REMEMBER THIS? 4 Killed in Iraq Worked for Blackwater WARNING IMAGE

[seemslikeadream]

MOYOCK, N.C. - The four civilians who were killed and dragged through the streets of an Iraqi town Wednesday worked for a North Carolina subcontractor that is providing security in a hostile area of Iraq (news - web sites).

Blackwater Security Consulting provides security training and guard services to customers around the world. It is one of five subsidiaries of Blackwater USA, based in northeastern North Carolina about a half-hour's drive from the world's largest naval base in Norfolk, Va.

On a typical day, a Navy SEALs team practiced shooting in odd positions through doors and windows and cadets from the U.S. Coast Guard (news - web sites) Academy learned how to storm through doorways during a room-by-room search. Plainclothes operatives practiced how to escape from a disabled sport-utility vehicle while under fire from attackers




THE FAMILIES ARE SUING!!


http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/20/1340246

Blackwater in the Crosshairs: The Families of Four Private Security Contractors Killed in Fallujah File a Ground-Breaking Lawsuit

The families of four private security contractors killed in Fallujah in March 2004 have filed a ground-breaking lawsuit charging Blackwater USA with fraud and wrongful death. Blackwater has fought to have the case dismissed by claiming that all liability lies not with the company but the U.S. government.
In an expose in the new issue of the Nation magazine, independent journalist Jeremy Scahill tells the story of the struggle of the four families of the slain Blackwater contractors to hold those responsible for their deaths accountable.

We speak with Jeremy Scahill as well as Katy Helvenston, the mother of Scott Helvenston who was killed in Fallujah, and the attorney in the case, Marc Miles.

This month marks the two-year anniversary of the first US siege of Fallujah, in which at least 600 Iraqis were killed. The U.S. attack was sparked by the gruesome killing of four private contractors inside Fallujah.
The men were working for Blackwater USA, one of the biggest security firms operating in Iraq.

[wtmusic]

1. You mean being a merc can be dangerous?

I thought it was just wearing dark sunglasses, waving a gun around, and making a lot of money

[uppityperson]

2. Good, due Blackwater

more negative publicity for Blackwater is good.

[xultar]

3. You might want to add a WARNING to the subject of your post

That photo is pretty shocking if you're not prepared.

[seemslikeadream]

6. Thanks for the reminder xultar

n/t

[aikoaiko]

4. this could be interesting -- I have to guess that its hard to prove

fraud and wrongful death when you take a job with Blackwater to go into a war zone.

Maybe they promised them something that they didn't actually provide.

[Sinti]

9. Like our boys, they weren't given proper armoring on their trucks

They also went in with inadequate firepower for the area. There should be a wrongful death suit. They might even win it.

A question no one seems to want to answer is, what the hell were the doing there in the first place, I seriously doubt the "kitchen supplies" were important enough to go right into the belly of the beast nearly naked like that.

Personally, I thought the use of mercenaries was illegal in the United States. We've basically always used them, since the Revolution even, but not in front of god and everyone like we are now.

[IndyJones]

5. I'm speechless and sick to my stomach over that. I hadn't read

or heard of that yet, so thank you for posting about it.

[bananas]

11. Which didn't you hear about?

The 4 mercenaries killed in Fallujah, or the lawsuit by their families?

[oasis]

7. Blackwater guys get paid a bundle to take the same risks that our troops

do for Uncle Rummy. If their families were led to believe that they were to have desk jobs in Kuwait, then I could see a case fraud charges.

[wtmusic]

8. The troops should file suit for not getting paid the same wages

No wonder they aren't signing up...and Air Force cadets now being trained for ground combat? When do Boy Scouts start shipping out? What is this, the 1945 Wermacht?

[Sinti]

10. A couple of wrongful death suits might be in order

The military should have a responsibility to ensure that our boys have the protection they need. It won't guarantee they don't get killed or blown to bits, at least they should give them a chance of survival after sending them into the kill zone for no good reason. :mad:

When we get the Congress back they should enact a law that we're not allowed go to to war unless there's a genuine threat, triple checked and peer reviewed. Reactionary legislation generally has awful unintended consequences, but something needs to be done to prevent this kind of nonsense from happening ever again.

[wtmusic]

13. There already is a law

The UN Charter. It's law by virtue of Article 4 of the Constitution, which makes all treaties the "supreme law of the land" (10 Nazis were hanged in 1946 for doing exactly what W did, namely launching a "war of aggression").

There's no contract, public or private, which will prevent a powerful, determined party from violating its terms.

[reichstag911]

14. Screw them! They're not "our boys,"...

...they're their own men, and they chose to be mercs, compensated much better than US soldiers and with none of the accountability. Also, see the other post on the UN Charter, a treaty to which we were an original signatory, being the supreme law of the land.

[Sinti]

15. I was referring to our United States soldiers, not mercs

Whatever the mercs get is probably their due, but "our boys", our soldiers, sons, fathers, daughters, and mothers deserve much better treatment and protection than they've gotten.

You're correct, no law will prevent an group of thugs like we have now from just doing whatever they please.

[Blue_Tires]

12. man...

just like bilgewater to try to pawn legal responsibility on the u.s. gov't, especially after cashing in upon billions and billions of contracts!!

and as for the families, well, i'm sorry that you lost your loved ones, but they were not exactly Red Cross workers over there, and Blackwater ain't exactly Doctors Without Borders....They were paid damn well (with our tax $$ i might add) to do unspeakably dirty jobs with ZERO accountability whatsoever....

[leftchick]

16. what bothers me most

are glimpses of the once beautiful city of Fallujah. Before the USA destroyed it. :(