Biden promises U.S. will appeal dismissal of Blackwater case

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. He
also met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other leaders before leaving Saturday evening.

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 support the disqualifications.

“The United States condemns the crimes of the previous regime, and we fully support Iraq’s constitutional ban on the return to power of Saddam’s Baath Party,” he said.

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. The barred candidates can appeal to a panel of judges, but it
is unlikely they will have time to rule on hundreds of cases before the
March 7 vote.

—

(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.

Visit the Los Angeles Times on the Internet at http://www.latimes.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.