5 Blackwater Guards Surrender

The military in Iraq had to do twice the job because the overpaid contractors were lawlessly making their jobs near impossible. We're finally shedding some light on the situation. Rumsfeld's dream of a privatized operation, complete with lack of chain of command and oversight, comes crashing down.

Five former Blackwater security guards surrendered to federal authorities today in Utah “over charges stemming from the 2007 shootings in Baghdad that killed 17 Iraqis.” Subsequently, the Justice Department unsealed a 35-count indictment charging the five former security guards “with voluntary manslaughter, attempt to commit manslaughter, and weapons violations.” From the Justice Department press release:

If convicted of the charges against them, the defendants face a potential maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment for each count of manslaughter, seven years of imprisonment for each count of attempt to commit manslaughter, and a mandatory minimum imprisonment of 30 years for the firearms count.

Source: CNN