Defendants "Jeremy P. Ridgeway and thirteen other Blackwater [Blackwater USA now known as Xe Services LLC, pronounced /zi/, founded by Erik Prince And Al Clark] independent contractors were assigned that day to a convoy of four heavily-armored trucks known as a Tactical Support Team, using the call sign 'Raven 23.' The Raven 23 team at around noon on that day "left the International Zone in disregard of an order from Blackwater's command and established a blockade at Nisur Square, a traffic circle in central Baghdad just outside the International Zone.

"While at the traffic circle, the defendants and Mr. Ridgeway opened fire with a sniper rifle, machine guns, and grenade launchers on unarmed civilians located in and around Nisur Square, killing at least fourteen people, wounding at least twenty people, and assaulting but not injuring at least eighteen others.

"None of these victims was an insurgent, and many were shot while inside of civilian vehicles that were attempting to flee from the Raven 23 convoy."…

In the twelve-month period leading up to the events charged in the indictment -
Defendants "Paul Slough, Nicholas Slatten and Evan Liberty while assigned to a turret gun position on the Raven 23 convoy operating at various locations in the Red Zone in Baghdad, Iraq - routinely threw water bottles and other items at unarmed civilians, vehicles, wagons, and bicycles without justification in an attempt to break automobile windows, injure and harass people." They committed these acts "for sport, and in a manner that was inconsistent with the use of force and escalation of force policies that governed [contractor] Blackwater personnel in Iraq. …

"On or about May 23, 2007" -
Defendant "Evan Liberty, in the vicinity of Amanat City Hall in Baghdad, Iraq, near an intersection of the city known to Blackwater personnel as 'Grey 55,' discharged an automatic weapon from the turret of a Blackwater armored vehicle, without aiming the weapon and without regard for who might be struck by the rounds and in a manner that was inconsistent with the use of force and escalation of force policies that governed all Blackwater personnel in Iraq.

"On or about September 9, 2007" -
Defendant "Evan Liberty, in the vicinity of Amanat City Hall in Baghdad, Iraq, near an intersection of the city known to Blackwater personnel as 'Grey 55,' discharged an automatic weapon from a port hole of a Blackwater armored vehicle, while driving that vehicle, without aiming the weapon, and without regard for who might be struck by the rounds, and in a manner that was inconsistent with the use of force and escalation of force policies that governed all Blackwater personnel in Iraq.

In the twelve-month period leading up to the events charged in the indictment -
Defendant Nicholas Slatten, "while assigned to the Raven 23 convoy operating at various locations in the Red Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, made statements that he wanted to kill as many Iraqis as he could as 'payback for 9/11,' and he repeatedly boasted about the number of Iraqis he had shot.

In the twelve-month period leading up to the events charged in the indictment -
Defendant Nicholas Slatten, "while assigned to the Raven 23 convoy operating at various locations in the Red Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, deliberately fired his weapon to draw out return fire and instigate gun battles in a manner that was inconsistent with the use of force and escalation of force policies that governed Blackwater personnel in Iraq.

September 16, 2007 - on or about September 30, 2007 -
Defendant "Dustin Heard made statements that he had not been honest with the State Department agents investigating the shooting at Nisur Square."

May 7, 2009 War Crime Tried In Civilian Court
"Five soldiers and a former soldier, Steven Green, [were] charged with rape and murder in Iraq."

A federal jury convicted Pfc. Steven Dale Green "of raping and fatally shooting a 14-year-old girl after killing her parents and younger sister while he was serving in Iraq."

The defense team asked the court "to consider the 'context' of war, saying soldiers in Green's unit of the 101st Airborne Division lacked leadership. Defense attorneys also said the Army missed signs that Green was struggling after the loss of friends in combat and that it offered little help to him and other soldiers in his unit."

II. WHEREVER WE LAND AND OCCUPY

A Day in Death - Reuters' "Security developments in Iraq FACTBOX September 9, 2009

BAGHDAD
Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. troops, kill two men during a pre-dawn raid in southeastern Baghdad, witnesses and the U.S. military said. The U.S. military says the force returned fire on the two men after coming under fire

KIRKUK
A car bomb kills at least eight people from a single family in Iraq's disputed city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD
Operation by Iraqi, U.S. forces in southeastern Baghdad on Tuesday kill two people, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD
A bomb attached to a minibus wounds two people in northern Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD
A roadside bomb wounds two civilians in central Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL
Gunmen kills a civilian in Mosul, 390 (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL
A roadside bomb kills an off-duty Iraqi army officer, wounds two other civilians north of Mosul, police said.

BAGHDAD
An investigative council indicts 29 Iraqi security officials for negligence relating to two truck bombs outside government ministries in Baghdad last month that killed 95 people, Baghdad security representative Qassim al-Moussawi said.

BAGHDAD
A bomb attached to a car wounds three civilians in Baghdad's western district of Jamiaa on Tuesday, police said.

MOSUL
A roadside bomb wounds three soldiers on Tuesday on the northern outskirts of Mosul, north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD
A bomb planted on a motorcycle kills one civilian and wounds seven others on Tuesday in southern Baghdad, police said.

III. BLAME EVERYONE except OURSELVES

Costs of War
Killing our own - mentally, emotionally, with lethal finality Monday 11 May 2009
Pentagon confirms a U.S. soldier in custody for having allegedly killed five fellow troops and wounded three others in Iraq. The soldier had opened fire at Camp Liberty near Baghdad's international airport. Reports called the incident "one of the highest death tolls for the American military in recent months."

"Attacks by U.S. soldiers on their comrades, or on officers was commonplace during the Vietnam War... In September a sergeant shot dead two fellow sergeants who had apparently been berating him."

November 5, 2009
A U.S. Army officer opens fire day at the Fort Hood U.S. military base in Texas. Local officials identify the shooter as Major Nidal Malik Hasan.

The full facts of the case and clues as to motive are unclear, writes a commenter in the UK Guardian; but "we know that the alleged shooter, 39-year-old Major Nidal Malik Hasan, is an American-born medical doctor and licensed psychiatrist, who also happens to be a Muslim born to Palestinian immigrant parents...

"When Hasan's Arabic name was revealed as the alleged shooter, the blogosphere and message boards lit up with the predictable assortment of anonymous bigoted bile vilifying Islam and questioning the loyalty of American Muslims...

"If it is discovered that this lethal rampage was motivated by an inexcusable and misplaced sense of religiosity, it would provide ammunition to those extreme rightwing, minority voices in America who are convinced their Muslim neighbours are stealth jihadists ready to commit suicide bombings at a moment's notice. These proponents of modern day McCarthyism find their allies in members of the "Birther movement", who remain convinced President Obama is not an American citizen. Their esteemed colleagues include those who pontificate about Obama being a closet Muslim and an agent of socialism.

"Whatever the FBI investigation and any subsequent prosecution following the terrible shootings at Fort Hood may finally reveal, incidents such as these warrant a re-examination of how to treat and discharge or excuse those soldiers who are troubled or conflicted psychologically, politically or religiously over our foreign policy and, in particular, the current war in Afghanistan and occupation of Iraq.

"No mere factual, evidential explanation could ever justify or excuse in any way Hasan's alleged actions. But it ought to broaden the horizon of those in the media who seem infatuated with the need to pin the blame for this perverse tragedy solely on a man's religious faith and Arabic last name, rather than exploring the possibility of a more complicated truth involving some combination of mental state, divided loyalty or conscientious objection."

Perpetual war making makes soldiers are sick. "About a fifth of all U.S. troops," news reports said in May, "are thought to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, contributing to high divorce and suicide rates. An estimated one fifth of the 4,292 members of the U.S. force in Iraq have died from non-combat causes, either in accidents or from suicide.

An estimated five soldiers in Iraq try to commit suicide each day.

Between September 2008 and last month, more U.S. troops (72) died from accidents, illness or suicide than from combat (67).

IV. Reality AMERICANS INTOXICATE OUT OF MIND

Forty-year-old Jason Rodriguez worked for 11 months as an engineer at the Orlando (Florida) office of the Reynolds, Smith & Hill consulting company. He lost his job in 2007. This week he "opened fire at his former workplace killing one person and wounding five others. … The shooting occurred a day after a mass shooting at a U.S. army base in Texas…"

In the United States of America every year, 12,000 people die gun shot deaths. This accounts for more than two out of every three killings, an average of 33 people daily.

"An additional 240 people get shot and injured every day." Firearms ownership in the hands of more than 65 million Americans adds up to 283 million firearms."

Shock only perpetuates the problem of gun violence... We should be outraged -- Jenny Price was writing in September "The cost of America's gun addiction"

Sources:

http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/legal/2009-2/20090907.pdf, Case 1:08-cr-00360-RMU Document 128 Filed 09/07/2009 Page 1 of 9
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/07/national/main5000038.shtml
http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2009-05/2009-05-11-voa21.cfm?CFID=319703921&CFTOKEN=82975425&jsessionid=8830b972e4b9dc2ed0ef2b1
211727014616dBy VOA News
"US soldier in custody after allegedly killing five fellow troops in Iraq - Pentagon confirmed soldier opened fire at Camp Liberty near Baghdad international airport" (Ewen MacAskill in Washington), guardian.co.uk, Monday May 11, 2009, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/11/usa-soldier-troops-killed-iraq
"US Soldier Charged with Killing Colleagues in Iraq," May 12, 2009, ttp://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2009-05/2009-05-12-voa30.cfm?moddate=2009-05-12
Reuters' "FACTBOX: Security developments in Iraq, September 9, 2009,
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5884C320090909
"US Soldier Kills 13 in Rampage on Texas Base" (Al Pessin, Pentagon), November 5, 2009, http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-11-05-voa55.cfm
"Fort Hood has enough victims already" (Wajahat Ali), Friday November 6, 2009, guardian.co.uk, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/nov/06/fort-hood-shootings-hasan-muslim
"Army Sends Counselors to Ft. Hood, as Investigation Continues -The U.S. Army is dispatching dozens of trauma and grief counselors and military chaplains to Fort Hood in Texas" (Al Pessin Pentagon) November 6, 2009, http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-11-06-voa19.cfm
"Laid-off Orlando engineer kills one, wounds five" (Barbara Liston; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and David Storey) Friday November 6, 2009, http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5A54FB20091106
"The cost of America's gun addiction - in a country with 283m firearms, we should not be shocked that 33 people are shot dead each day. We should be outraged" (Jenny Price, article first appeared in the Los Angeles Times), guardian.co.uk, Tuesday September 29, 2009, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/sep/29/gun-violence-death-us

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Dr. Carolyn LaDelle Bennett -author, independent journalist Blog: Today's Insight News Blog: http://todaysinsightnews.blogspot.com/
Carolyn Bennett's Latest book: BREAKDOWN: Violence in Search of U (you)-Turn
Nature and Consequences of U.S. International and Domestic Affairs
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