Blackwater Repainted Trucks Immediately After Deadly Baghdad Shooting

AP:

Blackwater Worldwide repaired and repainted its trucks immediately after a deadly September shooting in Baghdad, making it difficult to determine whether enemy gunfire provoked the attack, according to people familiar with the government's investigation of the incident.

Damage to the vehicles in the convoy has been held up by Blackwater as proof that its security guards were defending themselves against an insurgent ambush when they fired into a busy intersection, leaving 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

Read the whole story: AP

Comments

[reactionrynihilist]

This war is being lost because of the mercenaries. They debase the service of professional soldiers who can be held accountable for their actions.
They also divert money away from the real army. Why should they have the best equipment? The state department would rather put money into the pockets of war profiteers who hire foreign fighters than support our legitimate military. When congress gets the budget they should be able to stipulate how much goes into private companies.
If you want to fight while not in uniform you should form a privately funded Lincoln Brigade or Rough Riders unit. If you are for the war, put your money where you mouth is.

[HumeSkeptic]

Looks like our hired killers are real professionals. That is not surprising because many of them served as Pinochet's goons in Chile.

On a broader scale, what the fuck has our country become, hiring thugs to kill civilians?

And don't forget, we are paying these thugs with our tax dollars.

[lisakaz]

Given the crap over that covered up rape of a Hallaburton employee, I guess Blackwater only cared about covering up in case the Iraqis investigated.

[lungfish]

sorry to repost this but it is relevent...

Of course they lied and covered it up. And you can bet that US gov is not the least bit interested in seeing accountability from Blackwater.

These guys are not "security guards". They fight in combat and either support US operations or conduct operations that the US can't take on directly. Sure, they do escort work as well and, according to the State Department, that is their main reason to be there. But they are mercenaries, not security guards... They fight and carry the fight to the enemy, security guards dont do that.

I wish the media could get it right.

Here is a video of them in battle, firing on Al Sadr's Mahdi Army....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5e8w87ZNBw

There is nothing defensive about this operation and it sure as hell isn't security guard work. So who authorized it? State? or did the orders come from a darker place a little further behind the scenes?

According to the article "If the Justice Department wants to bring criminal charges such as assault, manslaughter or murder in a U.S. court, prosecutors would have to do so under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act.

That would require the government to show that State Department contractors were "supporting the mission of the Department of Defense overseas." Defense lawyers are expected to argue that guarding diplomats was a purely State Department function, one independent from the Pentagon."

This looks like "supporting the mission of the Department of Defense overseas" to me....If they aren't supporting the DOD why were they the centerpiece of San Diego's armed forces day festivities with their paratroops flying the Blackwater flag along with the colors of the rest of the US military?

[peterg76]

It's called "obstruction of justice". It's a crime. When a corporation commits a crime, besides charging the actual operatives, you throw the officers and directors in jail, seize the entirety of the company assets, and forcibly dissolve the corporation.

This is not complicated.

[research]

It's pure bullshit that we don't have jurisdiction over blackwater!

at the least, blackwater agents breaking the law become enemy combatants, since they don't wear military uniforms.

[raptor]

Conduct as hearsay? You be the judge. Spoliation of evidence? You be the judge. A TV or movie plot coming near you? You be the judge.

[UnrulyPeasant]

One of these days, the Iraqi people and the insurgents are going to come down hard on Blackwater, and the military most likely won't do a damned thing about it..

Just a thought.

[Kalima]

Crooks and Liars! This immunity business is criminal and they should be made to pay for their crimes.

[patriotscholar]

Easy solution - just take their guns away from them and send them home with no job...they could join with all the other unemployed.

[loki]

In a country ruled by law, this should have been enough to at least bring serious fines and even jail time for interfering with an investigation.

But in the Bush world, it just brings praises for how cleaver they were to divert another problem. You know Bush is loving this. And we all know our Dumborats like Pelosi and Reid are looking the other way, as Blackwater or someone representing them adds to their personal bank accounts.

[maxfusion]

Gosh, why don't we talk about the George Soros funded 650,000 civilian casualty count that's a lie. The real number is 149,000. Mr Soros should be tried by military tribunal for intentionally falsifying the count to undermine our national security. He is a traitor, and a security threat.

[xrepublican]

SOP - destroy evidence, deny everything

Not that they CAN be prosecuted. The laws the US imposed on Iraq give these mercenaries a 'get out of Jail Free' pass for ANY behavior....

Realistically, NO crimes in Iraq ever get prosecuted in any meaningful way..... ANYONE ever held responsible for AbuGhraib? a couple low level guards had their wrists slapped..... One officer was charged for talking about the crimes (not the crimes but REVEALING them) I rest my case.

And nevermind the substanative war crimes - like the use of white phosphorous against civilians in Fallujah....... hell, the whole 'agressive' Iraq war. That's what Germans were convicted of in Nuremberg.

[dax5]

Does this headline mean to insinuate there might be some corruption going on in and around Iraq?

No - I won't believe it!

LMAO

[lungfish]

These guys are not "security guards". They fight in combat and either support US operations or conduct operations that the US can't take on directly. Sure, they do escort work as well and, according to the State Department, that is their main reason to be there. But they are mercenaries, not security guards... They fight and carry the fight to the enemy, security guards dont do that.

I wish the media could get it right.

Here is a video of them in battle, firing on Al Sadr's Mahdi Army....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5e8w87ZNBw