Blackwater Guards To Surrender In Utah

Five Indicted For 2007 Iraq Shooting Will Turn Themselves In To FBI 2,000 Miles From D.C., Presaging Venue Fight

(AP)  Five indicted Blackwater Worldwide security guards plan to surrender to the FBI Monday in Salt Lake City, about 2,000 miles from the Washington courthouse where they were charged, a person close to the case said.

Such a move would be the opening salvo in what is shaping up to be a contentious legal fight before the guards can even get to trial. By surrendering in Utah, the home state of one of the guards, the men can argue for a trial there - a far more conservative, pro-gun venue than Washington.

The person described the decision to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the indictment against the men remains sealed.

The five guards, all military veterans, were indicted for their roles in a 2007 shooting in Baghdad that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead. The shooting strained U.S. diplomacy and fueled anti-American sentiment abroad.

Steven McCool, a lawyer for Blackwater guard and former Marine Donald Ball, confirmed Sunday that his client would surrender in Utah. Ball is from West Valley City, Utah.

"Donald Ball committed no crime," McCool said. "We are confident that any jury will see this for what it is: a politically motivated prosecution to appease the Iraqi government."

The other guards indicted are Dustin Heard, a former Marine from Knoxville, Tennessee; Evan Liberty, a former Marine from Rochester, New Hampshire; Nick Slatten, a former Army sergeant from Sparta, Tennessee; and Paul Slough, an Army veteran from Keller, Texas.

The Justice Department has not commented on the case.

The charges have not been announced but the department had been reviewing manslaughter and assault charges against the guards for weeks. Prosecutors also are planning to use an aggressive law intended to crack down on drug dealers that calls for mandatory 30-year prison terms for using machine guns to commit violent crimes.

"It would be outrageous to charge Mr. Ball with firearms offenses relating to guns issued by the State Department," McCool said.

The Blackwater guards, hired by the U.S. to guard State Department diplomats in Iraq, carry automatic weapons and drive heavily armored vehicles equipped with turret guns.

The shooting at the heart of the case involved a convoy of those vehicles responding to a Sept. 16, 2007 car bombing in downtown Baghdad. Entering a busy traffic circle, the convoy opened fire. Witnesses said Blackwater was unprovoked. The company says its guards were ambushed.

By the time the shooting stopped, 17 Iraqis, including children, were dead and Nisoor Square was a mess of blown-out cars.

[lila356]

The US government should immediately, fire, dismantle and deprogram all of Blackwater (hired hitmen killers). It is sick that we decent Americans must pay for these criminals and Shadow Military, the new SS created by the NWO. This is an insult to all patriotic Americans and especially to our troops who are underpaid and suffering and can''t even get the proper medical care and therapy they need.

[cbsblogger]

buse
The govenrment has no business contracting private security firms for use in war zones. Im sorry CostalXchg, but it IS a Dem vs. Repb issue, because Republicans salivate over turning anything private in order to make a profit. I whole heartedly agree with tbuckl9501 that we can''''t let the government take arms away from it''''s citizens. We''''re in a time where we simply can''''t trust the government to do the right thing. The people must be able to rise up against a government run amuck. We certainly aren''''t at that point yet, but Bush and his Neocons surely laid the groundwork. If people knew (or cared to know) the whole truth about Blackwater, Halliburton and the Carslile Group, gun manufacturers wouldn''''t be able to keep up with demand.

Posted by tnz650 at 09:42 AM : Dec 08, 2008
----------------------------

Totally agree. I''ve always been more concerned with the fascist element taking our guns than the Democrats. But there is a move afoot to take our freedoms and strip power and rights from the people such as freedom of speech and firearms and it is being pushed by very powerful organizations such as the ADL. Google it if interested.

[armydog2]

No. 1 these are not Soldiers, they are guns for hire at the tune of about 225,000.00 a year. Why aren''t our Soldiers paid like that. They are the ones losing their lives while these guys are the murderers.

[tnz650-2009]

The govenrment has no business contracting private security firms for use in war zones. Im sorry CostalXchg, but it IS a Dem vs. Repb issue, because Republicans salivate over turning anything private in order to make a profit. I whole heartedly agree with tbuckl9501 that we can''t let the government take arms away from it''s citizens. We''re in a time where we simply can''t trust the government to do the right thing. The people must be able to rise up against a government run amuck. We certainly aren''t at that point yet, but Bush and his Neocons surely laid the groundwork. If people knew (or cared to know) the whole truth about Blackwater, Halliburton and the Carslile Group, gun manufacturers wouldn''t be able to keep up with demand.

[tbuckl]

Bysh''s private army, the Blackwater Guard is why we American can never surrender our guns. It is because tyrants like Bush and his oil rich friends will have private armies that act out side the U.S. Constitutional laws and commit crimes in the name of justice and peace is why we citizens need to stay armed. We must protect ourselves against these outlaws even if the Courts protect them rather than US.

[wallyj16]

I''ve had two sons sent into this meat grinder of the Bush Administration twice, in the US Military not contractors. You know what? These Blackwater thugs traded the US out for the almighty dollar, not patriotism or service; plain old "MONEY". Showing these thugs in military uniforms only seem like the corporate sympathy to me. Bring our boys home and take care of them. We have one hell of a lot of wounded warriors while the majority here complains about gas prices or crowded shopping malls.

What patriotism? What service? Most military kids do it to save money for college. What has that got to do with patriotism or service? The majority of the country sits on their A@#*# while the few, march into te meat grinder FOR NO REASON. Bring our boys home and take care of them. The simple truth is we need to find another way of doing busness in the world and at home.

[hologram5]

The fact of the matter is, we are in another country killing innocents. These men broke the law, maybe not ours but the law none-the-less. They are not above the law and need to answer for their crimes.

[coastalxchng]

I like how some comment posters here have turned this into a republican vs democrat issue. As if any law-abiding (non extremist) Republican or Democrat would condone these crimes (if they prove to be guilty).

I was in Iraq and was witness to how terrible BlackWater treated the Iraqis. To be really honest, soldiers did the same things. Especially a lot of the infantry and airborne. What everyone needs to understand is that people like that don''t need to be over there, yet they are hailed as heros. Americans raped and killed a lot of Iraqis. Every once and a while we hear about these things. I know Saddam was a ***, but there are a lot of *** who are in charge all over the world as we speak. And everyone kept sayin let''s stay till the job is done. What job? We have mercenaries over there and people in the US are supporting them. Pathetic

[wrmscvsuv]

Posted by RowdynTex at 09:30 PM

If only you could have been there at the intersection that day. Then maybe you wouldn''''t be here to defend such criminals.

Hey, Rowdyn, were you there?

Otherwise, you don''t know what the hell you''re talking about, either.

[sho131]

Really now, how can anyone say what was what unless you were there. Going from the story Blackwater contractors were "ambushed".

Do you really believe these men open fire for no reason? Blackwater has their methods of training, I do not believe they are indiscrimate gorilla''s firing rounds for no reasons.

[rudy6543]

Posted by RowdynTex at 09:30 PM

If only you could have been there at the intersection that day. Then maybe you wouldn''t be here to defend such criminals.

[jellolion]

Not only do these guys need to be put on trial, but also the people who made the decision to use Blackwater to outsource these critical jobs.

[jellolion]

I cant believe people are supporting these guys. 17 Iraqui civilians dead, including children. The FBI and military says the only shots fired were from Blackwater guys. These are not "our soldiers", they are mercenaries. Our soldiers could have done it better, for less. Our soldiers have checks and ballances, rules and regulations to follow. I get the feeling these Blackwater guys just like to shoot people.

[tincup356]

You people remember now these guys were "privatized security" so they should have been at a discount price....or else we the people were getting scalped by paying "privatized prices" when our own troops could have done it cheaper.More Of the great waste of American taxpayer dollars,just like every other cent that has been spent or in this case mis-spent.Thanks to the rocket scientists we have running our country .

[mcfinished]

ducrider916 at 05:48 PM : Dec 07, 2008 wrote:

"Shouldnt you all be out hugging trees or something??"

Why? Are you getting tired of sleeping with your mom?

[bleechdahole]

liberals are making it easy for any muslim nutjob to turn into a terrorist ANY DO HIS JOB and make it really hard for Americans to defend themselves

[cbsblogger]

Shouldnt you all be out hugging trees or something??

Posted by ducrider916 at 05:48 PM : Dec 07, 2008

What''s wrong with hugging a tree? It''s better than worshiping power and the dollar and that''s how Blackwater gets their mercs. True Patriots would proudly be in the uniform of the US military services not working for scum for more dollars.

[ducrider916]

Shouldnt you all be out hugging trees or something??

[ducrider916]

The Problem with America is that we have the greatest American men and woman serving in Iraq and other war zones. all we have left are people like you all here that hide behind the freedom that brave americans gave their life to and you are quick to judge something because you saw it on tv. Next time you want to judge someone like that be sure to call your fat lazy self a big *** and hope your wife doesnt fall for the real man. Once a Marine always a MArine. we stand by our Americans and we stand by our brothers. Semper Fidelis