"When the shooting stopped and the Blackwater team began to move, Mohammed [Kinani] exited the driver door and opened a rear passenger door. Ali, who had been slumped against the door, fell into his father's arms. Ali had been struck with a Blackwater round, which entered the rear driver side door and hit the boy in the head. As his father reached for his 9-year-old son, Ali's brains fell out onto the street and onto his father's feet."
Attorney Paul Dickinson, who represented six of the Iraqi victims in a civil court lawsuit, told Salon:
"The investigation was monumental. To put it all aside because Erik Prince is one of Trump's cronies is a slap in the face to the U.S. legal system, a slap in the face to the Justice Department and the assurances it put in place to ensure these men had fair trials. And despite being the 'law and order president,' Trump has humiliated these families for obtaining justice for the crimes committed against them."
Amidst the global fallout from the attack, which a U.S. military investigation concluded was unprovoked, came scrutiny over the use of private contractors with military authority but permitted to operate without the same official constraints.
The Iraqi government revoked Blackwater's license, and Erik Prince changed the company's name and sold it.
But then Donald Trump entered the White House.
Prince seized the opportunity to lobby Trump to "privatize" the war in Afghanistan by replacing U.S. troops with mercenaries.
Paul Dickinson said:
"Prince made millions by sending these men back to Iraq, but Blackwater made it harder for the soldiers to do their job. The sad fact is that they didn't follow rules of engagement. They drove around in tan-colored Army vehicles without markings, and most Iraqi citizens didn't know the difference until it was too late. Blackwater convoys that ran through town, shooting indiscriminately, made it more difficult for soldiers trying to do the right thing the right way."
Dickinson made a point of indicating Mohammad Kinani is not some anti-American zealot, but someone who welcomed U.S. military presence that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, stating:
"Mohammed Kanani had greeted the U.S. soldiers in Baghdad. He welcomed the changes that were happening in his country, to get out from under Saddam Hussein's oppressive and vindictive government."
Kinani added:
"The first day the American Army entered Baghdad, I handed out juice and candy in the street, to celebrate our liberation from Saddam."
But that faith in American justice has been shattered.
In an ABC News interview last week, Kinani said:
"I don't know what I did to Blackwater. The president of the United States, he is above the law. These are people who should stay in jail. I feel lost today. I feel as if something is up[side] down. I just remember every detail about what happened. It's really hard to live with this and this really broke my heart."
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