Ex-Blackwater Guards Sentenced to Long Prison Terms in 2007

[cronus]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/us/ex ... lians.html

Ex-Blackwater Guards Sentenced to Long Prison Terms in 2007 Killings of Iraqi Civilians

WASHINGTON — One by one, four former Blackwater security contractors wearing blue jumpsuits and leg irons stood before a federal judge on Monday and spoke publicly for the first time since a deadly 2007 shooting in Iraq.

The men had been among several private American security guards who fired into Baghdad’s crowded Nisour Square on Sept. 16, 2007, and last October they were convicted of killing 14 unarmed Iraqis in what prosecutors called a wartime atrocity. Yet on Monday, as they awaited sentences that they knew would send them to prison for most if not all of their lives, they defiantly asserted their innocence.

“I know for a fact that I will be exonerated, in this life and the next,” said Paul A. Slough.

“I am very sorry for the loss of life,” Dustin L. Heard said. “But I cannot say in all honesty to the court that I believe I did anything wrong.”

“As God is my witness,” Evan S. Liberty said, he fired only at insurgents who were shooting at him.

(continued, poor man caught in rich mans game loses right to bear arms....)

[pErvinalia]

Good!

And two murderous cops committed to trial in the last week. Bout time they start locking these dangerous people up.

[cronus]

Good!

And two murderous cops committed to trial in the last week. Bout time they start locking these dangerous people up.

There is some logic to that.

[Brian Peacock]

This is what invariably happens when you outsource a service to the lowest bidder.

[cronus]

This is what invariably happens when you outsource a service to the lowest bidder.

The American Justice system is impressive. Judge jails guards.

[JimC]

This is what invariably happens when you outsource a service to the lowest bidder.

To me, the main point is that outsourcing armed combat roles in a war zone to civilians is just fucking ludicrous...

[cronus]

This is what invariably happens when you outsource a service to the lowest bidder.

To me, the main point is that outsourcing armed combat roles in a war zone to civilians is just fucking ludicrous...

Didn't do Ancient Rome much good either. Get your Bible out and some beads. America is go cheap. (ing)

[piscator]

This is what invariably happens when you outsource a service to the lowest bidder.

To me, the main point is that outsourcing armed combat roles in a war zone to civilians is just fucking ludicrous...

"Roland was a warrior from the Land of the Midnight Sun
With a Thompson gun for hire, fighting to be done
The deal was made in Denmark on a dark and stormy day
So he set out for Biafra to join the bloody fray
..."