I Knew It!
I [bleeping] knew it. I just knew, knew, knew, knew it:
Radio logs from a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad cast doubt on U.S. government claims that Blackwater Worldwide security guards were unprovoked when they killed 14 Iraqi civilians. The transcripts of Blackwater radio reports, obtained by The Associated Press, describe a hectic eight minutes in which the guards repeatedly reported incoming gunfire from insurgents and Iraqi police.
Five guards face manslaughter and weapons charges for their roles in the shootings. A sixth has pleaded guilty. Prosecutors said the men unleashed a gruesome attack on unarmed Iraqis, including women, children and people trying to escape.
But the radio logs from the Sept. 16, 2007 shooting suggest otherwise. Copies of the logs were turned over to prosecutors by Blackwater.
Because Blackwater guards were authorized to fire in self-defense, any evidence their convoy was attacked will make it harder for the Justice Department to prove they acted unlawfully.
There was no massacre in Jenin, there was no massacre in Haditha, and now there may indeed have been no massacre by Blackwater. I’m not going to stake my reputation (such as it is) on the behavior of people I don’t know, but I knew—knew dammit—that if there was one institution capable of drumming up a massacre where none existed, it was the US press.
And ignoring massacres where they do happen, I might add. Who do you think filled up all those mass graves we keep discovering? Saddam, whom we kicked unceremoniously of his golden toilet; and Al Qaeda, which has run home crying for its mommy. You’re welcome, by the way.
Anyhow, shame on the US government for proceeding with this case if the security guards were indeed firing back in self-defense as they were authorized to do.
After the shoe-throwing and all this other crap, I’m beginning to think that rescuing the Iraqi people might have been a good idea not because we were liberating a nation and introducing the novel concept of the consent of the governed—but instead so that we can nuke the place ourselves. I’m sick of the bastards.
Carol said,
December 19, 2008 @ 3:57 pm
I am so disappointed in you.
It is a blatant falsehood that the one institution capable of drumming up a masscre where none existed is the US press. You do a grave disservice to Agence France Presse, Reuters, and the BBC, all of whom have more than demonstrated an outstanding ability to make stuff up.
Bloodthirsty Liberal said,
December 19, 2008 @ 4:15 pm
You know, BTL, she’s right. Maybe we should issue a correction?
- Aggie
Carol said,
December 19, 2008 @ 6:00 pm
Better yet, send strongly worded apologies directly to Agence France Presse, et al, and see if they notice.
And I forgot the Associated Press and CBS News.