Ablogination

Outstanding, now make it stick.

It is indeed good news to see someone at least attempting to forge justice where it’s usually not found. Erik Prince’s Blackwater Security, the infamous corporate mercenary army that raped, plundered and pillaged the people of Iraq under the Bush administration, has managed to escape recompense for many of their crimes including the cold blooded murder of Iraqi civilians.

It is unlikely that they will ever pay for any of their crimes. But at least we have a gov’t that sees fit to try and perhaps this time, heads will roll.

From the AP:

By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. – The former president of Blackwater Worldwide and four other former officials at the embattled security firm were indicted Friday on federal weapons charges, partially the result of a raid two years ago by agents that rounded up 22 weapons, including AK-47s.

The indictment issued Friday charges Gary Jackson, who left the company last year in a management shakeup, along with four other former workers. The charges against Jackson include a conspiracy to violate firearms laws, false statements and possession of an unregistered firearm.

Also indicted were former general counsel Andrew Howell, former executive vice president Bill Mathews, Ana Bundy, who at one point had oversight of the firm’s armory, and Ronald Slezak, who was hired to oversee documents related to the company’s status as a firearms dealer.

The charges open a new front of the government’s oversight of the sullied security company. Several of the company’s contractors have previously been charged with federal crimes for their actions in war zones, but the company’s executives have so far weathered a range of investigations.

Around the time that Jackson left the company, Blackwater changed its name to Xe Services.

The company has been trying to rehabilitate its image since a 2007 shooting in Baghdad left 17 people dead, outraged the Iraqi government and led to a federal charges against several Blackwater guards — accusations later thrown out of court after a judge found prosecutors mishandled evidence.