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http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...otings-n231661
A federal jury on Wednesday returned guilty verdicts for the four former Blackwater security guards charged in the 2007 shootings of more than 30 Iraqis in Baghdad.
WASHINGTON ~ The jury found Nicholas Slatten guilty of first-degree murder, and the three other three guards — Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard — guilty of at least three counts of voluntary manslaughter.
The shootings on Sept. 16, 2007, caused an international uproar over the role of defense contractors in urban warfare.
The Bush State Department hired Blackwater to protect American diplomats in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, and elsewhere in the country.
Blackwater Said to Pursue Bribes to Iraq After 17 Died
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/wo...anted=all&_r=0
Top executives at Blackwater Worldwideauthorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support after a September 2007 episode in which Blackwater security guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, according to former company officials.
Gary Jackson, left, then the company president, approved bribes for Iraqi officials, former executives say. When Cofer Black, then the vice chairman, center, learned of the scheme, he reportedly confronted the chairman, Erik Prince, right.