Raven 23: Presumption of Guilt

Biden's Baghdad Betrayal

Just two days after Judge Ricardo Urbina threw out the government’s case against Raven 23, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her legal advisors were scheming on ways to revive it. The news of the dismissal reverberated across Iraq, with religious and political leaders demanding that the US Justice Department bring new charges against Dustin Heard, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Nick Slatten. State Department cables from the time show that the Iraqi government was threatening to withdraw from the Status of Forces Agreement and lucrative oil contracts. Obama sent Vice President Joseph Biden to Iraq to assure the Iraqi people publicly that they would have “justice” in the Raven 23 case

The Code of Hamurabi

We pick up TWO YEARS after the investigation into the Nisour Square Incident and Blackwaters alleged misconduct US District Judge Ricardo Urbina throws out the case against Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Paul Slough and Nick Slatten, blasting prosecutors for pervasive misconduct and vindictive prosecution. The Raven 23 men pick up their lives cautiously after Urbina’s New Year’s Eve 2009 ruling, trying to resurrect their dreams for themselves and their families. Meanwhile, the Bush and succeeding Obama administrations grapple with shifting politics in Iraq, including the country’s first presidential election and negotiation of the status of forces agreement that will determine how long US troops may remain in Iraq.

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

Just hours after being attacked, the men of Raven 23 discover that the truth of what happened in Nisour Square will immediately come under attack as well. They are about to discover that their own government are willing to prosecute innocent men in a criminal court for political purposes.

Stand Down

Several eyewitnesses directly contradict the US government's two primary charges against "The Nisour Four." First, they prove that these wrongly accused military veterans faced major enemy fire in the battle at Nisour Square. Second, they show that the US government's star witness - Jimmy Watson - was a major catalyst in the debacle. In fact, the incident originated with a rogue decision by Watson to disobey a direct order to stand down. Instead, he commanded his men directly into the eye of the storm. And Watson's disobedience on the battlefield would soon lead to dishonesty about what really happened that day in Nisour Square.

Ground Truth

The U.S. government’s mistakes in its occupation of Iraq coalesce in a deadly firefight on Sept. 16, 2007 in Nisour Square, in the heart of violence-ravaged Baghdad. The gun battle between Blackwater’s Tactical Support Team and armed insurgents echoes the struggle of U.S. Armed Forces to distinguish friend from foe in a country teetering on the brink of civil war. Innocent lives are tragically lost in the crossfire.