Judges Tosses Murder Conviction Of Blackwater Mercenary Who Killed 14 Unarmed Civilians

Three former mercenaries who killed and injured 31 unarmed Iraqis in Nisour Square will be resentenced, and a fourth may be retried.

Jessica Corbett
By Jessica Corbett
Blackwater Grand Jury

A federal appeals court on Friday threw out lengthy prison sentences of three former operatives for private mercenary firm Blackwater Worldwide—and ordered a retrial for a fourth operative who had received a life sentence—for their roles in the notorious 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad, which left 14 unarmed Iraqis dead and another 17

Read Full Article

New Video Shows Military Contractors Setting Vehicles On Fire At Dakota Access Pipeline Protests

In the days following the vehicle fires, the local authorities and media predictably placed the blame on the water protectors.

Derrick Broze
By Derrick Broze
The remnants of a vehicle burned on North Dakota Highway 1806 on the night of Oct. 27, 2016. Non-peaceful forces embedded on the side of the water protectors were seen burning the vehicle and two armored vehicles over the protests of water protectors. (Derrick Broze for MintPress)

In response to accusations that TigerSwan, a private military contractor, purposefully set law enforcement vehicles on fire in order to blame opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline, I have decided to release new video from the night of the fires. Followers of my journalism are likely aware that I made 3 trips to Standing Rock, North Dakota in

Read Full Article

Court Reinstates Torture Case Against Abu Ghraib Military Contractor

Ruling rejects CACI’s argument that its conduct was outside the court’s bounds, stating, “It is beyond the power of even the president to declare [torture] lawful”

Nadia Prupis
By Nadia Prupis
ABU GHRAIB PRISON

An appellate court on Friday reinstated a lawsuit against a private military contractor accused of torturing detainees at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, reversing a lower court decision that dismissed the case and rejecting the defendant's claim that the issue of torture was beyond the court's jurisdiction. The Fourth Circuit Court of

Read Full Article

‘Mercenaries Unleashed’: Report Highlights Threats Posed By Booming Private Security Industry

‘For too long this murky world of guns for hire has been allowed to grow unchecked. In letting the industry regulate itself, the government has failed,’ the executive director of War On Want tells MintPress.

Billy Briggs
By Billy Briggs
Private military firm, European Security Academy, carries out a training exercise. Britain's $560 million a year mercenary industry is booming as governments and corporations seek to 'evade responsibility for the use of violent and often deadly force.’ (Photo: YouTube Screenshot)

LONDON --- In a new report, a British anti-poverty charity puts Britain at the center of a growing global mercenary industry worth around $560 million to companies in the United Kingdom alone. In its report, “Mercenaries Unleashed: The brave new world of private military and security companies,” War On Want names a number of major military and

Read Full Article

The Private Sector Is Cashing In On The Pentagon’s ‘Insatiable Demand’ For Drone War Intelligence

With the ratio of contractors to governmental personnel swelling, many worry that targeting decisions could become meaningless.

Abigail Fielding-Smith and Crofton Black
By Abigail Fielding-Smith and Crofton Black
Military personnel in Air Force Distributed Common Ground System.

Some months ago, an imagery analyst was sitting in his curtained cubicle at Hurlburt Field airbase in Florida watching footage transmitted from a drone above one of the battlefields in the War on Terror. If he thought the images showed someone doing anything suspicious, or holding a weapon, he had to type it in to a chat channel seen by the pilots

Read Full Article

Erik Prince: America’s Harbinger Of Death, And Democracy?

The Blackwater founder’s movements can be read like tea leaves: Wherever he goes, tragedy and death surely follow, trailed by tens of millions of dollars.

Jeffrey Cavanaugh
By Jeffrey Cavanaugh
Blackwater CEO and founder Erik Prince (AP/Sara D. Davis)

Humanity has long shown its knack for developing belief in the validity of certain signs and portents as conveying a reliable prediction of the future. A comet, for instance, has often been interpreted as a signal that famine or war might soon make an appearance. Likewise, association of such things as the entry of one or more planets into a house

Read Full Article