FBI Blackwater Probe Hits Stumbling Block
Officials Say Security Firm's Guards Were Granted Immunity After Iraqi Civilian Shooting Deaths

(CBS/AP) The FBI’s investigation into last month's killing of Iraqi civilians by Blackwater security guards has hit a stumbling block.

Law enforcement officials say the State Department granted them immunity from prosecution before taking their statements. They can still be prosecuted but former prosecutor David Laufman says it will be harder to make a case, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports.

“It requires the FBI and the department of justice to ensure that any evidence the FBI develops is disconnected from any information that the State Department developed,” Laufman said.

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There ought to be a law against government agencies offering blanket immunity to murderers under any circumstances. When I heard about this on NPR, the report indicated that the officials granting immunity to the Blackwater killers had no authorization to do so and did it without the knowledge of higher-ups. That sounds like so much bullshit. As much attention as the Blackwater shooting got from both the press and the international community, if the State Department higher-ups, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, did not give this their full attention, then they were unforgivably derelict in their duties.

So either the State Department is staffed with complete incompetents or blatant liars. In any event, everyone involved with granting immunity to the Blackwater shooters and obstructing justice by doing so needs to be held accountable. They are accessories after the fact.