Murky Legal Issues Cloud Blackwater Case

Investigations Into Multiple Iraqi Deaths Offer Window Into Shadowy Private Security Firm

(CBS/AP)  Somewhere in western Washington state is a former Blackwater contractor who might, under normal circumstances, be on trial in Baghdad.

He was wandering drunk around the Green Zone after a party last Christmas Eve when he encountered - and fatally shot - a 32-year-old guard to Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, according to a congressional report released this week.

Blackwater immediately arranged to have the U.S. State Department fly the 26-year-old contractor back to the United States, fired him and fined him, and paid the slain guard's family $15,000.

But federal officials say he is not in custody. They barely acknowledge his existence, let alone release his name or discuss the status of the investigation.

The shadowy case highlights the murky legal issues surrounding the controversial security firm's Iraq-based employees, who may be exempt from both U.S. and Iraqi law.

Since founding Blackwater USA a decade ago, Erik Prince, 38, has gone to great lengths to avoid attention, trying to prevent photographers from taking his picture and demanding that his contractors never speak with reporters.

The veil of secrecy was lifted Tuesday as the former Navy Seal was called to Congress to defend his security company against allegations it covered up the killings of Iraqi civilians.

Pentagon officials say the 10,000 private security contractors working for the United States in Iraq are so indispensable that as long as they were getting the job done, no one questioned their tactics, even though senior military officers personally witnessed them overreact, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.

"I can certainly say I've seen them do some tactics that I thought were over the top," said Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson.

At Blackwater, contractors earn about $90,000 for six months' work, significantly more than they earned as U.S. soldiers.

"What normally would be a major option would be to have [the former contractor] prosecuted in Iraq," said Ron Slye, director of the international comparative law program at Seattle University Law School. "The problem is of course, under Iraqi law as put into place by the U.S., there's no jurisdiction over these people."

Amid an outcry from Iraqis who questioned how an American could kill someone in those circumstances and return to the U.S. a free man, the U.S. Justice Department announced it would investigate.

The case has been turned over to the U.S. attorney's office for western Washington state, where the man lives, Bush administration officials told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation.

Mark Bartlett, the first assistant U.S. attorney in Seattle, said Tuesday he had no comment, joining a long list of federal officials here who would not confirm or deny anything about the former contractor's case. Robbie Burroughs, a spokeswoman for the FBI, said she could say only that the man is not in custody.

Prince was questioned Tuesday on Capitol Hill by lawmakers looking into the role his company's personnel played in a Sept. 16 shootout that left 11 Iraqis dead and the slaying of the Iraqi vice president's guard.

The State Department has asked the FBI investigate the Sept. 16 shootings. Eight FBI agents, all trained in evidence response, departed Tuesday for Iraq and hope to wrap up their on-site investigation within days.

On Sept. 16, a bullet, apparently fired by a Blackwater guard, killed an Iraqi man who had been driving in Baghdad's Nisour Square. The car continued to roll toward a Blackwater convoy, which responded with an intense barrage of gunfire in several directions, striking Iraqis who were desperately trying to flee, according to The New York Times.

As the gunfire continued, at least one of the Blackwater guards screamed, “No! No! No!” and gesturing to his colleagues to stop shooting, according to an Iraqi lawyer who was stuck in traffic and was shot in the back as he tried to flee. The account of the struggle among the Blackwater guards corroborates preliminary findings of the American investigation, reported the Times.

When testifying before Congress, Prince made one point over and over again, that not a single U.S. Official under the protection of Blackwater has been killed or seriously injured, reports CBS News correspondent Chip Reid.

"It's been 10 months and the Justice Department has not done anything to him," lawmaker Carolyn B. Maloney, a New York democrat, said in questioning Prince about the Christmas Eve shooting. "If you work for Blackwater, you get packed up and you leave within two days and you face a $1,000 fine."

[mcvet]

Wasn''t THIS how the SS came to be in Nazi Germany??

[signof4]

I''m surprised Myrtha hasn''t already lept to the cameras proclaiming them as ''cold blooded murderers'' - like he did the US Marines before they even had a trial.

[brianbwb-2009]

"However, that poses a hurdle: Blackwater was hired to provide security to the State Department in the Green Zone; prosecutors would have to show that the arrangement supported the Defense Department''s mission in Iraq."

Why is this so difficult? Where is the green zone?

"Another option would be to take the case to a military court."

Since when is Blackwater an officially sanctioned military body by the US government?

"The Bush administration has been hostile to the notion that the conventions apply in Iraq and the war on terror."

The Idiot in Chief declared war, therefore it falls under the convention as an armed conflict between two sovereign nations.

All the play with semantics is just trying to avoid being subject to the rule of law, which we are told to believe applies to everyone, including a bunch of drunken, mercenary Nazis, and the Fuhrer that hired them.

[zootallures2]

Nuts Inc.

[myidoncbs]

Hired killers do NOT create "murky legal issues". They are EVIL through and through. The only lower life forms on this planet than mercenaries are the ones who hire them to do their dirty work. (Bush, Cheney, the whole bunch of neo con men, and their brain-dead cheerleaders and supporters.)

Prince proudly proclaims, "not a single U.S. Official under the protection of Blackwater has been killed or seriously injured." But the ends do not justify the means! If the goal is to keep US Officials safe from harm, simply shut down the green zone and go home. They''d be infinitely safer at home, and no one else would have to die to keep them safe.

[rochest]

paid private army = an nonregulated mercenary force

we don''t own them, we don''t control them, and they sure don''t operate under laws that hold them accountable for their actions 0 And they should get paid much better than the U.S. Military

next question... has anybody noticed how the numbers of contractors or how many work for which company or which U.S. government agency ?




SUPPORT OUR TROOPS BRING THEM HOME NOW AND FULL HEALTH-CARE WHEN THEY GET HERE!

[rochest]

I''m sorry I sent the post before correcting..... here is my corrected post the corrections are in caps

...paid private army = an nonregulated mercenary force

we don''''t own them, we don''''t control them, and they sure don''''t operate under laws that hold them accountable for their actions And they SURE get paid much better than the U.S. Military

next question... has ELSE anybody noticed how the numbers of contractors or how many work for which company or which U.S. government agency KEEP CHANGING?


SUPPORT OUR TROOPS BRING THEM HOME NOW AND FULL HEALTH-CARE WHEN THEY GET HERE!

[lochlan-2009]

Sounds like Blackwater is an "axis of evil" and should be listed as a terrorist organization.

[aaabee-2009]

Posted by tuckerndfw at 09:40 AM : Oct 03, 2007

Agreed! We have US Soldiers being court-marshalled and their careers ruined for killing civilians, they are dishonorably discharged and put in prison.

But these "contractors" are not held to the same standards as our Soldiers who are fighting a war?

Come on. Always just outside the law, this administration. And Iraq can''t throw them out of their country. Whose country is it really?

Those same "contractors" will come back to the US and who will they work for then, Bush and Co? Don''t you want rules to apply to these thugs in or out of the US, they still are US citizens aren''t they?

[gkc99]

Accountable? This is Der Fuhrer''s private SS guard! They are accountable to nobody other than The Decider! Any objections, and you will be shot!

[aaabee-2009]

I want the old United States back, when we stood for something proud and honorable.

Problem is, we can''t go back. Bush has taken this country to a new level of mean-spirited pointlessness, and there is no putting the ketchup back in the bottle.

[cwballardle]

do yall not know how vualable blackwater and other private firms are to this war. "Hired Killers" what the hell are you talking about?! They are hired to protect vip convoys at any cost and if in the mist they use leathal force then that is there job. Civil''s were killed, do you know the facts of how it happened, how the did not apply to warnings, no matter what langage you speak man with gun and holding hand up, you should be able to understand that. why do we people provide you freedom so you can say what you want to and in return you talk bad about us when you don''t know the whole storie. it is sad to think this is the country that I love and are will to die for because of people who don''t give a *** people like you.

[acxeptddty]

AaaBee is correct.

People who want America to stand for something substantive, good, and honorable need to stand up and be heard.

Sadly, as a nation we have come to be defined by intolerance, greed, and ignorance. That may be an America that a myopic "It''s All About Me" Republican is satisfied with, but it''s not an America that the rest of us want.

I for one have had enough of government by idiots who protect if not applaud the exploits of common thugs with guns.

[acxeptddty]

This comment is Exhibit A to what I just said:

"do yall not know how vualable blackwater and other private firms are to this war. "Hired Killers" what the hell are you talking about?! They are hired to protect vip convoys at any cost and if in the mist they use leathal force then that is there job. Civil''''s were killed, do you know the facts of how it happened, how the did not apply to warnings, no matter what langage you speak man with gun and holding hand up, you should be able to understand that. why do we people provide you freedom so you can say what you want to and in return you talk bad about us when you don''t know the whole storie. it is sad to think this is the country that I love and are will to die for because of people who don''''t give a *** people like you."

Unfortunately, I do know the facts. Someone was shot in the head while driving a car in the general direction of the convoy and, while his mom held him screaming the car continued rolling toward that convoy. The Blackwater personnel opened fire on everyone in the vicinity; traffic was clogged and civilians in cars were trying to back up, some left their cars to flee. A woman dragged her ten year old son, lifeless, trying to escape. Many people were wounded or killed. There is utterly, absolutely, no evidence -- none -- that any posed a threat.

There are your facts.

[duhrer]

There is no flag in the world big enough to cover the shame of killing innocent civilians.

[spokane-guy]

My ex-wife has a swastika on her birth certificate. Her dad was a clerk to the SS in Poznan, Poland. She tells me that the mindset behind Blackwater structuring and social interaction is terribly similar to that of German SS formation and thinking in the 1940s.

[spokane-guy]

My ex-wife has a swastika on her birth certificate. Her dad was a clerk to the SS in Poznan, Poland. She tells me that the mindset behind Blackwater structuring and social interaction is terribly similar to that of German SS formation and thinking in the 1940s.

[spokane-guy]

My ex-wife has a swastika on her birth certificate. Her dad was a clerk to the SS in Poznan, Poland. She tells me that the mindset behind Blackwater structuring and social interaction is terribly similar to that of German SS formation and thinking in the 1940s.

[spokane-guy]

My ex-wife has a swastika on her birth certificate. Her dad was a clerk to the SS in Poznan, Poland. She tells me that the mindset behind Blackwater structuring and social interaction is terribly similar to that of German SS formation and thinking in the 1940s.

[lars008-2009]

Posted by duhrer at 11:23 AM : Oct 03, 2007

LOOK WHO IS TARGETING CIVILIANS!!!

Qaeda warns of attacks ''worse than 9/11''
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070530102648.wuwa6k96&show_article=1

Hizbullah Deputy Sec-Gen Sheikh Naim Qassem: We Have Jurisprudent Permission to Carry Out ''Martyrdom'' Operations, Fire Missiles on Israeli Civilians From Ayatollah Khomeini
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD154907

Switching Sides: Inside The Enemy Camp

But then in 2000, well before his arrest, something happened which would make Abas question everything he believed in: a fatwa, a religious edict, was issued by Osama bin Laden.

"It should be understood that killing Americans and Jews anywhere found are the highest act of worship and the highest form of good deeds in the eyes of Allah," Simon quotes bin Laden.

Abas and his fellow commanders were ordered to read the fatwa to their men and make sure they carried it out. The others obeyed, but Abas refused. It was his moment of truth. He firmly believed that jihad was to be fought only on the battlefield in defense of Islam; he had always been taught that the killing of civilians had nothing to do with holy war and that it was forbidden.

The fatwa justified killing non-Muslim civilians everywhere.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/04/60minutes/main2761108.shtml?source=RSSattr=60Minutes_2761108
American Al Qaeda Member Threatens Attack
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/29/terror/main2865282.shtml

[gkc99]

Investigate? Who will investigate--the FBI? The folks who "mistakenly" wiretapped US citizens right and left under instructions from Bushit and Gonzo?

This is how a secret army, a secret police force, accountable to nobody except Bushit and the people who own and operate Bushit, comes into being.

And a Blackwater employee makes $90K for 6 months--$180K per year, while uniformed US soldiers get about $20K a year? What a nice fat payoff of taxpayer money to the Endtimers. But not to worry, much of that will cycle right back to the Repugniscum National committee!

[spokane-guy]

My ex-wife has a swastika on her birth certificate. Her dad was a clerk to the SS in Poznan, Poland. She tells me that the mindset behind Blackwater structuring and social interaction is terribly similar to that of German SS formation and thinking in the 1940s.

[pepperp1]

Prince''s father, Edgar Prince, was a founder of the Family Research Council with Gary Bauer.


Normal Bush, unaccomplished silver spoon right wing crony and neo con. An moral righteous speaking tough talking mediocre pariah that Bush loves.

[rick_vt]

Whoever determined that this mercenary force is immune to any liability under US Military law, US law or Iraq law for their actions should be held responsible for all crimes committed by this group. It should be considered that they took full responsibility the force and its actions.

[grazinggoat]

CBS NEws: ''Blackwater immediately arranged to have the U.S. State Department fly the 26-year-old contractor back to the United States, fired him and fined him, and paid the slain guard''s family $15,000.''

-Isn''t it great? a man''s life''s worth one month of ''drinking and work'' with Bleakwater. BleakWater will know a bleak fate. Hopefully their service purchasers too.

[enlightenu]

The number of Blackwater mercenaries in Iraq is a small percentage of the massive army that is being churned out in North Carolina. There are *rumors* now floating around that this army will be used to fill in for National Guardsmen sent to Iraq. Therefore first responders to a domestic terror attack would be Blackwater mercenaries, who''s recruits are the lowest of the low. And don''t argue against that. All that is needed to entrench these death squads in our cities is a moderate attack, which can be staged by "anyone". It is such a simple plan. And what is the motivation, the mission? Weed out anyone who doesn''t fit the Christian/Republican agenda and create a pristine "City upon the hill" in time for the coming apocalypse? Does all this sound crazy? Is it any crazier than the events of the last 6 years and up to this moment?

[jtreleaven]

The lack of legal accountability for contractors is a big problem. In Bosnia Dyncorp contractors were caught raping child *** slaves, but they too were spirited out of the country and never punished! See http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2002/06/26/bosnia/index.html

[j-whitman]

Lars008,,,,, LOOK WHO TARGETED CIVILIANS

About 125,000 Jews left Iraq for Israel in the late 1940s and into 1952, most because they had been lied to and put into a panic by what I came to learn were Zionist bombs.
Bacteriological Warfare

The Haganah put typhus bacteria into the water going to Acre, the people got sick, and the Jewish forces occupied Acre. This worked so well that they sent a Haganah division dressed as Arabs into Gaza, where there were Egyptian forces, and the Egyptians caught them putting two cans of bacteria, typhus and dysentery, into the water supply in wanton disregard of the civilian population.

[lars008-2009]

THOMAS JEFFERSON KICKED FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAMIST ARSES 200 YEARS AGO,,,

IT WAS THE CORRECT THING TO DO THEN,,, AND IT IS THE CORRECT THING TO DO NOW,,,

America and the Barbary Pirates: An International Battle Against an Unconventional Foe
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/mtjprece.html

But with regard to non-Muslims who are at war with the Muslims and do not have a peace treaty with the Muslims or are not living under Muslim rule, then Muslims are commanded to kill them, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
%u201CFight those of the disbelievers who are close to you, and let them find harshness in you%u201D [al-Tawbah 9:123]
http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=11406&ln=eng&txt=kill

The atheist who does good deeds is worse than the one who kills his mother and takes care of dogs
What is the reason for people not believing in God being punished? I read that good deeds of such people will not be accepted. So if someone does all he can do to help people and be useful to the society, he will be punished nevertheless if he did not believe in God. But what exactly is the reason of punishing a good man for his atheism?
http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=10300&ln=eng&txt=kill

[cwballardle]

lol yall bs is so funny

[j-whitman]

Lars008,,,,, The main plank in the Nazi Party was to attack liberals -
--- Adolph Hitler was a pure right-wing conservative bent on destroying liberalism by claiming to be a Christian protector of the people.
--- "The main plank in the Nationalist Socialist program is to abolish the liberalistic concept of the individual and the Marxist concept of humanity and to substitute for them the folk community, rooted in the soil and bound together by the bond of its common blood." -- Adolph Hitler

[themartyred]

OK, let me get this straight. Blackwater mercenaries forced AMERICANS to give up their weapons, bypassing the 4th amendment to the Bill of Rights guaranteeing our right to bear arms to defend ourselves (from private military militias like them), but they ALSO are the ones in Iraq killing people at will, and they face NO penalty but being sent back home with a small fine and lose their job - for killing someone without warrant?

HOW IS THAT CHRISTIAN? OR JUST? OR MORAL?

IMPEACH dammit, this Prince guy''s company was selected by the Bush administration.

[themartyred]

and I''m referring below to Katrina.

and if this doesn''t sound like George then I don''t know what does -

"The main plank in the Nationalist Socialist program is to abolish the liberal concept of the individual and the Marxist concept of humanity and to substitute for them the folk community, rooted in the soil and bound together by the bond of its common blood." -- Adolph Hitler

[themartyred]

OK, let me get this straight. Blackwater mercenaries forced AMERICANS in NEW ORLEANS to give up their weapons, bypassing the 4th amendment to the Bill of Rights guaranteeing our right to bear arms to defend ourselves (from private military militias like them), but they ALSO are the ones in Iraq killing people at will, and they face NO penalty but being sent back home with a small fine and lose their job - for killing someone without warrant?

HOW IS THAT CHRISTIAN? OR JUST? OR MORAL?

IMPEACH dammit, this Prince guy''''s company was selected by the Bush administration.

[pudd54]

These are the same guys the fed government asked to pull security on American soil after Katrina, that is scary.

[j-whitman]

Both houses of Congress & the Off White House should unite & throw Rush Limbaug off of Armed Forces Radio

[enlightenu]

I''m waiting for the day a true American hero, a US Army officer, orders his troops to take out a Blackwater death squad to protect Iraqi civilians from their bullets. The Iraqis would be so grateful it might just trigger a turning point in securing Iraq.

[islandgal517]

Blackwater is no where near anything like the Nazi''s. I find it pretty pathetic that you Americans who are supposed to support your country belive the *** in the news, and everything the Iraqi''s are saying. If you want to stick up for them so badly, move there. Don''t forget about how many Americans, and non-Americans, they have killed! And how many more they have threatned to torture and kill. Think before you speak folks!

[enlightenu]

IslandGal517, Ahmed Haithem Ahmed didn''t torture or kill anybody, and neither did his mom.

[socrates392]

Both houses of Congress & the Off White House should unite & throw Rush Limbaug off of Armed Forces Radio

Posted by j-whitman at 03:10 PM : Oct 03, 2007

They should have done that a long time ago if you ask me. That vile slug doesn''t deserve to be on any radio if he insults our troops!

How does it feel Repugs, having your icon torn down for excercising his right to free speech! Kinda reminds me of something . . . oh, yeah, that article in the New York Times by Moveon.org! LOL!

[lars008-2009]

told you so,,,

demonic-rats believe in freedom of speech as long as you agree with them,,, lol

just like fascist nazi terrorislam,,,

just like communism,,,

just like monarchies,,,

the demonic-rats are shredding the constitution,,,

[glossypan]

I listen to Limbaugh a couple of hours most weeks. I would hate to see him off the air. Leave him on Armed Forces Radio. I do think AFR should line up at least one progressive talk show.

This link is so that the more naive young boys and girls will be clued in that Rush is high comedy rather than a news show or thoughtful commentary.

The 7 min 32 sec audio clip gives plenty of context to the phony soldiers remark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E1rUekyAak

[glossypan]

Dropped the link and broke it on my way to post'' Here is the correct, tested link. Sorry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E1rUekyAak

[glossypan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E1rUekyAak
Third times a charm.
Must be grit in my keyboard.

[iceman_1960]

Here''s another good one.

Iraqi vet calls Limbaugh out.

"Until you have the guts to call me a ''phony soldier'' to my face, stop telling lies about my service." - Purple Heart recipient Brian McGough

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

[iceman_1960]

"Iraqi WAR vet calls Limbaugh out."

The man is an American, not an Iraqi.

[iceman_1960]

"The atheist who does good deeds is worse than the one who kills his mother and takes care of dogs"
- Posted by lars008 at 02:12 PM : Oct 03, 2007

Actually a lot of "good Christians" and Bible believers would agree with that absurd statement.

[iceman_1960]

"The atheist who does good deeds is worse than the one who kills his mother and takes care of dogs"
- Posted by lars008 at 02:12 PM : Oct 03, 2007

(lars008 was quoting that as an example of Muslim fanaticism and intolerance.)

[iceman_1960]

Actually the Christian form of that statement would be, "The atheist who does good deeds is just as bad as the one who kills his mother and takes care of dogs"

This would be in line the bizarre Biblical statement that if you break the smallest part of the law, you have broken all the laws.

"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." - James 2:10-11

Of course we don''t think this way in real life. We don''t punish jaywalkers with the same punishments as pedophiles, rapists and murderers.

But whenever religion is involved, logic, reason and common sense fly off into outer space.

[macusweil]

"CNN- The Bush administration said Wednesday it opposes a bill that would bring private military contractors overseas under U.S. law, warning it would have "unintended and intolerable consequences" for national security."

Yeah, Bush''s private storm troopers could no longer kidnap and torture against the will of the American people.