The trial likely will hinge on whether the Blackwater guards were provoked. Iraqi witnesses say Blackwater fired the only shots. Some members of the Blackwater convoy said they saw gunfire. Others said they didn’t. Radio logs of the shooting indicate the guards were fired on.
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Yep, that is my thoughts on this too. These men were operating in a war zone, and if in fact they were fired upon, then I think the prosecution does not have a case. Instead, they will have to fall back on the BS anti-machine gun law to do any kind of damage to these men. My guess is that this will end up just like the Haditha case, with the Marines. This is war, and to prove that these men decided to wake up one day, go on a convoy operation and deviate from the mission to purposely kill innocent people unprovoked, is a stretch. Not to mention the radio logs, the bullet holes in the vehicles and bullets in people and things. We will see how it goes, and I truly hope for a fair trial for these guys. God knows, everyone else has already convicted them of a crime in the court of public opinion.-Matt
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US to drop shooting case against Blackwater guard
By MATT APUZZO
Nov 20, 2009
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department intends to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against one of the Blackwater Worldwide security guards involved in a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting, prosecutors said in court documents Friday.
The shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad. It touched off a string of investigations that ultimately led the State Department to cancel the company’s lucrative contract to guard diplomats in Iraq.
Iraqis have said they’re watching closely to see how the U.S. judicial system handles the five men accused of unleashing an unprovoked attack on civilians with machine guns and grenades.