Blackwater Contractor Gets Life for 2007 Iraq Shooting

[Frank59]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/ex-black...nced-to-life-for-iraq-shooting-that-killed-14

 

[Dawico]

Guess I don't have near enough information to form an opinion.

 

[Sublime]

Wow, talk about injustice delayed.......

I read the book by the Blackwater CEO. He was a bit of an asshat but very interesting the way the Feds treated him and the company. He formed another one soon after shutting Blackwater and got more contracts.

 

[Mikewood]

So you are at an intersection with three other guys. when a car rolls up. You try to stop them and they won’t follow commands so you light up the driver and in the process kill 14 people. Guess who is going to jail. First degree murder. Probably not if you hit one or two innocent bystanders but you screw up this bad and the justice department will come down in you harshly.

 

[benenglish]

I never understood the culture that took hold. Sometimes they seemed to have an attitude of "Gee, I don't like that there's a car behind us" and opened fire. For example, does anybody see the justification for the various shootings in this video?



Want more? Here's some more generalized asshattery from these idiots.



As for the instant case, where 14 people died, I simply can't tell which video to post. There are so many videos of Blackwater/Xe/whatever shootings, both as they are happening and the aftermath, that I can't really tell which atrocity is the one that was litigated here. I suggest you do a brief search and take your pick. There are plenty to choose from and they're all horrific.

 

[TxStetson]

I have been rewriting this response over and over, and it always comes out wrong. So I’ll just say I hope justice gets served, no matter which way it rolls and keep my opinions to myself.

 

[oldag]

I never understood the culture that took hold. Sometimes they seemed to have an attitude of "Gee, I don't like that there's a car behind us" and opened fire. For example, does anybody see the justification for the various shootings in this video?



Want more? Here's some more generalized asshattery from these idiots.



As for the instant case, where 14 people died, I simply can't tell which video to post. There are so many videos of Blackwater/Xe/whatever shootings, both as they are happening and the aftermath, that I can't really tell which atrocity is the one that was litigated here. I suggest you do a brief search and take your pick. There are plenty to choose from and they're all horrific.

Did this Blackwater incident follow the incident where Blackwater contractors were tortured, murdered and hung from the bridge? Not that it makes two wrongs right.

Also, you might be a little paranoid too in that environment. Car bombs were being used, with suicide drivers.

 

[tact]

Did this Blackwater incident follow the incident where Blackwater contractors were tortured, murdered and hung from the bridge? Not that it makes two wrongs right.

Also, you might be a little paranoid too in that environment. Car bombs were being used, with suicide drivers.

Years apart.

There are ways to let them know they are getting to close......pen flares, water bottles, etc prior to engaging .......you know same ROE type stuff the military had to abide by,......

 

[Renegade]

Maintaining a presence in these shit hole countries is a no win situation.

Shoot the wrong people, get life in prison.
Fail to shoot the right people, get blown up.

Canned sunshine is the only answer.

 

[toddnjoyce]

....you know same ROE type stuff the military had to abide by,......

That was part of the problem. Many of the PMCs, whether contract support to the government or contracted to a private entity, had zero effective ROE/use of force policies in effect AND the host nation had effectively zero ability to control that, while the USG really didn’t care, until it was too late.

 

[Dad_Roman]

Canned sunshine is the only answer.

Little help. I dont know that term. (although logic dictates.....)

 

[birddog]

I was there with BW, Triple Can, and CSC. Every contract contained specific operational guidelines provided by the client in addition to mission specific OpOrds and ROE’s.

Not making excuses, but it was an extraordinarily hostile environment. Lots of crazy and fear everywhere outside in the wild.

edit - cars getting lit up was not a common occurrence from my perspective, and attacks were frequent and ranged from minor to severe. There were times when Iraqis could have been lit for not complying and weren’t.

 

[oldag]

Years apart.

There are ways to let them know they are getting to close......pen flares, water bottles, etc prior to engaging .......you know same ROE type stuff the military had to abide by,......

In that case, never mind.