I applaud federal prosecutors for filing charges agaist former Blackwater (now Xe) guard and Seattle resident Andrew Moonen who is aledged to have fatally shot a man while wandering drunk and lost in Baghdad on Christmas Eve of 2006.
According to the family, who has since filed a federal lawsuit naming Moonen and Xe, Moonen shot Raheem Khalaf Sa'adoon in an unprovoked attack while he was on guard duty for Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi. The lawsuit also claims that Xe hid evidence of its employees misconduct, a claim Xe denies.
I think that the truth must be rooted out through the judicial process. Only a judge or jury can decide if Moonen holds any responsibility for Sa'adoon's death. Likewise, the award of any monetary damages to Sa'adoon's wife and two children should be awarded through the same judicial process.
Until recently, contractors in Iraq could not be tried by the Iraq government for their crimes but only by the United States government.
My American sensibility tells me justice is best served through the courts of law. Only a thurough airing of the issues can reveal the truth.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
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4 comments:
Any one who would serve our country in Iraq is a hero. Those rag heads deserve what they get for 9/11! You are a piece of shit.
I have the utmost respect for the sacrifices of our armed personnel and their families -- both at home and abroad.
Moonen, just to set the record straight, was a contractor for Blackwater which operated in Iraq under a U.S. government contract.
However, I would argue the same thing for a service person that allegedly shot someone in an unprovoked situation. A military review should be undertaken and, if necessary, a court marshal should be convened.
During this "War on Terror" it is easy for all of us to classify a group of people as the enemy. The truth is Muslims are not our enemy, Muslim extremists are.
No one deserves to be singled out or harassed because of their characteristics or beliefs, such as the incidents reported after 9/11/01. Hate crimes against innocent people is never justified.
Let's seek to understand one another before we seek to judge the "other." And, alleged acts of wrong-doing deserve to be heard by a judge or jury.
I agree with your points Robert, but... damn... you sound like a liberal elitest! We don't need another one of you in the blogosphere.
Blackwater is associated with tax evasion, gun running, weapons stockpiling, recruiting death squad paramilitary personnel from Latin America and defrauding US taxpayers. Blackwater operates without oversight, transparency or accountability. Blackwater is in both Afghanistan and Pakistan as well on the front line of the US government's crusade against Islam, continuing to magnify our most-hated-nation status and making us less safe then at any time since before the Cold War. Blackwater is a menace, a threat to democracy and scourge upon civil society. Mercenaries and private armies should be outlawed. Period.
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