After pardon, Blackwater guard defiant: 'I acted correctly'

[turbinetree]

By ERIC TUCKER
48 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Evan Liberty was reading in the top bunk of his cell one evening late last month when a prison supervisor delivered news he had hoped for.

“He says, ‘Are you ready for this?’” Liberty recalled. “I said, ‘Uh, I’m not sure. What is going on?’ He said, ‘Presidential pardon. Pack your stuff.’”

Liberty is one of four former Blackwater contractors pardoned by President Donald Trump in one of Trump’s final acts in office, wiping away their convictions in a 2007 shooting rampage in Baghdad that killed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians. Even for a president who has repeatedly exercised his pardon power on personal associates and political supporters, Trump’s clemency for the contractors was met with especially intense condemnation, both in the United States and the Middle East.

Historically, presidential pardons have been reserved for nonviolent crimes, not manslaughter or murder, and the traditional process led by the Justice Department values acceptance of responsibility and remorse from those convicted of crimes. The Blackwater contractors meet none of those criteria. They were convicted in the killings of unarmed Iraqi women and children and have long been defiant in their assertions of innocence.

https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-shootings-baghdad-only-on-ap-iraq-7b3e202ac353db544180fb2a61d2902c

When did it become the policy of the US Government to hire mercenaries to protect diplomats....here lets check

https://www.the-american-interest.com/2009/05/01/the-mercenary-debate/

[secondwind]

1. Just looking into his eyes gives me the jitters... he's a monster...

I hope his comeuppance will do him in... maybe in a bar brawl or something... Karma has a way to taking care of these things.

[PatSeg]

8. Oh yes

I see what you mean, rather sinister and evil.

[old guy]

2. He doesn't need to worry about anything.

Eric Prince is still hiring.

[Blues Heron]

3. Sorry Liberty - Pardon means you're GUILTY AS CHARGED

Murdering scum

[2naSalit]

4. Gee, kind of makes you hope...

he meets a sudden end as a victim of a crime similar to those he committed.

[maxrandb]

5. In a just world

These guys would be spirited away in the middle of the night and taken to Iraqi courts to face charges.

[DFW]

6. Too bad none of his victims weren't well enough armed....

..... to „act correctly“ in self-defense.

[joshcryer]

7. This piece of shit will go on to be a millionaire.

Doing book deals and talking to conservatives.