And it's estimated that at least one other person died from the second shooting incident. Share this via Email Prince's prepared testimony also asserted that one of the vehicles had been disabled by the "enemy fire" and had to be towed. The Iraq government's own investigation found no evidence that the guards had been provoked or attacked, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's spokesperson called the shootings "deliberate murder.". [48] According to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised a "fair and transparent" investigation into the incident. The Blackwater Shooting (2007) | The New York Times The New York Times 4.26M subscribers 1.1M views 8 years ago In this 2007 video, witnesses shed light on the killing of 17 Iraqis by American. He described how he crouched by the car, his right arm reaching inside, his head out and left arm up in the air, signaling to the convoy, his gun secure in its holster. Associated Press WASHINGTON Four former Blackwater Worldwide security guards were convicted and immediately jailed Wednesday for their roles in a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad's Nisour Square. Rogers. Blackwater Mercenaries Filmed on a Rampage in Iraq & Shooting Civilians from WarPosting After being leaked by a former employee of the notorious PMC, the footage dated April 2006 was featured in a piece called "The Warrior Class" by Charles Glass. And despite numerous failures to comply with its security contract, including a failure to maintain the required number of security specialists, the State Department never sought out the $55 million in penalties that Blackwater should've been charged. "[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. [14] The Iraqi government vowed to punish Blackwater. Prosecutors asserted the heavily armed Raven 23 Blackwater convoy launched an unprovoked attack using sniper fire, machine-guns and grenade launchers. Blackwater massacre survivors In Iraq slam Trump's decision to - CNN A burnt car at the site where Blackwater guards opened fire on a crowd in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2007. Share this via Printer. [81] A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found "systemic" errors in the district court's 2009 decision to dismiss charges against the five former Blackwater guards and added "We find that the district court's findings depend on an erroneous view of the law". Director Pasha Patriki Writers Chad Law Tyler W. Konney Richard Switzer Stars Jean-Claude Van Damme Dolph Lundgren Al Sapienza See production, box office & company info Watch on Freevee Watch Free on Freevee More watch options Amid the wreckage, colorful clouds billowed into the air from the convoy's parting gift -- multicolored smoke bombs. [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". [77] "Prosecutors should therefore have built their case against the men without them", a BBC report explained. Fifteen minutes later, the four-car convoy continued around the square and drove away. [54] He received an honorable discharge in 2002 and then enlisted in the Texas National Guard. Slatten faced a potential sentence of life in prison. Four guards fired on unarmed crowd in Baghdad in 2007, killing 14 and sparking outrage over use of private security in war zones. 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. 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. Ghasson Mahmood was a 55-year-old civil engineer. He documented what was left of his brother's car. Blackwater: Directed by Bill Rogers, Bill Schreiber, R. Douglas Zipperer. "Convoys are common," explained Khalaf. Slattern was sentenced to life and the others to 30 years in prison each. Blackwater (2007) - IMDb 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." With experience learned from a similar lawsuit filed two years ago against US contractors implicated in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison scandal, Burke O'Neil is perhaps the only law firm in the nation that could so quickly gather eyewitness and victim accounts, make the right legal arguments and begin the process of holding Blackwater to account. With tears in his eyes, Haythem described his beloved wife and son. Some witnesses also claimed that the same Blackwater team subsequently opened fire on another line of traffic after the shooting in Nisour Square. Meanwhile, although Moonen admitted that he was intoxicated, he maintained that he shot in self-defense. Blackwater was founded by Erik Prince, whose sister, Betsy DeVos, was appointed Trumps education secretary. 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]." Around midday on September 16, 2007, Ahmed Haithem Ahmed and his mother Mohassin were driving to the hospital to pick up Ahmed's father, Haythem, who worked as a pathologist. By 2007, the State Department started reviewing Blackwater's $1 billion contract and they discovered a slew of misconduct. It was funded with millions that Prince inherited from the . [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. The incident led to at least five investigations and although the Blackwater guards repeatedly claimed that their actions were justified, several of them came to the opposite conclusion. Even in this case, the FBI did not visit the crime scene for more than two weeks after the incident, during which time State Department investigators interviewing Blackwater employees offered them limited immunity, complicating the prosecution. US pardons Blackwater guards: An 'affront to justice' - UN experts "[21] Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki harshly criticized the dismissal. But the Iraqis' hands are tied. In this 2007 video, witnesses shed light on the killing of 17 Iraqis by American contractors in Baghdad.Read the article here: http://nyti.ms/1u1cNzySubscribe to the Times Video newsletter for free and get a handpicked selection of the best videos from The New York Times every week: http://bit.ly/timesvideonewsletterSubscribe on YouTube: http://bit.ly/U8Ys7nWatch more videos at: http://nytimes.com/video---------------------------------------------------------------Want more from The New York Times?Twitter: https://twitter.com/nytvideoFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/nytimes Google+: https://plus.google.com/+nytimes/Whether it's reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, New York Times video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. [18][30] Iraqi investigators also alleged that Blackwater helicopters fired into the cars from the air, as at least one car had bullet holes in its roof; Blackwater has denied any of its aerial units discharged weapons. The line of bullet holes in one side door is overshadowed by the two soccer-ball-size holes in the roof and driver's side door. No!" This is the untold truth of the Blackwater massacre. [10][11] The next day, Blackwater Worldwide's license to operate in Iraq was temporarily revoked.
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