Donald Trump’s decision to pardon four Blackwater contractors involved in the 2007 slaughter of Iraqi civilians was met with a tsunami of anger and resentment online from people calling it a travesty of justice.
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday evening that he is issuing 15 full pardons and commuting the punishments of five convicts to time served. Four of the people given clemency were former employees of the infamous private military company Blackwater.
They were serving lengthy prison terms, including a life sentence in one case, for the Nisour Square massacre, one of the most notorious episodes in the US’ military engagement in Iraq.
Seventeen Iraqi civilians, including one child, were killed in the crowded Baghdad square in September 2007, after the US contractors opened fire on people with machine guns, sniper rifles, and grenade launchers. The investigation concluded that at least 14 of them were killed without any reason. The unprovoked attack was carried out by Blackwater guards who were escorting a US Embassy convoy and allegedly thought they had been ambushed.
After a protracted legal process, four people were sentenced to various prison terms. Nicholas Slatten, who was accused of opening fire first and triggering the attack on civilians, received a life sentence.
The news that all four convicts will now walk free, their punishments considered enough, was met with much anger, as public figures and ordinary commenters lashed out at Trump’s decision. Glenn Kirschner, a former US Army prosecutor who is now a legal analyst with MSNBC, said the president “killed justice” with his pardons.
Trump pardoned the 4 Blackwater defendants who slaughtered 14 innocent, unarmed Iraqis (injured 17 others). I considered these trials one of the proudest accomplishments of the DC US Attorney’s Office, fighting for justice for those Iraqi victims. Today, Trump killed justice.
Mark Hertling, a retired general who was involved in the 2007-08 troop surge, called the move “the most egregious and disgusting” of Trump’s actions. Politician Richard Ojeda, a retired mayor, said Blackwater contractors in Iraq were a bunch of “cowboys” who “caused trouble for us, active duty troops.”
Many will be wringing their hands about Papadopoulos, but in my view the pardon of the Blackwater employees is the most egregious and disgusting of @realDonaldTrump actions. This was a graven war crime that resulted in the death of 17 Iraqi civilians. Shame on you Mr President. https://t.co/trGAbHu3WB
Erik Prince and his #Blackwater asshole goons are pieces of shit. Most people don’t know the details about what happened in Iraq. Well I was there. This is just another slap in the face to the Iraqi people and to the honorable men and women of our military. #Airbornepic.twitter.com/9mLqiFQExs
Representative Ilhan Omar called the pardoned contractors “mercenaries” and “war criminals,” whose release “will leave a dark mark on the history of presidential pardons.”
Private Blackwater mercenaries Nicholas Slatten, Paul Alvin Slough, Evan Shawn Liberty, and Dustin Laurent Heard are war criminals.
Pardoning monstrous criminals will leave a dark mark on the history of presidential pardons. https://t.co/guz6PCJ4rR
Many commenters posted reminders of who the victims of the massacre were.
Ali Kinani was 9 years old when he was shot in the head by Blackwater guards on September 16, 2007 in Baghdad Iraq. @realDonaldTrump just pardoned his killers. I represented Ali’s and five other families in a civil lawsuit against Blackwater and Erik Prince for the killings. pic.twitter.com/B2dwbjU4Ub
Trump pardoned Blackwater goon Nicholas Slatten, who in Iraq fired "without provocation, killing Ahmed Haithem Ahmed Al Rubia’y, an aspiring doctor, who was driving his mother to an appointment." https://t.co/NFUQzNTeUP
Others pointed out that securing the convictions of the four perpetrators was a difficult challenge for the justice system, and that the efforts were apparently wasted by the pardons.
Here's an @aviswanatha story about the extensive efforts the Justice Department took to prosecute one of the Blackwater security guards @realDonaldTrump just pardoned. Slatten had been serving life in prison for killing unarmed Iraqi civilians. https://t.co/l0i1PJXnrr
Some said that while Trump’s pardon was appalling, people should keep in mind that he was not the one who launched the 2003 Iraq invasion in the first place. George W. Bush and other architects of the war are now a respectable part of the bipartisan establishment in the US.
If you're appalled at Trump pardoning Blackwater murderers, ask yourself why the Democratic leadership has embraced George Bush, who launched that war. pic.twitter.com/wtFGhnj12a
Supporters of the former contractors had been arguing that the men had been excessively punished and that their prosecution was tainted. “Paul Slough and his colleagues didn’t deserve to spend one minute in prison,” Brian Heberlig, a lawyer for one of the four pardoned defendants, said of the news. “I am overwhelmed with emotion at this fantastic news.”
In 2007, Blackwater was headed by Eric Prince, the brother of Trump’s secretary of education, Betsy DeVos. He resigned and divested from the firm after the scandal over the massacre erupted. The company itself went through a series of re-brandings. Last year, Prince lobbied the Trump administration to replace US troops in Afghanistan with thousands of mercenaries.
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