Judge tosses Blackwater case in Baghdad shooting
January 1st, 2010 . by TexasFredWASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge dismissed all charges Thursday against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians in a crowded Baghdad intersection in 2007.Citing repeated government missteps, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina dismissed a case that had been steeped in international politics. The shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad. The Iraqi government wanted the guards to face trial in Iraq and officials there said they would closely watch how the U.S. judicial system handled the case.
Urbina said the prosecutors ignored the advice of senior Justice Department officials and built their case on sworn statements that had been given under a promise of immunity. Urbina said that violated the guards’ constitutional rights. He dismissed the government’s explanations as “contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility.”
“We’re obviously disappointed by the decision,” Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said. “We’re still in the process of reviewing the opinion and considering our options.”
Prosecutors can appeal the ruling.
Full Story Here:
Judge tosses Blackwater case in Baghdad shooting
When does the U.S. government come to it’s senses and drop the charges against the U.S. Navy SEALs? Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist.
Something is terribly wrong in this nation. Our fighting men are being persecuted for doing their jobs. Our soldiers are being forced to operate under a set of *Rules of Engagement* that is getting them killed. And it’s all done in the name of *political correctness*.
Blackwater contractors had been hired to guard U.S. diplomats in Iraq. The guards said insurgents ambushed them in a traffic circle. Prosecutors said the men unleashed an unprovoked attack on civilians using machine guns and grenades.
Our leaders are afraid to let our troops kill the enemies we face in Iraq, Afghanistan and God only knows where else we may be operating . Our so-called leaders are afraid that by doing so, that by addressing those enemies, and killing them in great numbers, numbers that would equate to a clear and total victory, we may offend the enemies of this nation.
Offending the enemies of this nation is the least of our worries. What are we going to do? Make Islam hate *The Great Satan* even more?
They can’t hate us any more than they already do. Islam wants to wipe out ALL Christians and Jews simply because we won’t submit to their antiquated beliefs and bow to the moon god of Arabia. Offend them? We need to be doing a lot more than offending them.
We didn’t start this war, the actions of 9-11, and other previous attacks on this nation, our troops and our interests is what started this war. And you don’t win a WAR by playing nice!
Urbina’s ruling does not resolve whether the shooting was proper. Rather, the 90-page opinion underscores some of the conflicting evidence in the case. Some Blackwater guards told prosecutors they were concerned about the shooting and offered to cooperate. Others said the convoy had been attacked. By the time the FBI began investigating, Nisoor Square had been picked clean of bullets that might have proven whether there had been a firefight or a massacre.
I am going to point something out that ANY person that has ever gone over and played in the sand box can readily verify.
The difference between a radical insurgent jihadist, intent on killing you, and a peaceful person, non-combatant, indigenous to the area is this: HOW FAST can he empty his AK-47 and then hide it, thereby looking like the innocent victim. That’s about it.
Movies have been made about the way the Islamic warrior goes about the business of war, Rules of Engagement. I know, it’s just a movie, and some of you are going to say it’s a Hollywood, left wing production, but if you saw this flic, if you have ANY knowledge of what the hell it’s like to fight these people on THEIR turf, then you have a pretty good idea of what our guys, and private contractors are up against in Iraq and elsewhere.
This really is a great start to 2010. The Blackwater guys needed to catch a break, and this is a HUGE one. There’s much left to do though. As I said earlier, our SEALs are still under charges, nothing takes away your motivation as much as knowing that your country is not going to back you up for doing your job.
There’s a lesson to be learned from that last paragraph. Is the Obama administration smart enough to grasp it?
Disguise the point as a straw, then the Obamsters would be able to grasp it…
It’s hard to know where the truth lies, but even though we have sometimes had personnel who committed war crimes, I have a hard time faulting Americans either in our military or assisting our military in a war-time situation.
A second’s delay can mean the difference between dying and living in war, and you can’t always tell with perfect accuracy who the enemy is.
Our state of mind must be to defend our people, not to automatically suspect them of something. That’s insane.
I see the ‘ Draft ‘ coming back soon. After all…who in their right mind would want to join an Army that doesn’t allow them to fight…nor the equipment to fight..and when they do fight…they get brought up on charges of War Crimes. To top it all off Obama wanted them to pay for their own medical insurance and health care.
I’m sorry, but if I was faced with all the above…I would just as soon take my chances on the streets as being homeless.
I too hope the SEALS get released soon and all charges dropped ( as they should never have been filed in the first place ).
Happy New Year and keep up the pressure Fred.
This is great for those Blackwater guys, bet the left doesn’t like this one as they hate Blackwater. You are right about this PC way of fighting wars. We’ve been stuck with this shit since Korea and Truman. I don’t know when the leaders of this country will finally see the futility of operating this way on the battlefields of the world. We have the ability to inflict swift and absolute destruction on the enemy, the ability to shorten the conflicts and save American lives, but our leaders refuse to turn the military loose. I suppose many, many more thousands of Americans will have to die before the truth is revealed to those in the Oval Office. Happy New Year Fred.
This Blackwater case was political from the get go. Glad the judge ruled the way he did. The Feds put the Blackwater folks between a rock and a hard place just bacause of the whinning Iraqui govt. We should have told the Iraquis to go pound sand and that we’ll do what we have to do to fight the war. Should have told them we have the power to replace their govt if they don’t cooperate. ROE in this War on Terror SUCK. If we want to win, the extremist ragheads have to be taken out in mass and without reservation. Won’t happen with this POTUS as he is using the military as merely a political tool. Hope the SEALS fare as well as Blackwater.
This is good news, and yes, the Iraqi’s are already pissed. Well, they can go screw a goat as far as I am concerned.
Correct about the navy SEALS, and let’s not forget about Army Ranger 1st Lieutenant Michael Behenna the Ranger Lt. that is sitting in Leavenworth because he did his job…
[...] A Happy New Year? Well on some fronts it is! By Patrick Sperry Well, the good news is that the folks from Blackwater had their case overturned, and the Iraqi’s are not pleased… We discuss this situation over at Texas Freds. [...]
I hate the jihad as much as our soldiers do over there.
Our mission is to repatriate the local territories, and remove the jihadists by all means allowed in the battle orders.
Our own Governmant set rules of engagement for our warriors in Viet-Nam. I hated them, and no more needs to be said.
To see these same type of rules being forced upon our war-fighters by our closet muslim president, well,,,,this is a bother.
So, hurry up birth certificate investigators, or anyone else who knows something about our muzzie president.
Time is ticking,,,tick tick tick.
I saw an interview with a little girl after the government decided to prosecute the Haditha Marines. The little girl stated that when the IED went off she was in bed “covering her ears”. When I saw that the first question that came to mind was, “how did she know the blast was imminent so she had her ears covered” before it occurred”??? Meanwhile that damn poor excuse for a man, Senator Murtha was busy calling our Marines murderers instead of waiting for the facts to come out. It’s my opinion that it is easier for the left wing to promote the tendency of our Islamic enemies to hide behind victimhood than to look at the facts. A regular citizen can view a newscast and note something that points to a lie being told by our enemies, but a Senator can’t get the facts before he opens his ignorant mouth! Pretty pathetic.
I will do what I did when the Haditha Marines were being persecuted by the far left lunatics… write letters and if I’m blest with work soon, send cash for the defense of our dear SEALS. If this insane attack against the most decent of American society, our military, doesn’t stop soon, we will probably see blood flow in our streets before it’s over. I saw a news story that indicates Obama is raising troops in case of revolution. I don’t know how true that is, but the last time an American POTUS raised troops to send against American citizens we had a bloody 2nd War for American Independence! Now we may be looking at a 3rd. I find with each passing day that my loathing of libbers and their America hating agenda increases. I just wish everyone who hates the America designed by our founding fathers would just relo to Russia or Cuba and leave the majority here to have the country of our founders design! Sigh….
Oh, and don’t celebrate too quickly, the commie libbers will probably “reverse this judge’s decision”, being the scumbags that they are! But we can’t investigate and prosecute ACORN!