ALJAZEERA: Seven years after Blackwater contractors killed 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians and injured 17 others in Baghdad’s Nisour Square, a federal jury in the District of Columbia convicted one defendant of murder and three others of manslaughter and weapons charges for the bloodbath. The verdict was announced on Wednesday after 27 days of deliberation.
The trial, which began June 11, served as an important test of U.S. willingness to hold its contractors to account. Blackwater was hired by the State Department to provide security for diplomats in Iraq. The carnage served as a flashpoint for Iraqi anger at Blackwater and sparked an international debate about the use of private security contractors.
Iraqis’ demands for justice have been somewhat muted recently by their need for assistance in combating the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). But it is precisely the specter of increased U.S. engagement in Iraq and reluctance to put American military boots back on the ground that makes the gaps in accountability all the more urgent to fill. However, it is not simply the individual guards who should answer for this tragedy: Leaders of private security companies and the governments that employ them must also be held to account… (more)
