In March , Blackwater made headlines when Iraqi insurgents attacked and killed four Blackwater employees in Fallujah, hanging their bodies from a bridge. In December , more than two years after the incident, six Blackwater employees were indicted for 14 counts of manslaughter, among other charges. The charges were overturned a few weeks later by a federal judge who claimed that the government had used improperly obtained statements to make its case against the guards. In October , the four former Blackwater security guards were found guilty by a U.
Defendant Nicholas A. Slatten, who fired the first shots according to the government, was convicted of murder. The other defendants—Dustin L. Heard, Evan S. Liberty and Paul A. Slough—were found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and carrying out a violent crime with a machine gun. According to the Times , two U. The State Department reportedly took no action on the report until after the Nisour Square massacre, which happened just weeks after Richter submitted the dispatch. Although State Department officials took statements from Richter and Thomas about the threat Carroll had made against Richter, they took no further action, and a panel convened by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to investigate the Nisour Square massacre neglected to contact them.
The outcry over the Fallujah and Nisour Square incidents sparked public debate about the role of private military companies in the Iraq War and the broader war on terror, notably over issues of accountability. Unlike police officers, they are not trained in protecting constitutional rights.
In turn, these private companies are largely unaccountable to the US taxpayers from whom they draw their profits. It is security. They are immune from prosecution in Iraqi courts.
If the Justice Department wants to bring criminal charges such as assault, manslaughter or murder in a U. That could give Blackwater the legal cover it needs to avoid charges against its employees. In early , the U. Here lies the fundamental difference between us and the terrorists. In February , shortly after Iraqi officials and the U. Training Center Inc.
At the time of the rebranding, the company was facing numerous investigations and lawsuits stemming from its work. In late , the Justice Department opened an inquiry into whether Blackwater had offered bribes to Iraqi officials in an attempt to secure future operations. Carl Levin, who advised the Pentagon to reconsider renewing a lucrative contract for the company to train Afghan police forces, spearheaded hearings by the Senate Armed Services Committee into whether the company had engaged in reckless behavior during pervious training programs in Afghanistan.
In changing its name, the company hoped both to dispel some of the controversy associated with the Blackwater brand and to shift its focus away from the frontline roles that had resulted in so many scandals.
As part of this effort, the company deleted from its website several informational pages, including the company history. This is more than a simple name change. Rather it is a reflection of the changes we have made while retaining those elements that made us who we are today—the best in our industry.
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