Iraq takes measures to prosecute Blackwater

Iraq has begun taking measures to "bring Blackwater to justice" after a U.S. court dropped charges against guards working for the firm accused of killing 14 civilians in 2007, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Friday.

"The Iraqi government has started to take the necessary measures to bring Blackwater to justice for the killing of 17 Iraqi citizens," Dabbagh said in a statement.

He did not immediately provide details on what specific measures were being taken.

Earlier on Friday, Dabbagh said the government "regrets" the decision of a U.S. judge to dismiss criminal charges against five Blackwater security guards accused of fatally shooting 14 people in Baghdad in September 2007.

Dabbagh said the five men had committed a "serious crime" in the Sept. 2007 shooting in Baghdad, which strained U.S.-Iraqi relations and became a symbol for many Iraqis of foreign disregard for local life.

"The Iraqi government regrets and is disappointed by the U.S. court's decision ... We have our own investigations and they showed that Blackwater committed a serious crime in the killing of 17 Iraqi citizens," Dabbagh said.

"The Iraqi government is considering other legal means through which it can sue the Blackwater company," he added

The Iraqi government regrets and is disappointed by the U.S. court's decision ... We have our own investigations and they showed that Blackwater committed a serious crime in the killing of 17 Iraqi citizens

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh

Dropping charges

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina dropped all charges against the five security guards saying the U.S. government had recklessly violated the defendants' constitutional rights.

Urbina added that prosecutors had wrongly used statements the guards made to State Department investigators under a threat of job loss.

"The government used the defendants' compelled statements to guide its charging decisions, to formulate its theory of the case, to develop investigatory leads, and ultimately to obtain the indictment in the case," Urbina ruled.

"In short, the government had utterly failed to prove that it made no impermissible use of the defendants' statements, or that such use was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt."

The security guards had been "compelled" to provide the incriminating evidence during a Justice Department probe, the court said, but the U.S. Constitution bars the prosecutors from using "statements compelled under threat of a job loss" in any subsequent criminal prosecution.

The case was among the most sensational that sought to hold Blackwater employees accountable for what was seen as a culture of lawlessness and a lack of accountability as it carried out its duties in Iraq.

In short, the government had utterly failed to prove that it made no impermissible use of the defendants' statements, or that such use was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina

Charges

The five guards were charged a year ago with 14 counts of manslaughter, 20 counts of attempt to commit manslaughter and one weapons violation count over a Baghdad shooting that outraged Iraqis and strained ties between the two countries.

The shooting occurred as the private security firm's guards escorted a heavily armed four-truck convoy of U.S. diplomats through the Iraqi capital on Sept. 16, 2007. The guards, U.S. military veterans, were responding to a car bombing when gunfire erupted at a crowded intersection.

The defendants -- Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard, Donald Ball and Nicholas Slatten -- were employed by Blackwater Worldwide, known since February as Xe Services.

U.S. prosecutors had alleged that the guards "specifically intended to kill or seriously injure Iraqi civilians," and according to court documents alleged that one of the guards told another that he wanted to kill Iraqis as "payback for 9/11," bragging about the number of Iraqis he had shot.

Urbina explained in his opinion that federal prosecutors were offered an opportunity during a three-week hearing that began in mid-October 2009 to prove that they had not made use of the defendants' statements in building its case and were unable to do so.

"The explanations offered by the prosecutors and investigators in an attempt to justify their actions... were all too often contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility," Urbina wrote.

He added: "The court must dismiss the indictments against all of the defendants."

Attorneys for the guards have said they did not fire their weapons with criminal intent but thought they were under attack.

But critics repeatedly have accused the company of a Rambo-style "shoot first, ask questions later" approach when carrying out security duties in Iraq.

A State Department review panel in 2007 concluded that there had been insufficient U.S. government oversight of private security firms hired in Iraq to protect diplomats and to guard facilities.

The panel found that as a result there was an "undermined confidence" in those contractors, both among Iraqis and U.S. military commanders.

The explanations offered by the prosecutors and investigators in an attempt to justify their actions... were all too often contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina