“The Justice Department began their presentation to the American people with a lie,” Connolly said
I think this quote and the photo says everything I have to say about this whole thing. –Matt
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Blackwater radio logs: Guards took incoming fire
12/19/2008
By MATT APUZZO and LARA JAKES
WASHINGTON (AP) — Radio logs from a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad cast doubt on U.S. government claims that Blackwater Worldwide security guards were unprovoked when they killed 14 Iraqi civilians. The transcripts of Blackwater radio reports, obtained by The Associated Press, describe a hectic eight minutes in which the guards repeatedly reported incoming gunfire from insurgents and Iraqi police.
Five guards face manslaughter and weapons charges for their roles in the shootings. A sixth has pleaded guilty. Prosecutors said the men unleashed a gruesome attack on unarmed Iraqis, including women, children and people trying to escape.
But the radio logs from the Sept. 16, 2007 shooting suggest otherwise. Copies of the logs were turned over to prosecutors by Blackwater.
Because Blackwater guards were authorized to fire in self-defense, any evidence their convoy was attacked will make it harder for the Justice Department to prove they acted unlawfully.
The logs, which document radio traffic heard by the company’s dispatch center inside the U.S.-controlled Green Zone, show that the Blackwater convoy known as Raven 23 reported taking small arms fire_or SAF_ from insurgents within one minute of shutting down traffic in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square.
“Mult insuirg SAF @ R23,” the log states at 12:12 p.m.
One minute later, the Raven 23 convoy reported taking fire from Iraqi police: “R23 rpts IPs shooting @ R23.”
