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January 26, 2011

Suit by Families of Slain Blackwater Contractors Dismissed 
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A federal judge has dismissed a landmark lawsuit brought by the families
of four Blackwater contractors killed in Iraq nearly seven years ago.
The four men died in a convoy ambush in March 2004 in the city of
Fallujah. After being shot, the men's bodies were dragged through the
streets and mutilated. Two of the corpses were strung from a bridge. The
victims' families accused Blackwater of sending them into hostile
territory unprepared and without sufficient protection. But after years
of delays and a successful Blackwater effort to move the case into
private arbitration, U.S. District Judge James Fox dismissed the case on
the grounds neither side has paid for the arbitration's costs. Katy
Helvenston, the mother of slain contractor Scott Helvenston, said the
case is all but over because the families have run out of money.
Helvenston said, "It's pretty much destroyed my life. I haven't known
one moment of joy since Scotty was slaughtered. I think the worst part
is the betrayal from my country."



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