Wounded lawyer recalls horror of last weekend's Blackwater shootings

[unhappycamper]

Hassan Jaber, 37, recovers from gunshot wounds in a hospital in Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007. Jaber, a lawyer, says he was in his car in the Mansour neighborhood when guards in a U.S. State Department convoy opened fire, shooting him four times. The State Department and the company in question, Blackwater USA, have said the incident began when a diplomatic convoy came under attack in Baghdad; Iraqi witnesses and officials have said the security guards opened fire first without provocation. The United States and Iraq will form a joint commission to look into allegations that private guards protecting American diplomats killed Iraqi civilians and to review the U.S. Embassy's security practices, the State Department said. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)


Wounded lawyer recalls horror of last weekend's Blackwater shootings
By BUSHRA JUHI | Associated Press
September 20, 2007

BAGHDAD — Lawyer Hassan Jabir was stuck in traffic when he heard Blackwater USA security contractors shout "Go, Go, Go." Moments later bullets pierced his back, he said Thursday from his hospital bed.

Jabir was among about a dozen people wounded Sunday during the shooting in west Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood. Iraqi police say at least 11 people were killed.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki described the shooting as a "crime" by Blackwater, a N.C.-based company that guards American diplomats and civilian officials in Iraq.

"No one fired at them," Jabir said of the Blackwater guards. "No one attacked them but they randomly fired at people. So many people died in the street."

Blackwater's operations have been suspended pending completion of a joint U.S.-Iraqi investigation. In the meantime, most U.S. diplomats and civilian officials are confined to the Green Zone or U.S. military bases unless they can travel by helicopter.

~snip~

"Our problem is rooted in the occupation, regardless of whether it's by security firms or foreign troops," a Baghdad resident, who have his name only as Abu Ahmed, told Associated Press Television News. "This is one of the grave consequences of the occupation."


Rest of article at: http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/68919.html

[ck4829]

1. K&R

[Redstone]

2. Recommended. Everyone should read this.

Redstone

[PA Democrat]

3. Is it still the case that if Blackwater is found to have done wrong that they are immune

from prosecution? I guess people may tend to be a little more trigger-happy if they know there will be no personal consequences for killing innocent civilians.

This story is a prime example of why we are not and cannot "win" in Iraq.

[ShortnFiery]

4. Blackwater may not be open for prosecutions, but it's fully open for

a large plate of RETRIBUTION. After all, the native Iraqis will be there long after The American Empire.

Those girls and boys who serve their corporate master known as "blackwater" best be constantly looking over their shoulder for those "little brown people" who don't take kindly to genocide of their beloved peoples. Psst! Blackwater? ... :scared: :nuke: :scared: :nuke: :nuke:

[yodermon]

5. Guy looks much older than 37, IMHO.