Vehicle repairs may affect Blackwater inquiry

[unhappycamper]

An Iraqi traffic policeman inspects a car destroyed Sept. 16, 2007 by a Blackwater security detail in al-Nisoor Square in Baghdad. Blackwater Worldwide repaired and repainted its trucks immediately after a deadly September shooting in Baghdad, making it difficult to determine whether enemy gunfire provoked the attack, according to people familiar with the government's investigation of the incident.


Vehicle repairs may affect Blackwater inquiry
By Lara Jakes Jordan and Matt Apuzzo - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jan 13, 2008 11:57:36 EST

WASHINGTON — Blackwater Worldwide repaired and repainted its trucks immediately after a deadly September shooting in Baghdad, making it difficult to determine whether enemy gunfire provoked the attack, according to people familiar with the government’s investigation of the incident.

Damage to the vehicles in the convoy has been held up by Blackwater as proof that its security guards were defending themselves against an insurgent ambush when they fired into a busy intersection, leaving 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

U.S. military investigators initially found “no enemy activity involved” and the Iraqi government concluded the shootings were unprovoked.

The repairs essentially destroyed evidence that Justice Department investigators hoped to examine in a criminal case that has drawn worldwide attention. The Sept. 16 shooting has strained U.S. relations with the Iraqi government, which wants Blackwater expelled from the country. It also has become a flash point in the debate over whether contractors are immune from legal consequences for their actions in a war zone.

Blackwater’s four armored vehicles were repaired or repainted within days of the shooting, and before FBI teams went to Baghdad to collect evidence, people close to the case said. The work included repairs to a damaged radiator that Blackwater says is central to its defense.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_blackwaterrepairs_080113/



uhc comment: So "a damaged radiator" is reason to paint four vehicles? Riiiight.