Spokane7
65°
October 18, 2010 in Nation/World, Region
No indictment in Seattle man’s 2006 killing of Iraqi
SEATTLE — A former security contractor for Blackwater USA will not be indicted in the killing of an Iraqi guard in 2006, federal prosecutors said today.
According to a congressional report, Seattle resident Andrew Moonen was wandering drunk around Baghdad’s Green Zone after a Christmas Eve party in 2006 when he encountered and fatally shot Raheem Saadoun, a 32-year-old guard for Iraqi Vice President Adil Abd-al-Mahdi.
But U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan said today that prosecutors decided there wasn’t enough evidence to sustain a criminal conviction for the killing.
“We do not do this lightly,” Durkan wrote in a letter to Moonen’s attorney, Stewart Riley. “There is no question that the shooting death of Mr. Saadoun by your client was a tragic event.”
Riley said he was elated for his client. He added it’s “impossible to describe” what it’s been like for Moonen to spend the past four years facing the possibility of being indicted.
“He acted in self-defense,” Riley said. “He returned fire, ran for his life to a nearby checkpoint and reported the incident immediately.”
U.S. ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey has informed Iraqi government officials of Durkan’s decision, and provided a letter to be delivered Saadoun’s family, the federal prosecutor’s office in Seattle said.
Durkan said Moonen admitted he shot Saadoun the day after the slaying, claiming self-defense.
Riley said the past four years have been stressful for Moonen, adding the Army veteran has lost out on job opportunities and has not been able to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan as an Army reservist. Riley said Moonen served a seven-month tour in Iraq before working for Blackwater.
“He will now attempt to put this very difficult time in his life behind him and hopefully move on,” Riley said in a statement. “Unlike some in Congress and some in the news media, the United States Attorney’s Office did not rush to judgment and appears to have been decidedly immune from outside pressure.”
In 2008, federal prosecutors, FBI agents and other officials traveled to Iraq to investigate whether they could charge Moonen, interviewing witnesses and reviewing available records.
“After a thorough review of the above-described materials, and an analysis of the facts of this case and the applicable law, we have decided to close the investigation of Mr. Moonen without asking a grand jury to return an indictment against him,” Durkan wrote.
Riley declined to say where Moonen lives or currently works.
After the shooting, Blackwater arranged to have the State Department fly Moonen, a former Army Ranger, back to the United States. The company then fired him and fined him. Blackwater paid Saadoun’s family $15,000.
A federal lawsuit filed by Saadoun’s widow in 2009 against Moonen was dismissed, Riley said.
© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Stocks plummet as outlook in Europe dims 
PhiltheBibliophil on October 18 at 6:38 p.m.
I wonder how much money Cheney and Halliburton paid to get this guy off? I mean who cares right? The guy was just an Iraqi, right?
force_vector on October 18 at 10:00 p.m.
Phil- were you there? Do you know that this was not self defense? Or are you just jumping to conclusions about a former Army Ranger to make some dumb connection between Cheney and Halliburton? I mean, listen to yourself. You think that Cheney cut a check to the US Attorney in order to persuade him to not file charges against this guy? You really think Cheney gives a crap about this?
The US Attorney obviously found there was not enough evidence to suggest what happened was anything more than unfortunate. I recommend you end your man crush on Cheney (you must have one, since you obviously can’t get him off your mind). Or better yet, give him a call and see if he wants to go hunting.