Blackwater Guards Sentenced To Prison For Nisour Square Slayings

Four guards from private security corporation Blackwater Security Consulting have been sentenced for committing a series of warcrimes in Iraq. In September 2007, Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard fired live ammunition and threw grenades into Nisour Square, a busy traffic roundabout in Baghdad, killing 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians. Slatten was charged with murder and sentenced to life in prison, and Slough, Liberty and Heard were all sentenced to 30 years plus one day in prison, charged with manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. What might seem frightening to most is that all four men consider themselves innocent and acting in self-defense, despite UN and even FBI investigative reports concluding that the 14 victims in Nisour Square were killed without cause. The FBI did however dismiss the deaths of three other Iraqis in Nisour Square. While many human rights organizations and investigative journalists have applauded the court decision, they've also claimed that this is a "partial justice" solution, given that Blackwater was not charged as an organization.

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