The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    Federal Judge Dismisses All Charges Against Blackwater in Massacre in Iraq

    I just saw this at Jeremy Scahill's website. 

    This is about the 14 Iraqi civilians Blackwater guards accused of gunning down in Nisour Square in Bagdad in September 2007.

    The Judge's reasoning:

    In a memo defending his opinion, Urbina cited a similar rationale used in the dismissal of charges against Iran-Contra figure Oliver North--namely that the government violated the rights of the Blackwater men by using statements they made to investigators in the immediate aftermath of the shooting to build a case against the guards, which Urbina said qualified for "derivative use immunity." Urbina wrote that he agreed that "the government violated [the Blackwater guards'] constitutional rights by utilizing statements they made to Department of State investigators, which were compelled under a threat of job loss." He added that the "government is prohibited from using such compelled statements or any evidence obtained as a result of those statements" to bring indictments.

    Read more here.  I can't comment right now, except to say that Mercenaries are above the law.

     

    Good grief; this doesn't need recommends.  I just posted the news to let you know the decision, and maybe promote discussion.