Hang 'Em in the Name of Blackwater, a Sign of Iraq's Sovereignty

From CNN coverage of the ArmorGroup Danny Fitzsimons trial

The trial follows a U.S.-Iraq security agreement that went into effect in January 2009, ending foreign contractors’ immunity.

Before that, Iraqis had complained that private security contractors were operating in a state of lawlessness, never held accountable by Iraqi authorities for incidents in which Iraqis were killed.

The most famous such case involved a 2007 incident in which 17 Iraqis were killed in a Baghdad square by security guards working for Blackwater

At Fitzsimons’ trial Sunday was Hassan Jaber, an Iraqi lawyer who was wounded in the Blackwater shooting incident.

At one point during the proceedings, he whispered, “This is a victory for justice.”

After the trial, he told CNN he was very happy to see a British citizen being held accountable for a crime in Iraq, calling it a sign of Iraq’s sovereignty.

See Also Danny Fitzsimons and the Blackwater Backlash