Indicted Blackwater Guards Named

Five Contractors Charged In 2007 Shooting Deaths Of Iraqi Civilians Are All Decorated Veterans

(AP)  The five Blackwater Worldwide guards indicted for a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting are all decorated military veterans who have served in some of the world's most dangerous hotspots.

According to lawyers for the guards, the men are: Donald Ball, a former Marine from Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard, a former Marine from Knoxville, Tenn.; Evan Liberty, a former Marine from Rochester, N.H.; Nick Slatten, a former Army sergeant from Sparta, Tenn.; and Paul Slough, an Army veteran from Keller, Texas.

The men are charged following the shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians in a busy Baghdad intersection.

Documents in the case remain sealed but are expected to become public Monday, when the men have been ordered to surrender.

"These are indictments that never should have been brought," Mark Hulkower, a lawyer for Slough, said Saturday. "Paul Slough has served his country honorably for many years and has done nothing wrong. I look forward to clearing his name."

The character of the five men will be a critical part of the case. Prosecutors are expected to describe the men as trigger-happy security guards who opened fire unprovoked. Defense lawyers will describe the men as honorable veterans who, after completing their military service, joined Blackwater to protect U.S. diplomats overseas.

Young children were among the victims of the shooting, which strained relations between the U.S. and Iraq. Following the shooting, Blackwater became the subject of congressional hearings in Washington and insurgent propaganda videos in Iraq.

An Iraqi government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, said Baghdad welcomed any attempt to "hold the criminals accountable for their crime."

The Iraqi government, he said, has retained a law firm to pursue compensation for the families of the victims.

The Justice Department obtained the indictment late Thursday and got it sealed.

[biblethumpar]

ducrider916 ,
Find the WMDs and ill meet you there so you can show me the proof..

[ducrider916]

The Great Americans will stand by our men and when they are proven innocent I hope all you American hating ******* rott in hell

[drivelphobe]

brianwwb...

You are correct. I seemed to have gone overboard with my frustration and anger over the whole matter.

I''ll settle down and be more civil and exhibit better understanding of the real issues.

Have a great Sunday.

[mydiatribe]

Fire Discipline is part of the intense training these veterans have undergone. I find it highly suspicious that these men suddenly went off on the civilian population on a Bagdad street without provocation.

My question would be just how innocent were these casualties? That is a question only God can answer.
The point is that many things are often not what they first appear to be when FIRST REPORTED.

This could be indiscriminate killing but it may not be.

[excelsior9]

You are terrible writers. Using bid words doesn''t meen your smart. You sound kind of like nut jobs.

[drivelphobe]

The only good Iraqi a dead Iraqi, particularly when they all look alike and most of them are carrying out jihad. These guys should be freed and sent right back to work with bonuses. The entire middle east is not worth one more dead American soldier.

[shenry0712]

You people are judging these FINE MEN for a "crime" that the US Military does everyday in a war torn country and yet the media and Goverment want to charge these men with a crime? How many innocent civilans have been shot in Iraq since the start of the war? Were the soldiers ever charged? No. How can they even prove that these men shot the civilians and not the insurgents. They have ALREADY stated the men were in this hot spot in Baghdad where there are insurgents and terrorist. These men have served this country-how many of you people leaving comments have been in the Iraq war? You people should be honered that because of men like them you people can write the *** yall are! Thank these men instead of hanging them out to dry!!! I pray that our Goverment realizes how stupid they are for trying to indict these men and I hope you people realize that you can''t rely compleatly on the media.

[allzwell]

Murder for hire, the new American tradition. I guarantee you we''ll eventually fight these Blackwater mofo''s on our streets... the writings on the wall. This is class warfare... after all, who else but the rich could afford these guys? We''ll see para-military units everywhere over the next few years protecting the elite stock brokers and the rest of the bloodsuckers from we the people, because they''ll have it all and we''ll have nothing, and they''d rather see us all starve to death than give up a penny of their ill gotten gains. Meanwhile, as has been happening over the last 8 sad years, they will use their money to push the propaganda that has so effectively divided and conquered us into the sheep we are now. The staff of Faux News and Rush Lamebrain and the rest of the media terrorists exhorting us to surrender to the New Word Order should be arrested, tried and executed for subversion of the Constitution or whatever capital crimes we can fix the system to rid ourselves of the disease they spread.

[fredflinsto2]

Honorable people do not kill in cold blood. these creeps are scum and deserve to swing at the end of a rope

[antizion]

You people sicken me with all your "guilty" Murtha opinions. Each of these men are so much better than you. Have any of you ever been in a war? then shut the *$@# up.

Posted by oldnmoldy at 04:24 PM : Dec 06, 2008

----------------------

Being in a war dos not mean you are honorable or better. It means you were too poor to go to college or had an ego problem. Either way, it means you were a moron that didn''t own his own thoughts.

We just say things like that to get these morons to go into battle and hopefully get killed. These blackwater morons almost slipped through the cracks, almost.

[antizion]

Here in the US, murder for hire is a capitol crime. In Iraq working for blackwater it is a well paying honorable job.

So they should be dressed to kill when they are hung for war crimes and Eric Prince, Bush, Cheney and the neocons that dummied up the WMD claims that Bush used to start the war should be standing beside them.

[antizion]

String em up!

[bjcone8559]

This is the sort of things that happen when our government hires mercenaries. These men are not honorable, they are mercenaries. They have a dark subculture with their own magazines, etc. They are wanna-be criminals too cowardly to act out their crimes without government sanction. Hang them.

[fredflinsto2]

So they served our country. Allot of criminals served our country. they decided to go to Iraq to make a buck a kill innocent people. They disgust me and should be executed for their crimes ASAP. they are low-lifes.

[oldnmoldy]

You people sicken me with all your "guilty" Murtha opinions. Each of these men are so much better than you. Have any of you ever been in a war? then shut the *$@# up.

[inventagod2]

CheneySpeak - Mercenary = Contractor

[walt1944-2009]

It has been learned that the Blackwater mercenaries who blew away 17 Iraqi civilians thinking they were "insurrgents" are all decorated former military veterans.

That, in fact, will be the defence this guys will use in their trial, that because they have medals, they are immune from prosecution and can do no wrong.

OJ Simpson was a popular NFL football player and later made a career in movies. Does that mean that he can break into peoples apartments, try to steal merchandise, and threaten to kill people?

Since when does wearing a uniform, getting a medal on the battlefield, or being a popular football player, make you ABOVE the law???

A lot of veterans have won medals while in combat, my father had 2 of them from WWII. Does that give them license to break the law too???

SIG HEIL, I DON''T HAVE ANY MEDALS; I JUST WANT MONEY!!!, BUSH!!!

[Michael Arnold]

Just as bad as the Nazis.

What have we spawned but a dark and evil nation.

Love your Police State in the "United Socialist States of America".

The communists really did win.

[doctajim]

I was drafted during Vietnam and later counseled returnees at the VA and for Vet groups in the early to late 80''s, while in grad school. The majority of the soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen I knew were decent and moral men, many emotionally coping with the actions of less decent fellow service personnel. However there was a substantial percentage that were criminal sociopaths - men who loved the military because they were "allowed to kill and paid for it" (one vet''s explanation for his behavior). Most of the murderers, rapists, torturers, and mutilators were fine "Christian Americans" from the South, who believed "Americans love to kill for America" (another vet''s exclamation). "I don''t want to be respected - I want to be feared!" was a common statement among these soldiers. If the Blackwater Gang are found guilty - subject them to Iraqi law. The fewer sociopaths allowed back into the U.S., the better this country will be.

[whatchange-2009]

You can''t try an American for crimes supposedly committed in a foreign land while being contracted byu the State Dept.. If you can and do, good luck trying to get anyone to work for you in the future. Use the military. Then hang them. See how far you get with an all volunteer Armed Force when you don''t back them up in time of war. Are there miscalculations and are there mistakes made? You bet. Bury your dead and tell the Iraqis that when you see Blacked Out Suburbans to hide. As far as I''m concerned when I am "in country" every towel wearing idiot is a threat. Wave your arms at me and you''re next. The first thing you teach civilians, there, is hit the ground and don''t get up till I tell you.