jmdrake
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https://www.mail.com/news/politics/...ctors-deadly-iraq-sho.html#.7518-stage-set1-6
But no pardon for Assange or Snowden.
But no pardon for Assange or Snowden.
Trump pardons Blackwater Security Contractors convicted of killing civilians
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CCTelander
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That's because he wants them to reveal all the dirt on the deep state on the record, in court. Then the mass arrests will begin. Or something.
RJ Liberty
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Invisible Man
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Any of the resident Trumpers want to weigh in on this?
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I'm not familiar with the case, but apparently they did claim self-defense after being attacked. Courts are supposed to look at the evidence and come up with a verdict and punishment. Obviously this is an often flawed process, thus the need for pardons.
I don't know that this is a case deserving of pardons though.
I don't know either. I'm just pointing out it's not as simple as they killed innocent civilians, and they may well have been railroaded/held to an absurd standard for rules of engagement.
Anti-Neocon
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Here we are in 2020 taking the side of the war criminals because orange man good.
jmdrake
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Or....they may have been hotheaded "cowboy" types that recklessly endangered innocent lives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisour_Square_massacre#Findings
An Interior Ministry spokesman said Iraqi authorities had completed their investigation into the shooting and concluded that Blackwater guards were responsible for the deaths. U.S. military reports appear to corroborate the Iraqi government's contention that Blackwater was at fault in the incident.[12]
On October 2, 2007, the Democratic staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released a report stating that Blackwater USA guards had used deadly force weekly in Iraq and had inflicted "significant casualties and property damage". The report found that the guards fired their weapons 195 times from the beginning of 2005 through the second week of September 2005. The report further said that Blackwater had reported that its forces fired first in over 80 percent of the cases.[54]
On October 4, 2007, U.S. military reports indicated Blackwater's guards had opened fire without provocation and used excessive force. "It was obviously excessive", a U.S. military official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Washington Post. "The civilians that were fired upon, they didn't have any weapons to fire back at them. And none of the I.P. (Iraqi police) or any of the local security forces fired back at them", the official continued. The Blackwater guards appeared to have fired grenade launchers in addition to machine guns, according to the report.[12]
On October 13, 2007, the FBI reported that it had concluded that at least 14 of the 17 Iraqis who died in the square had been killed without cause.[28] The three justifiable killings were those of the two passengers in the white Kia sedan and an unidentified Iraqi nearby.[28] A Blackwater spokeswoman responded to the findings by saying Blackwater "supports the stringent accountability of the industry. If it is determined that one person was complicit in the wrongdoing, we would support accountability in that. The key people in this have not spoken with investigators."[55][56][57]
They may have, but I'm not going to take that as a fact because of a wikipedia entry. You're talking about a war zone. There are often legitimate reasons to fire weapons in a war zone, and sometimes if you don't fire first you won't get the chance to fire at all. I'm guessing you've never been in the military, or spent any time in a war zone.
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Invisible Man
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I wouldn't have taken a job that put me in that position.
BSWPaulsen
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This is one of those murky situations that results from a terribly flawed premise. They had no good reason to be in Iraq, but the same can also be said of the American military's presence. However, the fact is they were there and operating under a specific set of circumstances. Given the state of Iraq, it is not without possibility that the individuals were actually acting in self-defense.
Just as I lack the information (or rather omniscience) required to know exactly what happened, it is difficult to place any degree of importance on the topic. Perhaps the pardoned individuals will make good with their newfound freedom and benefit their communities. Regardless, all of this highlights why the USA should not have a presence in other countries.
Just as I lack the information (or rather omniscience) required to know exactly what happened, it is difficult to place any degree of importance on the topic. Perhaps the pardoned individuals will make good with their newfound freedom and benefit their communities. Regardless, all of this highlights why the USA should not have a presence in other countries.
jmdrake
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The wikipedia entry was sourced. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/10/01/blackwater.report/index.html And maybe you don't trust CNN (I don't either), but CNN's claim is that Blackwater's own reports is that in 80 percent of the armed engagements in Iraq they fired first. So if CNN lied about that, Blackwater could have successfully sued them for libel. That didn't happen. So I accept that report as fact.
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