Seattle Blackwater Guard Dropped from Suit
In a strange turnabout, former Blackwater guard Andrew Moonen of Seattle has been dropped as a defendant in a re-filed lawsuit that alleges he killed an Iraqi security guard for no reason. A newly revised civil complaint in the federal suit, originally filed in March, still claims he was the one who shot a vice presidential security guard to death on Christmas Eve 2006 in Baghdad, and Moonen has admitted to using his weapon that evening in self defense. But while the suit continues to allege that Blackwater, the private military company now known as Xe, was negligent in employing and supervising Moonen and committed war crimes, it no longer seeks to hold Moonen personally liable for damages. Similarly, at last word, Moonen's attorney said in January he suspected his client would be charged "soon" by the U.S. Attorney in a possible criminal case, but that hasn't happened as well. Some observers have speculated it will be difficult to prove Moonen was the aggressor in the shooting if he is the only living witness. 
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