U.S. Concludes a Blackwater Shooting Is Justified
The U.S. government has concluded that a Blackwater security guard who shot and killed three employees of the Iraqi Media Network last Feb. 7 was justified in taking action.
A diplomatic security official told the Washington Post that the U.S. Embassy interviewed personnel involved in the shooting and in a nearby motorcade. The information left the U.S. officials “overwhelmingly convinced” that the guards fired in self-defense, he said.
The conclusion is at odds with reports from eight people who responded to the shooting, who said no one had fired at the Blackwater guard who was stationed on a roof of the Iraqi Justice Ministry. He shot and killed a network guard on a nearby balcony who responded to a ruckus below by drawing his firearm.
Witnesses told the Post the network guard never fired, but the Blackwater employee shot him anyway. Another network guard who tried to assist that downed man was also shot, and a third network guard was later found dead on the balcony, the circumstances of his death unclear.
“The incident shows how American officials responsible for overseeing the security company conducted only a cursory investigation when Blackwater guards opened fire,” the Post says.
Seven months later, Blackwater guards were accused in another shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.
The Iraqi Media Network tried to sue Blackwater in an Iraqi court for the Feb. 7 incident, but the suit was rejected because of a 2004 law that gave contractors immunity from Iraqi legal proceedings. The measure had been signed by L. Paul Bremer, then the administrator for the U.S. occupation authority.
The United States did not pay any compensation.
