Pivotal Family Lawsuit Against Blackwater USA Blocked from Court -- and Moved to Panel with Company Ties

Democracy Now (2007-05-23) Amy Goodman, Jeremy Scahill, Bill Sizemore

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More Info: Blackwater, Private Mercenaries

A landmark lawsuit brought by the families of four employees of the security firm Blackwater USA killed in Iraq three years ago has been partially derailed. This week, a federal judge ordered the lawsuit to be decided behind closed doors in arbitration—allowing Blackwater to avoid public examination of its practices in Iraq. One of the three arbitrators could be William Webster, who served as head of the FBI and CIA under President Reagan and has personal and business ties to several Blackwater lawyers. We speak with Bill Sizemore of the Virginian-Pilot, and Jeremy Scahill, author of “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army.” [includes rush transcript]