US President pardons Military Personnel who convicted for murder in Iraq

Donald Trump has issued pardons to 15 people including four security guards involved in a 2007 massacre in Iraq. He is expected to issue more pardons before leaving office next month. It is common for outgoing presidents to use their right to issue pardons, which wipe out convictions.

Four former Blackwater security guards – Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard – were also pardoned. They were convicted six years ago of killing 14 Iraqis in a square in Baghdad in 2007.

A US federal jury has found four Blackwater security guards guilty of killing 14 Iraqis in a square in Baghdad in 2007. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29727314

One former guard was found guilty of murder with three others guilty of voluntary manslaughter.

A further 17 Iraqis were injured as the private contractors opened fire to clear the way for a US convoy.

The shootings sparked international outrage and a debate over the role of defence contractors in warfare.

Prosecutors said the Blackwater guards had harboured deep hostility toward Iraqis and boasted of firing their weapons indiscriminately.

Nicholas Slatten was found guilty of murder while Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard were found guilty of at least three charges of voluntary manslaughter and also face gun charges.

The shootings in Baghdad caused an international outcry.

However, Mr Trump has so far been less enthusiastic in using his right to grant clemency than any of his recent predecessors according to Pew Research Center.

Barack Obama, whom Mr Trump replaced in 2017, granted 212 pardons and 1,715 commutations – the most since President Harry Truman in the 1940s and 1950s. By contrast, Mr Trump has now granted more than 40 pardons.

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