Judge Rejects Blackwater Attempt to Dismiss Cases Filed by Iraqi Victims

A federal judge has rejected a series of arguments by lawyers for the private military contractor Blackwater who were seeking to dismiss five war crimes cases brought by Iraqi victims against the company and its owner, Erik Prince.

Democracy Now's Amy Goodman interviews Jeremy Scahill on this. The MSM is taking dictation to the effect that the lawsuits have been thrown out. Not so.

Scahill:

Well, I mean, when I got up yesterday morning and saw all these headlines from the Associated Press and other media outlets saying that a federal judge had tossed out all of the lawsuits against Blackwater, I was actually quite stunned. I mean, that would have been a devastating development for the Iraqi victims of the company.

But then I actually got the fifty-six-page ruling from Judge T.S. Ellis, who, by the way, is a Reagan appointee, and I read it. And actually, what you see in this document is that it’s a very well-thought-out legal argument by Judge Ellis, where he’s essentially saying to Blackwater, “Your argument that you can’t be sued as a private company under the Alien Tort Statute is false. Your argument that private individuals or companies cannot commit war crimes is false.”

Link @ sig.

The video and article I linked to in my prior post to Silenced will answer some of your questions wrt the Afghani women.

What we are doing has made their situation unequivocally worse.

Have you watched this yet?:

http://rethinkafghanistan.com/blog/?p=604

Have you read this yet?:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091109/jones

Get back to us with your thoughts once you have.

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2009/10/hbc-90005965

Some snips:

There is, of course, the question of proportionate force and the lamentable fact of civilian casualties. The law does not provide hard and fast rules for how many innocent victims can be tolerated in a strike against a legitimate target. But his bodyguards and lieutenants were themselves also legitimate targets in the operation.

Perhaps I am swayed by the Nation article, but it is interesting to note that Horton also ignores the fact that women were killed in this attack. Mehsud's wife was not his "body guard". But I suppose that is just tit for tat, since Mehsud killed women too. Doesn't even rise to the level of proper consideration.

More difficult questions arise when U.S. intelligence services seek to strike against adversaries located outside of a war and away from an accepted battlefield, or when strikes occur on the territory of a state that does not agree to them. In such circumstances, the deployment of a drone could be viewed as a hostile act, possibly an act of war. The attacks look increasingly like extrajudicial killings or assassinations.

Who was it that said that this is the necessary result when we rid ourselves of indefinite detention as an option? Silly people for thinking otherwise. Obviously there are only two choices: rotting in an extrajudicial prison or subjecting them to extrajudicial killing.

Then there is this positively WTF!? statement:

The use of increasingly accurate weapons systems should reduce the number of innocent civilians killed and contribute to warfare that is increasingly humane.

It's all relative, dyk.

His overall point that the drone program needs to fall under increased congressional supervision is well-taken, but it is operated by the CIA, not the DOD. And we've proven that we can't even properly supervise the DOD (as MM also notes).

If the use of predator drones results in large numbers of civilian casualties and produces a shift in public opinion against the Americans, then this use is probably not a very effective counter-insurgency tactic.

If??? I thought this was already established beyond all doubt.

I don't think this was one of Horton's better efforts. Or maybe I'm just reading him through an altered prism these days.

Thanks for mentioning Mayer's predator piece.

It can be read in its entirety here:

http://cryptome.org/0001/predator-war.htm

As long as you are counting, how many die from old age ? Better get right on that crisis !

Last time I checked, aging was not a preventable medical condition, in spite of all the ads to the contrary.

Are you only concerned with old age because that's the end of the spectrum you occupy? How about infant mortality (link @ sig)?

U.S. Still Struggling With Infant Mortality

In 2004, the latest year for which worldwide data are available, the United States had a higher rate than 28 countries, including Singapore, Japan, Cuba and Hungary. In 1960, the United States had a higher rate than only 11 countries.

bahhummingbug

It is a real pleasure to find you here. I've missed you!

I second that! It's fall now and long past the time when hummingbugs should migrate back indoors where we can see and hear from them again. ;-}

Good to see you bah!

"They" are the same person.

Not created ahead, just the way he communicates. Even, sometimes, in person. :-)

The Jack & Jill Ice Cream Company, got in trouble for failing to list "eggs" as an ingredient on a batch of containers.

Could you modify that for tree nuts? I have a tech in my lab who is deathly allergic and his last reaction happened at the local - well, I'd better not name names - 'ice cream parlor' will just have to do.

He called me in a panic when his airway started getting a bit tight. Thank goodness for epi-pens!

Alternatively, get yourself a copy of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and take up a new hobby. :-)

Another great book! I'd always been a decent sketcher. That book taught me why and helped make me better. It also made me understand how my brain divvied up problem-solving.

I am very conscious now of which side of my brain I am using. More important, I am now conscious of when I need to make a switch. ;-}