Iraq to Sue Blackwater

The Iraq government said Friday that it will file a lawsuit against five Blackwater security guards recently cleared of manslaughter charges in the 2007 killing of 17 citizens. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina dismissed the charges, citing misconduct of the prosecutors, which has enraged Iraqis who see the shooting as an unprovoked massacre. The 2007 bloodbath also left dozens wounded, and led the Iraqi government to put limits on the use of security contractors. The guards were defending a State Department convoy when they began shooting, in what Iraqi authorities describe as an unprovoked attack. "In their zeal to bring charges against the defendants in this case, the prosecutors and investigators aggressively sought out statements the defendants had been compelled to make to government investigators in the immediate aftermath of the shooting and in the subsequent investigation," Urbina wrote.