Informants Say Blackwater Guards Tried to Unload Arms (Smuggle Weapons Used in Massacre out of Iraq)

[Hissyspit]

Source: The Virginian-Pilot

Informants say Blackwater guards tried to unload arms

By Bill Sizemore
The Virginian-Pilot
© May 6, 2009
Shortly after a 2007 shooting incident in a Baghdad traffic square that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead, Blackwater contractors allegedly transferred a number of machine guns to another contractor who is now charged with trying to smuggle them out of Iraq. The Blackwater contractors wanted to dispose of the weapons before an investigation of the bloody incident began, according to two confidential government informants.

John Houston, the contractor charged in the case, allegedly told one of the informants that after Blackwater "got into trouble," the guards had to get rid of the firearms so they wouldn't be caught with them. The Sept. 16, 2007, shooting incident in Nisoor Square enraged Iraqis and led to the loss of Blackwater's lucrative diplomatic security contract in Iraq.

- snip -

Houston, 43, served with the Army Special Operations Command, headquartered at Fort Bragg, N.C., until his retirement as a sergeant major in 2006. At the time of the Nisoor Square shootings, he was working in Iraq for SOS International, a New York-based military contractor. In a sworn statement, Christopher Trainor, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, quoted the two confidential informants as saying Houston told them he obtained machine guns from Blackwater contractors after the Nisoor Square incident.

According to the agent, Houston told the informants that Blackwater employees had a large shipping container filled with firearms that they had seized from Iraqi insurgents. After the Baghdad shootings, Houston allegedly told one informant, the Blackwater personnel passed some of the firearms to him "because they wanted to dispose of the weapons before an investigation ensued."

Read more: http://hamptonroads.com/2009/05/informants-say-blackwater-guards-tried-unload-arms

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Jeremy Scahill's Blog:

http://rebelreports.com

Did Blackwater Mercs Try to Smuggle Weapons Used in Massacre Out of Iraq?

A government informant says Blackwater operatives wanted to ‘get rid of’ the guns used at Nisour Square ‘before an investigation ensued.’

By Jeremy Scahill

This is a pretty explosive development in the investigation into Blackwater’s Nisour Square massacre that killed 17 Iraqis and wounded more than 20 others on September 16, 2007: Shortly after the shooting, Blackwater operatives allegedly attempted to smuggle weapons used in the massacre out of Iraq to dispose of them before an investigation began.

Bill Sizemore of the Virginian-Pilot broke the story early this morning:

[barbtries]

1. it's so fucked up.

erik prince could have sat before congress and said yes we murdered those innocent iraqis, sir, what you going to do about it, and he'd still be running around free getting more and more obscenely rich off taxpayer money and wars that should have never been.

i mean it is that obvious. i'm frustrated.

[ThirdWorldJohn]

2. Bush and Condi loved the baby killers that is BlackWater N/T

[Vidar]

14. Welcome to DU, & right you are!

[seafan]

3. Would these be the same weapons Blackwater smuggled INTO Iraq?

Feds Probe Blackwater Weapons Smuggling, September 21, 2007


Feds probe Blackwater weapons shipments, September 22, 2007




Informants say Blackwater guards tried to unload arms, May 6, 2009

Shortly after a 2007 shooting incident in a Baghdad traffic square that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead, Blackwater contractors allegedly transferred a number of machine guns to another contractor who is now charged with trying to smuggle them out of Iraq.
The Blackwater contractors wanted to dispose of the weapons before an investigation of the bloody incident began, according to two confidential government informants.
John Houston, the contractor charged in the case, allegedly told one of the informants that after Blackwater "got into trouble," the guards had to get rid of the firearms so they wouldn't be caught with them.

The Sept. 16, 2007, shooting incident in Nisoor Square enraged Iraqis and led to the loss of Blackwater's lucrative diplomatic security contract in Iraq.

The Moyock, N.C.-based private military company has since renamed itself Xe.

Six Blackwater contractors face manslaughter and weapons charges stemming from the incident.
Houston, a retired Special Forces soldier, is charged separately with trying to smuggle eight machine guns and a semi automatic pistol from Iraq into the United States. The indictment was handed down last week by a federal grand jury in Maryland.

.....

Apart from the Houston case, Xe has been the subject of several government investigations of alleged improper arms shipments related to its security work in Iraq.

This outfit should be broken up and shut down.

We do not need armed thugs for hire, fattened up on contract money from the US Government, roaming the streets of America. These thugs are a bulked-up version of the Reagan/Bush Latin American freedom fighters/CIA operatives from the 80's.


This outfit is a threat to Americans. Especially since Blackwater/Xe hires foreigners with NO loyalty to America.

[formercia]

7. Blackwater/Xe is the privatization of CIA paramilitary capability

It's a revolving door of Navy SEALS, Army and Marine Special Warfare troops and others. I spent over a Year in one of those units. It's a very incestuous relationship. Most are not a very good fit in the Intelligence community during peacetime and tend to be more trouble than they're worth.

I think the whole reason Blackwater/Xe was formed, was to get around the Congressional reporting requirements and to do jobs that would be illegal under the CIA Charter.

The DoD and CIA spends millions training these operators and Blackwater/Xe gets them for free.

[seafan]

10. When will Congress come out of idle mode and notice the danger of these shadowy paramilitary groups?

....Americans are not safe when these unaccountable, marauding groups roam our streets after hurricanes, for example.



New Orleans after Katrina, 2005

[The Hope Mobile]

4. Informants allege proposed Blackwater weapons dump

Source: AP



RALEIGH, N.C. – A defense contractor charged with trying to smuggle firearms out of Iraq claimed Blackwater guards asked him to help get rid of weapons after a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad, two government informants say in court documents.

The man told one of the informants, a U.S. Army reservist, that Blackwater guards wanted to dispose of the weapons before an investigation began into the September 2007 shooting that left several civilians dead, according to a criminal complaint filed in the smuggling case. The contractor, John Houston, did not work for Blackwater.

Five of Blackwater's guards face manslaughter and weapons charges in the shooting, which prosecutors say was an unprovoked attack on civilians. That shooting strained relations between Baghdad and Washington and led Iraqi leaders to order Blackwater out of the country.

A spokeswoman said the North Carolina-based company, now known as Xe, only recently learned of Houston's claims and has never been contacted by investigators about them.

"This individual's claims may make for a juicy story, but time may tell a more truthful one," spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said in a release.

Houston, a retired Special Forces soldier, was indicted last week in federal court in Maryland on a charge of conspiracy to smuggle firearms into the United States and attempted smuggling. Houston was working New York-based SOS International Ltd. at the time of the 2007 shooting but left the company the next year to work for another defense contractor.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090506/ap_on_re_us/us_iraq_blackwater

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Blackwater trying to cover their crimes?? You don't say!

[seemslikeadream]

5. mercenaries n/t

[tomm2thumbs]

6. coverup - Dick Cheney's middle name

Hopefully those with scruples come forward with the truth

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. We did nothing wrong! Just doing our jobs!

(but quick, hide the evidence!)

[sofa king]

9. Wow. A SOCOM Sar-Major.

That's about as high up the enlisted tree as one can climb. Whatever else you can say about that fellow, you can assume that he's a very, very competent (and dangerous) person.

[gratuitous]

11. He had retired the year before the massacre

So, see, it's not like he learned anything about being a corrupt mercenary while he was in the star-spangled armed forces of the United State of America. He probably picked it all up after retirement, see?

We have failed our military and our country by not providing any oversight. We have failed our elected officials by not holding them accountable for holding the military accountable. None of these people knows a fucking thing about ethical or moral behavior unless We the People are right there, every step of the way, to guide them and advise them. "You can't handle the truth!" the military and high elected officials roar in our faces. No, apparently we can't. And the truth is that we can't trust the military. We can't trust our elected officials. Maybe it's time to end this failed experiment and let some other system take a crack at governance.

[Wednesdays]

12. K&R

:kick:

[Solly Mack]

13. K&R