PeacePundit has followed the investigation of an incident in 2007 in which Blackwater security guards protecting U.S. State Department official shot at civilian cars in Nisoor Square (Baghdad) as the U.S. caravan entered the square, killing many civilians, including children.
The incident is finally coming to trial. The Blackwater company of course is not on trial. Six of their security guards — all former U.S. servicemen — are on trial.
The San Francisco Chronicle recently published an editorial that provides a good overview of the case and the issues it raises.
The Blackwater Question
SF Chronicle Editorial
9 December 2008
On Sept. 17, 2007, six American private security guards in Iraq drove their convoy into an intersection in a busy public square in Baghdad. What happened next involving the guards from Blackwater Worldwide is what will be tried in U.S. federal court. They say that they believed they were facing a threat from a vehicle, that they defended themselves and that, as defense attorney Paul Cassell said, “Tragically, people did die.” Witnesses say that the guards opened fire without provocation. The guards used machine guns and grenade launchers to kill at least 14 civilians (including women and young children) and wound at least twenty.
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The case is likely to be long and contentious, because the law is murky as to whether the guards can even be tried, since they are not technically “military personnel.” The notion is ridiculous. Private security guards are usually former military personnel, and their missions are ones that a militia would carry out – the idea that they can operate without laws, without a country to hold them accountable, is an insult not only to the Iraqis but also to Americans. U.S. officials should conduct this case with that understanding.
