-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: June 8, 2007 5:35:31 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: "I Work for Your Government, So I'm Above the Law and Not
Accountable"
The lawyers representing the families of four American Blackwater
contractors killed in Fallujah say the company is counter-suing
the families to keep them quiet and to avoid any accountability.
Blackwater stonewalled families concerning any information about
how their menfolk were killed.
For 2 1/2 years, Blackwater has not answered a single question or
produced a single document.
tags: neocons, war profiteering, no decency
Blackwater Sues Families of Slain Employees
for $10 Million to Try to Suppress Their Story
By Daniel J. Callahan and Marc P. Miles, AlterNet
Posted on June 8, 2007, Printed on June 8, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/53460/
The following article is by the lawyers representing the families
of four American contractors who worked for Blackwater and were
killed in Fallujah. After Blackwater refused to share information
about why they were killed, the families were told they would have
to sue Blackwater to find out. Now Blackwater is trying to sue them
for $10 million to keep them quiet.
Raleigh, NC -- The families of four American security contractors
who were burned, beaten, dragged through the streets of Fallujah
and their decapitated bodies hung from a bridge over the Euphrates
River on March 31, 2004, are reaching out to the American public to
help protect themselves against the very company their loved ones
were serving when killed, Blackwater Security Consulting. After
Blackwater lost a series of appeals all the away to the U.S.
Supreme Court, Blackwater has now changed its tactics and is suing
the dead men's estates for $10 million to silence the families and
keep them out of court.
Following these gruesome deaths which were broadcast on worldwide
television, the surviving family members looked to Blackwater for
answers as to how and why their loved ones died. Blackwater not
only refused to give the grieving families any information, but
also callously stated that they would need to sue Blackwater to get
it. Left with no alternative, in January 2005, the families filed
suit against Blackwater, which is owned by the wealthy and
politically-connected Erik Prince.
Blackwater quickly adapted its battlefield tactics to the
courtroom. It initially hired Fred F. Fielding, who is currently
counsel to the President of the United States. It then hired Joseph
E. Schmitz as its in-house counsel, who was formerly the Inspector
General at the Pentagon. More recently, Blackwater employed Kenneth
Starr, famed prosecutor in the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky
scandal, to oppose the families. To add additional muscle,
Blackwater hired Cofer Black, who was the Director of the CIA
Counter- Terrorist Center.
After filing its suit against the dead men's estates, Blackwater
demanded that its claim and the families' existing lawsuit be
handled in a private arbitration. By suing the families in
arbitration, Blackwater has attempted to move the examination of
their wrongful conduct outside of the eye of the public and away
from a jury. This comes at the same time when Congress is
investigating Blackwater.
Over 300 contractors have been killed in Iraq with very little
inquiry into their deaths. The families claim that Blackwater is
attempting to cover up its incompetence, its cutting of corners in
favor of higher profits, and its over billing to the government.
Due to lack of accountability and oversight, Blackwater's private
army has been able to obtain huge profits from the government,
utilizing contacts established through Erik Prince's relationships
with high-ranking government officials such as Cofer Black and
Joseph Schmitz.
In addition to assembling its litigation troops, Blackwater also
stonewalled the families concerning any information about how the
men were killed. Over the past two and a half years, Blackwater has
not responded to a single question or produced a single document.
When the families' attorneys, Callahan & Blaine, obtained a Court
Order to take the deposition of a former Blackwater employee with
critical information about the incident, Blackwater quickly re-
hired him and sent him out of the country. When the witness
returned to the United States more than a year later, the families
obtained another Court Order for his deposition. Blackwater again
prevented them from taking his deposition by seeking the assistance
of the U.S. Attorney's Office to block the deposition under the
guise that he possibly possessed national secrets. Following an
investigation, the U.S. Army reported that the witness had no
secret information and that it had no objection to the deposition.
Blackwater has now lifted this atrocity to a whole new level by
going on the offensive and suing the families for $10 million. The
families now find themselves looking down the barrel of a gun as
Blackwater, armed with a war chest and politically-connected
attorneys, is aggressively litigating against them. Blackwater has
also threatened to hold the administrator of the estates personally
liable to scare him into abandoning his position, and has
threatened the families' attorneys as well.
The families are simply without the financial wherewithal to defend
against Blackwater. By filing suit, Blackwater is trying to wipe
out the families' ability to discover the truth about Blackwater's
involvement in the deaths of these four Americans and to silence
them from any public comment. In February, the families testified
before Congress.
However, Blackwater's lawsuit now seeks to gag the family members
from even speaking about the incident or about Blackwater's
involvement in the deaths. This is a direct attack to their free
speech rights under the First Amendment.
"I initially took this case because it was the right thing to do in
helping the families find closure by discovering the events
surrounding their loved ones deaths, " said Daniel J. Callahan,
attorney for the families. "I have found the evidence concerning
Blackwater's involvement in the deaths to be overwhelming and
appalling. Even more disturbing though is the callous nature in
which Blackwater has not only concealed the truth, but also
outright sued to force the families to stop pursuing the case and
to silence them." Blackwater has spent millions of dollars and
hired at least five different law firms to fight the families,
rather than meeting and addressing what should be Blackwater's top
priority -- the safety and well being of the mothers, wives, and
children left behind. Blackwater has said that it will not pay one
red cent to assist or console the surviving families, but instead
has counter sued for $10 million.
Without help, Blackwater will succeed in avoiding scrutiny for its
conduct, escaping accountability for its actions, and silencing the
families of the four Americans killed in Fallujah. A defense fund
has been established by which the public is able to donate money to
assist the families with litigation costs and expenses.
Donations can be sent to the estates' trust account, payable to
"C&B ITF Blackwater Victims Defense Fund," c/o Callahan & Blaine, 3
Hutton Centre Drive, Ninth Floor, Santa Ana, California 92707.
Donations may also be made securely online through PayPal by going
to blackwatervictims.com. All donations will be kept confidential
and anonymous.
See what's free at AOL.com.
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