As Jury Takes Up Blackwater Massacre in Nisoor Square, a Grieving Iraqi Father Recalls Son’s Death
Jurors will begin deliberating this week in the murder and manslaughter
trial of four former Blackwater operatives involved in the 2007 massacre
at Baghdad’s Nisoor Square. The suspects are charged for the deaths of
14 of the 17 Iraqi civilians who died when their Blackwater unit opened
fire. The trial featured testimony from witnesses who survived the
attack and saw loved ones gunned down. In closing arguments last week,
prosecutors said Blackwater guards had shot fleeing civilians and
boasted of taking their lives. Nisoor Square is the highest-profile
deadly incident involving Blackwater — or any private war contractor —
and many Iraqis are watching the upcoming verdict to see how seriously
the United States intends to hold its private security companies
accountable for their alleged crimes. The first witness to testify in
the Blackwater trial was Mohammed Kinani, who broke down in tears when
describing how his nine-year-old son, Ali, was shot in the head while
riding in the back seat of the family car. Kinani reportedly sobbed so
uncontrollably when testifying that Judge Royce Lamberth temporarily
dismissed the jury. We air a documentary that tells Mohammad and Ali’s
story, "Blackwater’s Youngest Victim," by the Oscar-nominated filmmakers
Jeremy Scahill and Richard Rowley.
