist, Robert Young Pelton, spent one month with Blackwater in Iraq and stated that Blackwater guards use their machine guns like car horns.. Slatten was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder, which carried a mandatory life sentence. [54] He enlisted in 1999, and served in Bosnia with the 3rd Infantry Division. This private militia is among the entities . [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. Thus, Blackwater had no evidence that its guards were only returning firean action that would have been within the rules of engagement, and not illegal. Robert Young Pelton, a journalist who spent a month with Blackwater in Iraq, said that the guards "use[d] their machine guns like car horns," per Tidings Media. [63], A U.S. judge's decision to dismiss all charges against Blackwater on January 1, 2010, sparked outrage in the Arab world. Liberty was found guilty of one firearms offense, 12 counts of attempted manslaughter, and 8 counts of voluntary manslaughter. 0 rating. In the last month of his term, U.S. President Donald Trump issued pardons to Slatten, Slough, Liberty, and Heard. Immediately, after the trial, the four Blackwater guards were taken to prison. The days of Blackwater, however, were numbered, following a security incident which occurred in Nisour Square, Baghdad, on September 16, 2007. None of the bullets the lab had available could be matched to the rifles used by the guards. However, as The New York Times reports, "not one witness heard or saw any gunfire coming from Iraqis around the square." The so-called Nisour Square massacre was the single bloodiest incident involving American private security contractors during the Iraq conflict. The trial against Heard, Liberty, Slatten, and Slough began around June 2014 and lasted over two months. [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. Here is the history of his path of destruction. According to Reuters, in 2009, the State Department finally decided not to renew their contract with Blackwater in Iraq. Ultimately, Blackwater repeatedly insisted that their guards "were fired upon and responded appropriately." [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. Batya () is the founder of Reaper Feed. Blackwater flip side. Pronunciation of Nisour square massacre with 1 audio pronunciations. 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]." The massacre lasted four hours and only ended when another US soldier, Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, intervened and ordered his men to shoot any Charlie Company troops who shot at the civilians. Around 12 pm on September 16, 2007, 15 Blackwater employees in the tactical support team known as Raven 23 were driving four trucks in an armed convoy through Nisour Square to get to the site of a car bombing, which had happened earlier in the day. The Nisour Square massacre was one of the most publicized US crimes of the 8-year Iraq war. NOW ON DVD www.noendinsightmovie.com The first film of its kind to chronicle the reasons behind Iraq's descent into guerilla war, warlord rule, criminality . [6][86] Bringing the weapons charges was disputed within the Justice Department, which initially opposed including them in the indictment. Blackwater guards were also known for driving on the wrong side of the road and crashing into civilian cars. What Really Happened in the 2008 Georgian War and Why it Matters 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. Analyzes how nisour square shooting was the last straw for blackwater. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Fr nhere Informationen zur Nutzung Ihrer Daten lesen Sie bitte unsere Datenschutzerklrung und Cookie-Richtlinie. Blackwater Security Consulting, also known as Blackwater Worldwide, was founded in 1997 by Al Clark and Erik Prince as a private security firm. . In America, Nisour Square became for military contractors what Watergate meant for political corruption in the 1970s. Nicholas Slatten, who was the first to open fire, was charged with murder because the statute of limitations prevented the FBI from charging him with manslaughter. 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. Rejecting claims from defense attorneys and family members that U.S. prosecutors scapegoated former Blackwater security guard Nicholas Slatten to improve U.S.-Iraqi relations, a federal judge sentenced former Blackwater security guard Nicholas Slatten to life in prison Wednesday for his role in the notorious 2007 Nisour Square . [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. Very easy. The facts of the Nisour Square massacre case have been well documented and authenticated. It outraged Iraqis, put severe strain on. Soldiers, 4 Deadly Home Decor Ideas in War-Torn Liberia, Brutal Libyan Ambush Sends Enemy Vehicles Into a Death Roll. The military's report, which was completed within a month of the Nisour Square. 3:28. Initially, they worked providing training support to law enforcement and the justice department, but as Prince once stated, their "corporate goal [was] to do for the national security apparatus what FedEx did to the postal service." Reports differ on what actually happened at Nisour Square that caused the employees to open fireBlackwater claimed that Iraqi insurgents had ambushed the convoy and the Blackwater employees were returning fire. Blackwater Mercenaries Filmed on a Rampage in Iraq & Shooting Civilians. We responded to a threat accordingly." [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. Despite being heavily involved with the United States' military involvement in Southwest and Central Asia, Blackwater was often harmful and rarely helpful. They then set off stun grenades to clear the scene. Blackwater was even hired by the Department of Homeland Security during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and according to PBS, collected "more than $70 million in hurricane-related contracts. [14], On October 2, 2007, the Democratic staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released a report stating that Blackwater USA guards had used deadly force weekly in Iraq and had inflicted "significant casualties and property damage". Opines that the iraqi shooting by blackwater guards was unethical and impacted public impressions of all private security companies operating overseas. By 2007, the State Department started reviewing Blackwater's $1 billion contract and they discovered a slew of misconduct. [78] The opinion elaborated "the government failed to establish that the Iraqi witnesses it presented to the second grand jury were not in any way influenced by their previous exposure to the defendants' compelled statements. On September 16, 2007, a car bomb exploded near a U.S.-Iraqi meeting site. [19] According to this account, the security team fired warning shots and then lethal fire at the Kia. Two days after the meeting with Carroll, Richter and Thomas were told by an embassy official to "leave Iraq immediately.". [55], On April 1, 2009, the Associated Press reported that forensic tests on bullets were inconclusive. When the smoke cleared, 17 Iraqi civilians lay dead. Riz Khan - Blackwater in Iraq - 24 Apr 07. As he slumped forward, his weight on the accelerator meant the car kept moving. 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. Five were charged with 14 counts of manslaughter, 20 counts of attempted manslaughter and a weapons violation: Donald Ball, a former Marine from West Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard, a former Marine from Knoxville, Tennessee; Evan Liberty, a former Marine from Rochester, New Hampshire; Nicholas Slatten, a former army sergeant from Sparta, Tennessee, and Paul Slough, an army veteran from Keller, Texas. And none of the I.P. [14], On October 13, 2007, the FBI reported that it had concluded that at least 14 of the 17 Iraqis who died in the square had been killed without cause. ft. Then, add the three values together to get the total square footage you'll need: 120 sq. Similarly, many people did not consider Nisour Square to be an isolated incident. [100] UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Marta Hurtado said that forgiveness "contributes to impunity and has the effect of encouraging others to commit such crimes in the future". 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. And despite subsequent trials, it's unclear if the victims of the massacre and their families got the justice they deserve. Its reported that BW mercenaries disarmed US troops and forced them to life facedown at gunpoint until the situation was resolved. This case study addresses on incident that arose with one such contractor, Blackwater Worldwide. In an instant, Ahmed was shot through the head. He has utilized KGB-era narrative control devices to flood social media with disinformation. 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. The company said the civilians were killed during a shootout after one of their convoys came under attack in Nisoor Square, in an affluent neighbourhood of the capital. [58] Nor is the US a signatory of the 1977 additional protocol to the 1949 Geneva Conventions in which Article 47 specifies that mercenaries are civilians who "take a direct part in the hostilities" and are "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain". [40], On October 11, 2007, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed suit against Blackwater USA under the Alien Tort Claims Act on behalf of an injured Iraqi and the families of three of the seventeen Iraqis who were killed by Blackwater employees during the September 16, 2007, shooting incident. [3][84] Prosecutors stated they reached their decision after an "assessment of the admissible evidence against him". Aug 15, 2019. 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. Raven 23, under the command of Blackwater contractor Jimmy Watson, was ordered to secure an evacuation route through Nisour Square for . A . He also maintained that he wanted to limit and reduce the authority of all security contractors, not just Blackwater, Timereports. In the end, after seven weeks of deliberations, Slough, Heard, and Liberty were convicted of voluntary manslaughter and Slatten was found guilty of murder, since he was responsible for the first death in Nisour Square, Reuters reports. [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. 0ur_Benefactors 6 yr. ago. 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. and thus prosecution by U.S. 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. From left to right: Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten, and Paul Slough. Some witnesses also claimed that the same Blackwater team subsequently opened fire on another line of traffic after the shooting in Nisour Square. In August 2017, the D.C. If it is determined that one person was complicit in the wrongdoing, we would support accountability in that. Pt.2 (AMAZING VIDEO) Sniper (Blackwater Commando) in Iraq shoots insurgents. [97], On December 22, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump granted full presidential pardons to Slatten, Slough, Liberty, and Heard. Days after the meeting with Carroll, Richter and Thomas were told by an embassy official ``! It 's unclear if the victims of the cases being heavily involved with the 3rd Infantry.... Attempted manslaughter, and Paul Slough the justice they deserve the founder of Reaper Feed impacted public of. Trial against Heard, Evan Liberty, Slatten, Slough, Liberty and. 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