In
A Land Where Justice Is Still A Game:
The
Blackwater 4
The
recent Court and jury decision to convict 4 former Blackwater
contractors of murder is, in my opinion, another travesty of justice.
It
is a travesty of justice because the contractors were assured that
they were 'protected' in the course of what was, at that time, one of
the most dangerous jobs on the planet.
They
were asked to undertake work which professional Armed forces
personnel would find, at the best of times, stressful and where only
intensive professional training could have possibly averted a tragedy
on that day in Nisoor Square, Baghdad.
The
truth was they (the convicted ex-Blackwater employees) were betrayed
by the very politicians whose safety they were prepared (and some
did) to sacrifice their lives to protect whilst visiting Iraq.
But
you won't read about this in the 'hanging press', all reproducing
the same storyline – that 'justice' has been 'seen' to be done.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Given
public hysteria and fear of loss of electoral votes over any
sensitive [vote losing] issue, all run for cover, and, to put it
bluntly, hang anyone and everyone 'out to dry' to save their own
political necks.
But
you will never read about this in the mainstream news.
I
never condone murder. Yes there is little doubt that the restraints
normally in place where professional Armed Forces personnel are
involved, were absent on that fateful day in 2007 at Nisoor Square,
Baghdad when innocent civilians were indiscriminately shot dead. But
how many of the jury or the judge, the Justice Department or FBI
staffers have been in a war zone under these exceptional conditions?
I have so I can speak with some confidence and knowledge in this
regard.
If
you have ever been in a war zone where local conditions can change in
an instant and the atmosphere can go from being unhostile, to build
up, general hysteria, or being 'hemmed in' to someone shouting 'kill
the Infidels' or something similar or a language you do not
understand but have to infer many things from gestures, actions and
try to anticipate intentions, all in an instant. I can assure
you there is little time to react, between you being surrounded, torn
to shreds, your head on a pole, little time between being alive and
dead. The only thing which may save you – and the civilians
surrounding you - from carnage – is your training, or sheer luck.
For myself, it was the latter, on three separate occasions in
two different countries. There is no time to react logically,
basic survival instinct takes over and you do what you can in an
instant to save your own life [or protect your VIP as the case is.]
Once the shooting starts only training and discipline can bring it to
an end with minimum loss of life.
But
you won't read or hear or see about this in your mainstream media.
Those few who have had this experience will, on the whole, prefer to
just keep quiet. Maybe for personal reasons. Maybe for professional
career fears for the future. Maybe they themselves continue to be
traumatized, suffering in silence rather than seeking professional
help – or because they just can't afford the cost of such private
psychiatric healthcare or just can't afford the cost of speaking out. (Yes
Michael Savage, PTSD does exist – and many who served their country
suffer in silence rather than seek help. Only armchair critics have
no knowledge of it.)
I
have experienced this [operating under extremely stressful or life-threatening conditions] situation three times, in two different War
zones, in two different countries, as a non-combatant civilian, in my
lifetime. I would not wish it on anyone. If I had been armed, I
would have instantly acted to defend myself from what were rapidly
changing (in an instant) conditions. I may (or may not) have issued
verbal warnings which, if ignored, I too would have had no hesitation
in opening fire on hysterical or surrounding local crowds. I was
unarmed and, with hindsight and surprise, used other innate survival
skills, which I did not even realize I possessed until those moments,
to save my own life. But I have never forgotten those events. They
do not haunt me, but they were very formative in my personal
evolution and development.
A
judge and jury who have never experienced a combat zone close up and
personal – other than the six feet between themselves and the plasma, LCD or LED in their
living room, and witnesses for the prosecution, must give added weight
to the innocent victims accounts by the very nature of the outcome.
The jury have not just taken away the liberty but the dignity of the
contractors whose only crime was that they believed in their country
and were prepared to lay down their lives whilst undertaking tasks
their masters would often prefer to plausibly deny and, more
importantly, under extreme pressure and stress, they made fatal
mistakes. Once bullets are fired, unfortunately they cannot be recalled.
For
the record, the former Blackwater contractors were guilty of opening
fire on an apparently defenceless crowd of civilians. But Baghdad in
2007, was not (as it is likewise today) a cakewalk.
As
far as I am concerned, justice will not have been done until all
these convicted Blackwater contractors are freed or pardoned for the
mitigating reasons and exceptional conditions which few citizens will
ever experience in their lifetimes, thankfully.
They
will not even have the 'dignity' of serving out their sentences at Leavenworth
[USDB/JRCF] but are now branded as common criminals, murderers
to be incarcerated, keys thrown away, no chance of reprieve.
If
the four individuals convicted are guilty of anything it is a lack of
good judgement under exceptionally stressful conditions which
resulted in a tragic loss of innocent Iraqi civilian lives.
Their
indirect employer, the government, should acknowledge it's own
culpability.
In
my opinion, one of the last acts in Office of the incumbent President
should be to acknowledge this fact and that these individuals were
not the only ones who should have been in the dock but were
shamelessly used, hung out to swing in the wind, thrown away as
garbage, then abandoned by the country they served. One can argue
with justification the issues of honor ,dignity and recompense for
the innocent victims and their grieving families in their quest for
some sense of justice and closure.
I
will not quote much of the 'hanging press' as it is all, almost
unanimously, singing from the same hymn sheet, with as many as can
clammer, scramble and fight their way on board, all along for the
ride, steering, cajoling on, at the top of their vocals, the wheeled
wicker baskets with the (now) convicted murderers, towards their
pre-prepared pyres for incineration, to satisfy the frenzied
'blood-lust' of the psyched-up masses.
Patrick
Emek
Detailed
description of a convoy 'hemmed in' at a very congested junction:
This
very descriptive account of tragic loss also gives some sense of an
environment where, at any moment, anything can happen - and this is a
point where a convoy is at it's most vulnerable - and 'on edge' for
such reasons:
Bob
Dylan:
''could
not help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land where justice is
a game'':
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/243119-couldn-t-help-but-make-me-feel-ashamed-to-live-in