Yet another civil lawsuit accuses Blackwater guards of driving through the streets of Baghdad randomly shooting innocent Iraqis.
The latest case accuses Blackwater founder Erik Prince of personally directing murders from a 24-hour remote monitoring "war room" at the private military company's Moyock, N.C., headquarters.
Prince "personally directed and permitted a heavily-armed private army... to roam the streets of Baghdad killing innocent civilians," alleges the suit, filed by four Iraqi citizens.
Prince was well aware that his men, including top executives, "viewed shooting innocent Iraqis as sport," the suit says. In fact, "those who killed and wounded innocent Iraqis tended to rise higher in Mr. Prince's organization than those who abided by the rule of law."
Prince's top executives openly discussed "laying Hajjis out on cardboard" and "bragged about their collective role in killing those of the Islamic faith," the suit alleges.
On more than one occasion, the suit says, Prince's men went "night hunting" in helicopters after 10 p.m. over the streets of Baghdad, wearing night goggles, killing at random.
The lawsuit says Prince caused murders to occur on at least 11 occasions, including one and perhaps more in the United States.
The suit describes one case in which a young man, not identified in the court papers, died after photographing Anna Bundy, a Blackwater executive, packaging illegal weaponry outfitted with silencers for shipment to Iraq.
One employee is said to have warned the young man that such photographs "are what get people killed." Lawyers for the plaintiffs plan to use the legal discovery process to learn whether Prince participated in the events leading to his death.
The latest suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, is the sixth civil case brought against Prince and his company, now known as Xe, by the Washington law firm Burke O'Neil on behalf of more than 60 Iraqis or their estates.
Many of them were injured or killed two years ago today - Sept. 16, 2007 - in Baghdad's Nisoor Square in a shooting incident that left 17 Iraqis dead and ultimately led to the loss of Blackwater's diplomatic security contract.
Five former Blackwater guards face criminal charges of voluntary manslaughter in that incident. Last week, federal prosecutors filed papers alleging a yearlong pattern of hostile action against Iraqis by the defendants leading up to that shooting.
In one episode described in those papers, one of the five defendants, Evan Liberty, allegedly drove through Baghdad on Sept. 9, 2007, a week before the Nisoor Square incident, randomly shooting Iraqis through the porthole of an armored vehicle.
The latest civil suit is an apparent outgrowth of that event. The plaintiffs are four Iraqis who operated a shop in Baghdad and were allegedly injured by Liberty's "wanton shooting."
Xe had no immediate comment on the new allegations.
Bill Sizemore, (757) 446-2276, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com
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another quality article
Does this law firm of Sizemore on payroll? You should also investigate the claims that they are responsible for global warming, paying Kayne West to interrupt Taylor Swift at the VMA awards, shouting "You Lie" at the Presidents health care address, the making of every Vin Diesel movie, Sam Bradford hurting his shoulder, and arresting the hula hoop lady. All you do is encourage these wingnuts to continue their shenanigans every time you print the drivel they put out.
Xe (formerly Blackwater)
Did I get it right in the subject line? I wouldn't want to offend anyone.
While our attention is focused elsewhere, on that which is important (health care reform, the death of Ted Kennedy and Patrick Swayze) and that which is fluff (like the chain of stuck up nobodies Kanye West, Serena Williams, Roger Federer), heinous acts may be taking place without impunity. If the owner of Xe is even remotely involved in carte blanche murder for sport, he should become a target in a similar game, with odds 100 to 1 (100 shooters and just him.)
Once a contractor wins a DOD contract, with a bit of finesse, it can be easy to hide activities, especially ones that take place offshore. It is easy to believe that nefarious activity has taken place, is taking place and will continue to take place. Only by shining a light on it by folks coming forth and reporting it can the truth be verified. The lawsuit against Xe's founder has vastly more merit than that of the prison inmate who filed suit because the prison forbade him from smoking Ganja as part of his religion.
Power and testosterone are never a good mix.
Does the pilot even know who this company is?
They have not been called blackwater for some time now. They are Xe. Talk about failing Journalism 101. Another grand failure on the Pilots part. They continue to attribute this company as military. Pilot, Xe is not military. Stop degrading the work the military is doing all around the world by including this group as military.
Xe works for the State Department, not DOD. DOD is military, USN, USAF, USA, USMC, reserves, USCG. Xe is NOT military.
Hell the Boy and Girl Scouts of America are a better example of protecting and defending what Americans hold true then Xe does, yet they are not military either. They do wear uniforms, alas no guns. Is that the tipoff?
Pilot, if you wish to call Xe part of NC for your tags, fine. We deserve that, but stop giving them the tag of military. Based on your logic, any dimwit, nitwit wearing camo, painting their face, and carrying a gun is "the military". Them wack jobs found at Waco were military according to the Pilot. Xe and the Waco wacko may be in the same league, but neither of them are close to our true military.
Wow...
I can hear a man saying this in broken english
"America, where anyting iz pozzible!"
What crock of dung!
Blackwater Truth???
This is getting so out of hand. This sounds more like a movie script than a reality in today's world. Eric Prince does not even spend that much time at the NC facility. Employees have told me he is there one or two days a month, except when he brings his family to the OBX for vacation.
I can accuse the Pope of being married in a lawsuit...that does not make it true. I can even provide "evidence" but it can be fabricated.
Virginia Pilot should be finding ways to get the other side of the story out about a local company that provides hundreds of jobs to the area and brings in millions of dollars in business. Maybe if Bill "Sleezemore" would write instead rehashing the wire stories, we could get somewhere. He has so alienated the leadership at Blackwater that I doubt they will never cooperate with him again.
Really, and I don't suppose
Really, and I don't suppose you have been hunting on his privately stocked acreage either? People also fabricate that the holocaust didn't happen either. Money does NOT buy immunity nor absolve witch hunts and thoughts of being beyond the bounds of laws...