The Justice Department announced today its charges against five Blackwater private security contractors who were involved in the killing of 17 Iraqis in September 2007. The charges include 14 counts of manslaughter, and a sixth guard admitted in a plea deal to killing at least one Iraqi in the shooting. Other charges include using a machine gun in a crime of violence. The guards surrendered themselves at a federal court house in Salt Lake City. Witnesses say the contractors opened fire without provocation, but Blackwater says it was self-defense. "We think it's pure and simple a case of self-defense," said a defense attorney. "Tragically people did die."
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