Friday, August 18, 2017

Blackwater is a Trump crony. There is little doubt Eric Prince will be left out of federal money.

If Blackwater is taking over in Afghanistan, they need to do it on their own and with contracts directly to the Afghanistan/Pakistan government. The USA should not be involved with this company. US government involvement provides too much permission for this company to be violent.

August 17, 2017
By Michael Collins

Life upended since Blackwater (click here)

Former Blackwater security guard Dustin Heard with his wife, Kelli, and two children, Hannah, 12, and Quinn, 6. Heard is serving a 30-year prison sentence for his role in a 2007 shooting at Nisour Square in Baghdad, Iraq. Fourteen Iraqi civilians were killed and 17 others wounded


Heard’s life has been upended since her husband, Dustin, 35, and three other Blackwater Worldwide security guards were accused of killing Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisour Square on Sept. 16, 2007.

The government called it an ambush against innocent Iraqi civilians. The security guards called it self-defense against an insurgent attack....

"I remember the white car." Do you? Don't let anyone get in your way to shout STOP!


August 10, 2017
By Sudarsan Raghavan

An Iraqi looks at a burned-out car days after Blackwater guards opened fire in Baghdad, killing 14 unarmed civilians in a traffic circle on Sept. 16, 2007.

I remember the white car. (click here)

Last week, a U.S. appeals court threw out the murder conviction of a former Blackwater Worldwide security guard for his role in the deaths of 14 unarmed Iraqis in a Baghdad traffic circle nearly 10 years ago.

I was reporting in Baghdad that day — Sept. 16, 2007 — when the contractors opened fire. Most of the victims were in their vehicles at Nisoor Square, a busy, heavily guarded roundabout at the time.

Inside a white car was Mehasin Muhsin Kadhum, a 46-year-old doctor, and her 20-year-old son, Ahmed, who was driving. They were wrapping up errands that included picking up college applications for Kadhum’s daughter.

By then the Blackwater convoy had entered the circle, and Iraqi officers were trying to stop vehicles as Ahmed approached. A Blackwater guard fired, killing Ahmed. One traffic officer, Sarhan Thiab, told me:

“The bullet went through the windshield and split his head open. His mother was holding him, screaming for help.”...