Blackwater guards to be charged?

It’s looking more and more possible. Raw Story reports that the DOJ has sent target letters to a group of Blackwater guards being investigated for an incident that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

The US Justice Department sent target letters to the guards being investigated, The Washington Post reported Saturday. Although not identified by name, the guards were described as US military personnel.

Target letters often are a prelude to indictment, but allow the suspects to defend themselves by telling the court their own version of events. A federal grand jury has already heard the testimony of dozens of witnesses, including US and Blackwater officials and Iraqis.

This has looked like a cover up from the beginning and I was highly doubtful that there would ever be an attempt to prosecute those guards. Despite several independent investigations, including one by the Pentagon itself, that concluded that the Blackwater guards fired on an unarmed group of civilians who had not attacked them in any way, the government has held off charging them with any crime because it was not clear that they could be charged under either Iraqi or American law. It remains to be seen if they finally are charged and whether an earlier grant of partial immunity to secure their testimony will prevent a conviction.