Blackwater in court for War Crimes hearing

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Lawyers for Blackwater and its owner Erik Prince are in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia today where they are arguing that the five lawsuits against them should be thrown out. The judge in the case, TS Ellis III, is a Reagan appointee with an interesting recent history. He presided over the plea agreement of John Walker Lindh, the so-called “American Taliban;” he sentenced Lawrence Franklin to 12 years in the AIPAC/Israel espionage scandal and he also tossed out a case brought by German citizen Khalid El-Masri against private companies allegedly involved with the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program. Judge Ellis said that to allow the case to proceed would “present a grave risk of injury to national security.” Blackwater has made a similar argument in this case, essentially that it was involved with sensitive operations on behalf of the government and cannot be sued.

Since the first case was filed by Iraqi civilians against Prince and Blackwater over the killing of seventeen Iraqis at Baghdad’s Nisour Square on September 16, 2007, the company’s high-powered lawyers have fought feverishly to have that and four other cases dismissed. Now, facing a crucial August 28 hearing in federal court in Virginia, they are putting forward a new argument: instead of Prince and Blackwater standing trial, the US government should be the defendant.

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Future_America
  • added August 29, 2009

32 comments // Blackwater in court for War Crimes hearing

  •  

    bet they get off scott free.....cuz killinz there business, and business is good !

    hunzedog
  •  

    he kinda looks like ollie north up there lying about stuff

    hunzedog
  •  

    Private military corporations. What could go wrong?

    H3ADLINE
  •  

    P.R. for America

    blknight
  •  

    Fry there ass in peanut oil till crispy and golden brown. then throw them in prison for the rest of there life. Don't forget to introduce them to BuBBa.

    bailey78
  •  

    YES yes yes yes!!!!

    blue_blooded
  •  

    SWEEEEEEEEET.

    There IS justice in this world!

    asherp
  •  

    I will bet a million dollars that some democrat would out pressure to dismiss this case.... too many names...too many important politicians will be exposed by this

    GodsnLiberals
  •  

    I will never understand why some people spend all their time trying to discourage any hope of light and find such solace in darkness but then again I would never support the idea of killing for profit. Killing should be a personal matter. Anyone says any different has never killed and pisses in his pants at the thought of violence.

    In other words there can be no defense of these clowns.

    Not by gods or republicans.

    slarabee
  •  

    man i wanna be a black water security guard just getting to do whatever you want!

    RojoGatto
  •  

    what bastards. but nothing will happen

    emarston
  •  

    I never in my wildest dreams thought these guys would pay for what they did. So DAMN FINE JOB whoever brought the charges. Virginia? Ok sure.

    EmperorThan
  •  

    It's about time!

    bubl_415
  •  

    When are the rest of the villans scheduled to be tried? If Obama doesn't soon change directions he will be on the schedule too.

    Ragan
  •  

    This corporation's name has always amused me.
    Some web definitions for blackwater:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_(waste)
    http://www.thefreedictionary.com/blackwater
    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blackwater

    Any company that puts that little thought into naming themselves should be worried about.

    bombastinator
  •  

    God bless them for suing!

    davzap
  •  

    “If Blackwater wants to be treated like a person, then its latest mutation, USTC, should be prosecuted, convicted and given the equivalent penalty of corporate capital punishment by revoking its charter and terminating its corporate operations.” RIGHT ON Nader!

    remanns
  •  

    I gotz no problem with killing for a living, hell bein a mercenary's my dream job! 6.5 humans is too much! But if they're going to kill someone, why don't they release them in Middle of Nowhere America "training operations" to kill off all these stubborn crazy idiotic rednecks! At least that way we could start with the humans on the bottom of the food chain.

    TrevaDizasta
  •  

    They are no different than the french foreign legion at one time. The worst scum on earth, out to kill for the pleasure of it.

    Ragan

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