Murder conviction in Blackwater case thrown out, other sentences overturned

[alp227]

Source: Washington Post

A U.S. appeals court on Friday threw out the first-degree murder conviction of a former Blackwater Worldwide security guard sentenced to life in prison in the killings of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in a Baghdad traffic circle in 2007.

The court also ordered resentencings for three others convicted in the case.

The September 2007 shootings fomented deep resentments about the accountability of American security forces during one of the bloodiest periods of the Iraq War.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit panel ruled that the trial court “abused its discretion” in not allowing Nicholas A. Slatten, 33, of Sparta, Tenn., to be tried separately from his three co-defendants, even though he alone faced a murder charge for firing what prosecutors said were the first shots in the civilian massacre.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/murder-conviction-in-blackwater-case-thrown-out-other-sentences-overturned/2017/08/04/a14f275c-792e-11e7-9eac-d56bd5568db8_story.html

[lunasun]

1. Disgusting. Hope he can be retried

[broadcaster90210]

6. He can.

nt

[Stargazer99]

2. And we wonder why the world is sick of the US

[7wo7rees]

3. Just so wrong on so many levels I just give up.

And the Devos and Prince families march on. Eric gets his private military and Betsy gets to decimate education.

[Solly Mack]

4. ...

smh

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. This is really bad news. This will encourage further murders by mercenaries

which will encourage operations like Blackwater to hire, and to promise war-hungry politicians that they can have their war without worrying about using the military too much, with the political blowback that can cause.

The deterrent effect of the original convictions was big - it deterred mercenaries from recklessly killing innocent civilians, which deterred things like Blackwater/Academi from hiring them and saying "don't worry, you can't be convicted", which deterred politicians from using them to mop up the effects of aggressive wars.

Fuck. This is a win for the psychopaths.

[Judi Lynn]

7. It's a purely evil choice made by the Bush people, paying them far more, with no restrictions,

to rip their way through so many human lives. Professional terrorists.


Blackwater leader 'threatened to kill a State Department investigator in Iraq' who was looking into cost over-runs, drunken partying and violence against civilians

. Jean C. Richter says a former Navy SEAL told him 'he could kill me at that very moment and no one would do anything about it as we were in Iraq'
. Richter was then ordered to stop his investigation and return to Washington
. His scathing August 2007 report alleges massive abuse in $1billion security contract for State Department employees in Iraq
. Three weeks after report, Blackwater contractors allegedly killed 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square

By MICHAEL ZENNIE
PUBLISHED: 10:14 EDT, 30 June 2014 | UPDATED: 13:49 EDT, 30 June 2014

. . . .



Blackwater contractors, most of whom are former U.S. special operations soldiers, allegedly
acted like they 'had the run of the place' in Iraq and were 'above the law'





How many mercenaries does it take to guard one US official,
at many times a US soldier's salary?

[yurbud]

9. Why we hire mercenaries:

1) They can't be held accountable by the UCMJ

2) No one cares if they are killed

3) The profits from their contracts can be recycled as campaign donations, leading to more contracts, more donations....

But it's not like that happens with other government services that are contracted out, right?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

8. ...