Federal agents investigating the Sept. 16 episode in which Blackwater security personnel shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians have found that at least 14 of the shootings were unjustified and violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq, according to civilian and military officials briefed on the case.Not surprising.
Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to seek indictments, and some officials have expressed pessimism that adequate criminal laws exist to enable them to charge any Blackwater employee with criminal wrongdoing. Spokesmen for the Justice Department and the F.B.I. declined to discuss the matter.Also not surprising. Once more, some low-level flunky will be the fall guy. It was Lynndie England and other peons who, without any direction from above, were on a fucking-shit-up-and-snapping-photos bender in Tortureville. And it was Happy B. Triggerfinger who shot up some assuredly not-so-innocent Iraqis here. Bush, Rummy, Neidermeyer, honorable men, etc etc. Now, let us gaze into our Nostradamus-y ball of faux crystal - you ever price the real stuff? - and, defying the laws of the gods, written in the stars and seen by those who longingly look up at the eternal cosmos, peer with wizard-like hubris into....the future!
The case could be one of the first thorny issues to be decided by Michael B. Mukasey, who was sworn in as attorney general last week. He may be faced with a decision to turn down a prosecution on legal grounds at a time when a furor has erupted in Congress about the administration’s failure to hold security contractors accountable for their misdeeds.Wow! I certainly didn't see that coming! Nor did I see even a hint of the shocking naivety displayed by Democratic Representative David E. Price of North Carolina:
Representative Price’s bill would extend the MEJA legislation to all contractors operating in war zones. The bill passed the house 389 to 30 last month and is now before the Senate.Psst, Dave, c'mere. There are no war crimes anymore.
He said it cannot be applied retroactively to the Sept. 16 case, but he said that the guards who killed the Iraqis must be brought to justice, under the War Crimes Act or some other law.
You know, unless the other guy does it.
10 comments:
This case is saying so much about us and our used-to-be legal system.
You are right, it only seems to be bad if the other guy does it. Fucking disaster!
I thought the only war crime left was criticizing war...
This will never see the light of day in court, it just ain't gonna happen. Like you said, if we really had a war crimes act, Bush, Cheney, and Rummy would be in jail right now.
Besides, Mukasey knows that Bush will need Blackwater to carry out his martial law order, they don't have time to go before any friggin' judges!
POP, funny watching all those things that were, if I may borrow a phrase from the Nazi-in-chief - sorry, Godwin - 'uniquely American' go by the wayside.
Frederick, you might be more right than you think.
Mary Ellen, you know, for a fucking nun, you sure do know how to put me in an even worse mood than I was in before. No more drunken blog posts for you!
You know you'll blog drunk again, Randal. No one can sustain a blog without an occasional drunken blog post. I think I may have done it myself once or twice (don't tell the Pope!)
Look at the bright side. At least you don't have a Blackwater training facility in your State. I've got these assholes preparing for the martial law takeover within an afternoon's drive from me.
It's true, it's only a war crime if the other side does it. Remember those "freedom fighters" in Nicaragua in the 1980s? Guerrillas fighting against the government of El Salvador were terrorists; guerrillas fighting against the government of Nicaragua were freedom fighters. Can't tell the players without a program.
Mary Ellen, yeah, yeah. And don't worry about the Pope. He's not in my Rolodex. :)
Tom, you grab the program,I'll buy the hot dogs and beer. At least we'll have good seats. 2008 should be one hell of a game!
I always get a sick feeling in my stomach when I think of the elections in '08. The memory of Bush being selected in his first term and then being re-elected with the help of Diebold for his second term has left me feeling really edgy. It could happen again, we could end up with Rudy or McCain....or worse yet, another Christian fundamentalist, Huckabee. Groan...feeling ill.
Oh what do ya know...State Dept. top investigator has a brother that works for Blackwater. Who woulda thunk it? I don't see a conflict of interest there, do you?
Oh come on. Like they would ever actually discuss Blackwater.
And what the fuck. I'm looking at simply the headline and intro paragraph at TPM and I see 'Buzzy' and 'Cookie.' Add in 'Scooter.' Is this the Little Fucking Rascals?
At least the adults are back in charge, huh.
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