serum114

Blackwater ‘Blood Money’ Angers Iraqis
Two Iraqi Families of Victims Killed by Blackwater Guards Tell ABC News They’ve Refused Compensation From the Company

by Addel Faiq
At least two Iraqi families of victims killed by Blackwater security guards in September tell ABC News they have refused compensation offered by the company.

The father of a 9-year-old boy, who says his son was one of the 17 civilians killed when Blackwater guards, escorting a diplomatic convoy, opened fire at Baghdad’s Nisour Square on Sept. 16, says he is trying to file a lawsuit against the company. He told ABCNews.com that Blackwater offered him $20,000 through an Iraqi prosecutor, but he refused the money.

Another Iraqi who lost both his wife and son in the incident says he too has refused the company’s offer of compensation of $20,000 for each victim.

Adel Jabur Shamma, who was injured in the incident, says he was bed-ridden for six months after being shot in the thigh. He says he was given $10,000 by the Iraqi prosecutor who is mediating between the families and Blackwater, but that the amount isn’t nearly enough to cover his surgery. He says he took the money because he had no other choice.

While a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. investigates the deaths, Blackwater has been operating behind the scenes in Iraq to offer condolence payments to survivors and families of the dead.

The company released a statement this afternoon saying: “At the request of U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Blackwater has reached out to the families of those killed or injured in Nisoor Square on September 16 as part of this condolence payment process. These are customary condolence payments, and are not an admission of guilt, but recognize that Iraq is an extremely dangerous place. When faced with an enemy intent on maximizing civilian casualties, innocent people will tragically be caught in the crossfire; when that happens, their suffering should not go unrecognized.”

Officials familiar with the case told ABCNews.com last month that Blackwater had resisted U.S. government demands that the company pay at least $100,000 per death, claiming the U.S. government itself hasn’t paid that much in similar situations.

As ABCNews.com has reported, the federal grand jury criminal investigation is focusing on two or three Blackwater guards who opened fire, claiming they perceived a threat. Other Blackwater guards have testified to federal agents, however, that they saw no such threat.

Several of the Iraqi families have already filed lawsuits against Blackwater in U.S. courts, alleging the security guards were guilty of “war crimes.”

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The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.
Hunter S. Thompson

W.M.DEEEZ

Sure....but the U.S govt. doesn't bill out labor at $1000.00/day, either.

I'm sure Blackwater has plenty of money in the bank. I guess litigation in Iraqi courts is a lot cheaper than in American courts.

Otherwise, 100k/per would be a bargain.

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Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got til it's gone

serum114

Federal contracts alone exceed 1 billion $$$. Iraqi's childrens lives 20k spilled hot coffee at mcdonalds 1 million go figure.

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The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.
Hunter S. Thompson

JeffinCO

I heard a guest on the dialy show (iraq correspondent cant remember his name) say that when he went back to Iraq, that the soldiers who had been fighting when he was there before, were now carrying backpacks FULL OF CASH to use to pay off the same people who were shooting at him months earlier. (Nice message to the troops, there.)

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"Oh, what a lovely little.."

Kanadesaga

The only surge that is working is the one in payments to both sides to stop shooting us.

Ptech

Bush has brought such shame to my government. Right out of the dark and dirty comic book stories.

BillCosby

Yep shame...............

He has betrayed the american ppl what it is even worse is that he continues to do so w/ the blessing$ both house$.............

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

Ptech

...both houses and the judiciary and certain corporations and their media outlets.