Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Biden promises Blackwater appeal

Pledge, trip intend to build Iraqi trust

Vice President Joe Biden speaks in Baghdad on Saturday.  (Associated Press / Ap Pool)
Liz Sly Los Angeles Times

BAGHDAD – Vice President Joe Biden promised Saturday that the Obama administration would appeal a U.S. court’s decision to drop charges against a group of Blackwater guards involved in a shooting that left at least 14 Iraqi civilians dead.

The September 2007 shootings in a busy Baghdad square enraged Iraqis, and tempers were further inflamed in December when a U.S. federal judge dismissed criminal charges against five of the former guards for the security company now known as Xe. The judge ruled that the prosecution improperly built the case on incriminating statements the guards were forced to give to the State Department.

Biden made the promise while on a 24-hour trip to Baghdad aimed, he said, at exploring ways to enhance the U.S.-Iraqi relationship as American troops prepare to draw down in large numbers later in the year.

The first of those withdrawals got under way in western Iraq’s Anbar province Saturday, with the departure of the last few Marines still serving in Iraq. The Marines fought in almost all the major battles in Iraq over the last seven years, but with the pacification of the former insurgent stronghold in 2007, their presence has gradually wound down.

After meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Biden said he had been “disappointed” with the judge’s verdict in the Blackwater case.

“The U.S. is determined to hold to account anyone who commits crimes against the Iraqi people,” he told reporters.

Biden’s visit coincided with a growing political crisis over the banning of hundreds of mostly secular candidates from elections scheduled for March. But Biden sidestepped the controversy, saying his visit had been planned weeks in advance and that he had not come to Baghdad to address the issue.

“This is for Iraqis, not for me,” he said. “I am confident that Iraqis … are working for a final, just solution.”

He also said he supported the clause in Iraq’s Constitution outlawing the Baath Party, which has been used to justify the disqualification of more than 500 candidates, although he did not say he supported the disqualifications.

With the exception of Talabani, Iraqi government officials have thrown their support behind the move to disqualify the candidates, despite question marks raised over the legality and independence of the commission that ordered them.

But U.S. officials have said they see signs that the Iraqis are looking to find a compromise to avert a crisis that could threaten the legitimacy of the election and reignite sectarian tensions.