Ethics

Blackwater Guards to Face Manslaughter Charges

By Ed Brayton

CNN reports that five former Blackwater employees have turned themselves in to authorities and are to be charged in the firefight that led to the deaths of 17 Iraqi citizens in September, 2007:

Five former security guards from Blackwater Worldwide turned themselves in to federal authorities Monday in Salt Lake City, Utah, over charges stemming from the 2007 shootings in Baghdad that killed 17 Iraqis.

The Justice Department on Monday plans to charge the former guards with manslaughter and a weapons charge of using a machine gun while committing a crime of violence, a source with knowledge of the investigation said.

A sixth Blackwater guard tied to the incident has reached a plea deal with the government, a source said.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on December 13, 2008 (boomark / email).