All Charges in Blackwater Case Are Dismissed

[babsbunny]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/31/us/AP-US-Blackwater-Prosecution.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=igw

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 31, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge dismissed all charges Thursday against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians in a crowded Baghdad intersection in 2007.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina said Justice Department prosecutors improperly built their case on sworn statements that had been given under a promise of immunity. Urbina said the government's explanations were ''contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility.''

The decision throws out a case steeped in international politics. The September 2007 shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad. The Iraqi government wanted the guards to face trial in Iraq and officials there said they would closely watch how the U.S. judicial system handled the case.

[Subdivisions]

1. Of course. n/t

[spanone]

2. this will win some hearts & minds

:sarcasm:

[Catshrink]

3. Were the prosecutors Bush holdovers?