So this is what the prosecutors have to come to? Using some weapons related drug law to get these guys? That’s pretty low. Or the debate about jurisdiction will be interesting. How are they not connected with the State Department, when their job is to protect DoS employees. Hell, they even have to train to a specific State Department standard, just to be a protector of DoS and contract with them. Not to mention a clearance, so they can actually be around DoS folk.
In my opinion, DoS needs to do the right thing and own up to the fact that Blackwater was working for them and do more to stand up for them. It’s the least they could do. How many Blackwater employees died while protecting DoS people? And from what I gather, out of all of the thousands of missions, not one DoS employee was killed over in Iraq. That is a record that speaks for itself. –Head Jundi
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Blackwater Guards Indicted In Deadly Baghdad Shooting
5 Face Trial Over Incident That Killed 17 Civilians, Sources Say
By Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Five Blackwater Worldwide Security guards have been charged in a September 2007 shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead and raised questions about the U.S. government’s use of security contractors in combat zones, according to two sources familiar with the case.
The guards, all former U.S. military personnel, worked as security contractors for the State Department, assigned to protect U.S. diplomats and other nonmilitary officials in Iraq.
Federal prosecutors obtained the indictment Thursday, and it was sealed. Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District, declined to comment on the investigation. The exact nature of the charges could not be determined. The five security guards are expected to surrender to authorities on Monday, the sources said.
