and tried to gesture to his colleagues in an attempt to stop the shooting. Ultimately, Blackwater repeatedly insisted that their guards "were fired upon and responded appropriately." When he got out of his car to find out what was happening, he saw the convoy and the white car burning, and started yelling at the other cars to turn around. [9], Blackwater guards claimed that the convoy was ambushed and that they fired at the attackers in defense of the convoy. In August 2019, Slatten was once more sentenced to life in prison without parole, Al Jazeera reports. He suffered from his wounds for over a year . I Sued Blackwater for the Massacre of Iraqi Civilians. Trump Just The film documents the use of chemical weapons, particularly the use of incendiary bombs, and alleges indiscriminate use of violence against civilians and children by military forces of the United States of America in the city of Fallujah in Iraq during the Fallujah Offensive of November 2004 . The White House further stated that the Court of Appeals "ruled that additional evidence should have been presented at Mr Slatten's trial", and recently that prosecutors said "that the lead Iraqi investigator, who prosecutors relied heavily on to verify that there were no insurgent victims and to collect evidence, may have had ties to insurgent groups himself". [14], On October 13, 2007, the FBI reported that it had concluded that at least 14 of the 17 Iraqis who died in the square had been killed without cause. "All of a sudden, I felt pain in my right arm and left leg, opened the car door, and rolled out," said Hooby. [41], Richard J. Griffin, the Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security, who made key decisions regarding the department's oversight of private security contractor Blackwater USA, resigned in November 2007, after a critical review by the House Oversight Committee found that his office had failed to adequately supervise private contractors during the Blackwater Baghdad shootings. In October, the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released its analysis of Blackwater's own internal reporting since 2005, which found 195 shooting incidents in the last two years, including 160 in which Blackwater employees fired the first shot. Inspired by the true story of a crocodile attack in Australia's Northern Territory in December 2003, a . In the wake of the massacre in 2007, the Iraqi government banned Blackwater from working in the country and cancelled their license. "It was a horror movie," said Khalaf, describing the aftermath of the now notorious Blackwater shootings. [56], On April 1, 2011, the Associated Press reported on Erik Prince's seven-hour testimony about what allegedly transpired. The FBI also concluded that there was no evidence to support Blackwater's claims that they'd been fired upon by Iraqi civilians. [78] The opinion elaborated "the government failed to establish that the Iraqi witnesses it presented to the second grand jury were not in any way influenced by their previous exposure to the defendants' compelled statements. He waited and waited, and eventually went home without them. Then the mother was shot dead before his eyes. The Blackwater company itself wasn't charged. A Blackwater team was already there, with the diplomat, who ended up being escorted back to the International Zone without any incident. However, as The New York Times reports, "not one witness heard or saw any gunfire coming from Iraqis around the square." A burnt car at the site where Blackwater guards opened fire on a crowd in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2007. [25][31], The account by the Blackwater firm differed from the Iraqi government's account; Blackwater's account stated the driver of the Kia sedan had kept driving toward the convoy, ignoring verbal orders, hand signals, and water bottles thrown at the car, and continued to approach even when fired upon. US pardons Blackwater guards: An 'affront to justice' - UN experts Four guards fired on unarmed crowd in Baghdad in 2007, killing 14 and sparking outrage over use of private security in war zones. However, according to the Joint Audit of Blackwater Contract, the State Department offered little-to-no oversight of Blackwater's performance or cost, and often monthly invoices were "paid without adequate review of support documentation." As the convoy stopped, Khalaf watched as a large man with a mustache standing atop the third car fired several shots in the air. Although one military review found that "all of the killings were unjustified and potentially criminal," in November 2007, the FBI determined that only 14 out of the 17 killings were unjustified, according to Reuters. Share this via Printer. The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting (now Constellis), a private military company contracted by the US government to provide security services in Iraq, shot at Iraqi civilians, killing 17 and injuring 20 in Nisour Square, Baghdad, while escorting a U.S. embassy convoy. The Blackwater Shooting (2007) | The New York Times The New York Times 4.26M subscribers 1.1M views 8 years ago In this 2007 video, witnesses shed light on the killing of 17 Iraqis by American. But this convoy made an unexpected U-turn, drove the wrong way around the one-way square, stopped in the middle of it and started shooting. Robert Young Pelton, a journalist who spent a month with Blackwater in Iraq, said that the guards "use[d] their machine guns like car horns," per Tidings Media. "I raised my left arm high in the air to try to signal to the convoy to stop the shooting," he said, thinking that it would respond to such a gesture by a police officer. The Blackwater team also claimed that some of the "aggressors" were dressed like Iraqi Police as well as civilians. stunt double: Courtney B. Turk Niko Dalman . [68][69], On September 24, 2007, the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior announced it would file criminal charges against the Blackwater staff involved in the shooting, although it is unclear how some of them will be brought to trial. ", Failure to Uncover the Fate of Syrias Missing, Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people in close to 100 countries worldwide, spotlighting abuses and bringing perpetrators to justice. On YouTube.The Blackwater Shooting (2007) | The New York Times http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkTimes Stuck in heavy traffic on the opposite side of the square from Yarmouk road, he heard the shooting start. "We were always together. [15] The incident sparked at least five investigations, including one from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. His brother left behind a wife and four children. Prince's remarks were subsequently reported in the Washington Post.). Blackwater Settles Massacre Lawsuit | The Nation [4] In 2014, four Blackwater employees were tried[5] and convicted in U.S. federal court; one of murder, and the other three of manslaughter and firearms charges;[6] all four convicted were controversially pardoned by President Donald Trump in December 2020. [12] On October 4, 2007, the U.S. House passed a bill that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act[65] Prince's prepared testimony also asserted that one of the vehicles had been disabled by the "enemy fire" and had to be towed. (These remarks were never actually delivered; the Department of Justice launched an investigation the day before the hearing and asked the committee not to discuss the details of the Sept. 16 incident. Sadly, this lawsuit may be the only way that the victims and their families receive remotely adequate compensation for their losses. stunt double: Jasmine Waltz Kelly Bellini . ", Meanwhile, on October 11, 2007, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed charges against Blackwater U.S.A. on behalf of an injured survivor and the families of three men who were killed during the Nisour Square massacre. Share this via Twitter However, according to The New York Times, the Iraqi government technically didn't have the legal authority to do so since the U.S.-led transitional government shielded security contractors from Iraqi laws, per CNN. The massacre took place in 2007, when the four were working as guards for Blackwater, a private military contractor, on an assignment in Baghdad. If successful, it will be the first time the US government has held private security contractors criminally liable for abusive behavior directed at Iraqis. Even in this case, the FBI did not visit the crime scene for more than two weeks after the incident, during which time State Department investigators interviewing Blackwater employees offered them limited immunity, complicating the prosecution. The story follows Prince, a Navy SEAL turned billionaire, as he is dogged by a grand-jury. [44] Blackwater's operations on behalf of the U.S. Department of State and the CIA may be unaffected by license revocation. Unfortunately, Blackwater continued to operate in Iraq and the United States didn't cancel their contract. FBI team leader: How I know the Blackwater defendants didn't - CNN [25], A State Department spot report published the same day as the incident stated that eight to ten attackers opened fire on Raven 23 "from multiple nearby locations, with some aggressors dressed in civilian apparel and others in Iraqi police uniforms" after the convoy had entered Nisour Square,[26] starting at 12:08p.m.[27] The report added that another Blackwater Tactical Support Team (TST 22), who had escorted the officials and TST 4 back to the Green Zone, was redirected to support Raven 23. [26][29], An Iraqi government account of the incident stated that as the convoy drew close to Nisour Square, a Kia sedan with a woman and her adult son in it was approaching the square from a distance, driving slowly on the wrong side of the road, and that the driver ignored a police officer's whistle to clear a path for the convoy. US prosecutors are now reportedly trying to build a case against those involved in the Sept. 16 shootings. NPR reports that sometime after the Al-Qaeda bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000, where 17 sailors were killed, Blackwater won a $46 million contract from the U.S government for "training sailors in counterterrorism." Tasks of the PMC are the support and training of military and police operations. Blackwater has been one of the biggest recipients. This is the untold truth of the Blackwater massacre. The US government said in a memorandum filed after the sentencing: None of the victims was an insurgent, or posed any threat to the Raven 23 convoy. The memorandum also contained quotations from relatives of the dead, including Mohammad Kinani, whose nine-year-old son Ali was killed. The UN has sharply criticised President Donald Trump's decision to pardon four former Blackwater . ", The State Department contacted Haythem and asked how much he wanted for compensation. Ahmed would count upwards of 40 bullet holes in their car alone. They were also contracted for personal protective services in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Haiti, Israel, and Palestine. Other times, Blackwater guards left a trail of civilian casualties. "I tried to be patient," he said. Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre - Wikipedia Fifteen minutes later, 17 Iraqi civilians were dead, dozens more wounded, and a white sedan that had been engulfed in flames contained two bodies charred beyond recognition. If it is determined that one person was complicit in the wrongdoing, we would support accountability in that. [29] The banning was described by P. W. Singer, an expert on the private military industry, as "inevitable", given the US government's reliance on and lack of oversight of the private military industry in Iraq. Share this via Email [7][8] U.N. experts said this "violated U.S. obligations under international law". Blackwater's contracts for protecting American diplomats also weren't limited to Iraq. Trump's Blackwater Guard Pardons Cause Shock And Dismay : NPR "Everyone loved him. But according to ICD, some of the plaintiffs claimed that they were "forced to accept the settlement.". Blackwater guards were also known for driving on the wrong side of the road and crashing into civilian cars. In one of the most in-depth collection of testimonials to date regarding Blackwater, Khalaf was among five witnesses and victims flown from Baghdad to meet with Susan Burke, William O'Neil and their team of lawyers and investigators. [21]:116[22] The Blackwater commander, Jimmy Watson, had received an order to stand by and not leave the Green Zone upon reaching a checkpoint, but he made a "tactical decision" to advance to Nisour Square after waiting for a few minutes; upon informing the Blackwater Tactical Operations Center of this, he was ordered to return to the Green Zone. And Blackwater didn't make the investigation easy. "I said their lives are priceless," said Haythem. After it was added, defense attorneys contended a 30-year sentence would be too severe, since the law was intended to deter gang members from carrying automatic weapons. [16] The FBI investigation found that, of the 17 Iraqis killed by the guards, at least 14 were shot without cause. The State Department has offered family members $10,000 for those killed in the Sept. 16 shootings -- an amount most consider insultingly low and have refused. Circuit ordered for a new trial to be held, stating that Slatten should've had a separate trial. [43], The Private Security Company Association of Iraq, in a document last updated on July 3, 2007, listed Blackwater as not having a license to operate in Iraq despite their attempts to apply for one. [88], On August 4, 2017, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned Slatten's murder conviction and ordered the other defendants to be re-sentenced to time already served. Some of the Iraqis told me that they don't even care about the money. Khalaf, who was there before the shooting began, said he never saw anyone fire on or approach the convoy. Amid the wreckage, colorful clouds billowed into the air from the convoy's parting gift -- multicolored smoke bombs. [62] After a group of Iraqi ministers backed the Iraqi Interior Ministry's decision to shut down Blackwater USA's operations in Iraq,[29] Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called on the U.S. government to end its contract with Blackwater[39] and called on Blackwater to pay the families $8million in compensation. [72] A sixth Blackwater guard, Jeremy Ridgeway of California, struck a deal with prosecutors on December 4, 2008 and pleaded guilty to one count each of voluntary manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and aiding and abetting,[72][3] and agreed to testify against the other five men. Finally, around 5 p.m., he phoned his brother who worked at the hospital closest to Nissour Square. [14], On October 2, 2007, the Democratic staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released a report stating that Blackwater USA guards had used deadly force weekly in Iraq and had inflicted "significant casualties and property damage". Private. [63] The suit was settled for an undisclosed sum in January 2010. [54] He enlisted in 1999, and served in Bosnia with the 3rd Infantry Division. Khalaf's observations are backed up by official accounts, including leaked FBI findings, which concluded that at least 14 of the 17 shooting deaths were unjustified, and statements by military. I took Mr. Carroll's threat seriously. His brother's wife had delivered their first child, a daughter, just 20 days earlier. According to the civil lawsuit filed against Blackwater by Saadoon's family, Moonen was drunk when he shot and killed Saadoon "for no reason." [89][90][91] The panel also recommended that Slatten undergo a re-trial on the grounds that it was unjustifiable to try him with his co-defendants, and that he should have been tried separately. The Burke O'Neil lawsuit may be the only way that victims receive compensation for their loss. Please give now to support our work, New testimony from witnesses and victims provides the most in-depth, harrowing account to date of the US security firm's deadly rampage in Iraq, Share this via Facebook
