The trial begins with jury selection.
The four defendants allegedly shot Iraqi civilians trying to flee from a traffic circle in downtown Baghdad after a car bombing that apparently targeted a U.S. State Department official.
The defense plans to argue that the guards acted in self-defense because they say the Blackwater team was under fire from insurgents.
U.S. government prosecutors will likely contend that the use of deadly force was unnecessary. They plan to call Iraqi civilians and another Blackwater guard who already pleaded guilty as witnesses.
One of the guards is charged with first-degree murder and faces life in prison if convicted. The other three are charged with manslaughter and would face at least 30 years behind bars.
A U.S. District judge threw out the case against the guards in 2010, but an appeals court later reinstated the charges.
[voanews.com]
10/6/14
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After Ukraine, U.S. trains more special forces in eastern Europe ...
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - As NATO refocuses on its eastern borders after Russia's annexation of Crimea, the United States is quietly deploying more troops to train special forces in former Soviet bloc states anxious about Moscow's intentions.
Major exercises began last month in Poland, Slovakia and the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia involving several hundred personnel from U.S. special forces, the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) said in a statement to Reuters.
Long-term plans include further training drills that will consistently keep about 100 U.S. elite troops on the ground at any one time in NATO states close to Russia, with teams working in several countries, U.S. official said.
The events in eastern Ukraine, where Russian-speaking insurgents using sophisticated weapons threaten to split the country, have put the whole former Soviet bloc region on alert and eager for NATO reassurance.
EUCOM says its Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR) increased the size and scope of its planned exercises after Ukraine flared into violence, reinforcing Washington's message to Moscow that it would stand by its allies.
"Training with our partners in their home countries is something that we have always done," said SOCEUR spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Sternberg. "The difference is that now we will maintain a (permanent) Special Operations Forces presence in theater along the eastern front of NATO on this training mission," Sternberg said.
The exercises have involved practicing house-to-house fighting, mock raids in assault boats and coordinating parachute drops and air strikes, the SOCEUR Facebook page shows.
Highly trained and equipped with advanced communications equipment and weapons, special forces are often used in counterterrorism or reconnaissance operations. They can infiltrate enemy lines to tie down much larger numbers of opposition troops.................http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/11/us-nato-usa-specialforces-idUSKBN0EL2KT20140611?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
10/6/14
Iraq Blackwater: US jury convicts four of 2007 killings ...
ReplyDeleteA US federal jury has found four Blackwater security guards guilty of killing 14 Iraqis in a square in Baghdad in 2007.
One former guard was found guilty of murder with three others guilty of voluntary manslaughter.
A further 17 Iraqis were injured as the private contractors opened fire to clear the way for a US convoy.
The shootings sparked international outrage and a debate over the role of defence contractors in warfare.
Prosecutors said the Blackwater guards had harboured deep hostility toward Iraqis and boasted of firing their weapons indiscriminately.
Nicholas Slatten was found guilty of murder while Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard were found guilty of at least three charges of voluntary manslaughter and also face gun charges..........http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29727314
22/10/14