Blackwater The government's case against five Blackwater guards has unraveled after the Blackwater charges were dismissed by Federal Judge Ricardo Urbina. In the ruling the government prosecutors, scolded by Judge Urbina, do not come across as the best and the brightest of the Justice Department. The case stems from a shootout in Baghdad that left 17 Iraqis dead and wounded over two dozen. The incident occurred in September 2007 and the Department of Justice brought manslaughter charges against the Blackwater guards involved in the shooting. Although the charges have been dismissed the Justice Department may appeal the ruling, or may seek new charges against the men. Charges were originally brought against six men, and prosecutors were able to obtain a guilty plea from one of the men involved in the shooting. In the 90-page, detailed ruling issued by Urbina, the prosecution does not come off looking well at all. The judge criticized the handling of the case in all stages of the case. The judge was especially critical of the use of statements made by the guards immediately following the incident, despite the warnings from senior prosecutors. The problem with the use of the statements was that they were given with the express understanding that the statements would not be used against the men in court. The government then used those statements to develop their investigation and the prosecution of the men. The judge in the case also stated that the prosecutors explanations regarding the use of the statements were “lacking in credibility.” If the guards had been convicted of the manslaughter and weapons charges being brought against them they would have faced mandatory 30-year prison sentences. The defense lawyers questioned every aspect of the prosecution, even going so far as to question whether the court had jurisdiction to hear the case. The ruling does not appear to touch on any of the jurisdictional issues, but the claims seem to have merit. None of the victims was Americans, and the acts did not take place in the United States. — www.rightpundits.com Asteroids Here's a weird story. Russia says it needs to save the world from an asteroid collision: Anatoly Perminov told Golos Rossii radio the space agency would hold a meeting soon to assess a mission to Apophis. He said his agency might eventually invite NASA, the European Space Agency, the Chinese space agency and others to join the project. But Western sources say they've checked this out and there's nothing to worry about: NASA had put the chances that Apophis could hit Earth in 2036 as 1-in-45,000.
