US Judge Dismisses Case Against Blackwater for Shooting of Iraqi Civilians

Today, the Grand Rapids Press ran a front-page story about the decision of a US judge to dismiss charges against Blackwater security guards for shooting Iraqi civilians in 2007.

The Associated Press (AP) story quotes Judge Ricardo Urbina as saying the case was “contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility.” The article includes comments from lawyers on both sides and a Justice Department spokesperson who says they are “reviewing the opinion and considering our options.”

Another source cited in the story in Bill Huizenga, a life long friend of Blackwater founder Erik Prince, and current candidate for the Congressional seat being vacated by Pete Hoekstra. In fact, Huizenga is cited more than anyone in the story and says, “the government has used Erik Prince and Blackwater as a political football.”

If Blackwater is being used as a political football, then why does the current administration continue to give Blackwater substantial taxpayer funded contracts in places like Afghanistan? Another question that should be asked is why does one of Prince’s buddies become a news source for this story? Why not include comments from Iraqis who lost family members in the 2007 Blackwater shootings?

The AP did run comments from one Iraqi man who lost his wife and son in the 2007 shootings. Dr. Haitham Ahmed responded to the US judges’ decision by saying, “the whole thing has become a farce.”

Jeremy Scahill, independent journalist and author of an in depth book on Blackwater posted a response to Judge Urbina’s decision to dismiss the charges against Blackwater. Scahill feels that the decision “is a stunning blow for the Iraqi victims’ families and sends a clear message that US-funded mercenaries are above all systems of law—US and international.”

Scahill goes on to write,

In a memo defending his opinion, Urbina cited a similar rationale used in the dismissal of charges against Iran-Contra figure Oliver North—namely that the government violated the rights of the Blackwater men by using statements they made to investigators in the immediate aftermath of the shooting to build a case against the guards, which Urbina said qualified for “derivative use immunity.” Urbina wrote that he agreed that “the government violated [the Blackwater guards’] constitutional rights by utilizing statements they made to Department of State investigators, which were compelled under a threat of job loss.” He added that the “government is prohibited from using such compelled statements or any evidence obtained as a result of those statements” to bring indictments.

It seems that the judge did not deny the fact that Blackwater mercenaries killed Iraqi civilians in 2007, only that their prosecution did not follow “proper procedures.”