WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump faced an angry backlash on Wednesday after he pardoned corrupt Republican congressmen and security guards convicted of killing 14 civilians in a 2007 Baghdad massacre.

Following the pattern of earlier announcements, Trump had extended executive clemency on Monday to people who showed strong political support for him, and former soldiers and law enforcement officials convicted of murder in on-the-job shootings.

Iraqis expressed outrage and sadness after Trump delivered pardons for the four Blackwater security contractors who were convicted of murder and manslaughter six years ago for the Nisur Square massacre.

The four, all former US servicemen, opened fire unprovoked on the crowded square in 2007 in an incident which left 14 Iraqi civilians dead -- though local authorities put the toll at 17 -- while wounding dozens more and deeply souring US-Iraqi relations.

Previous administrations were loathe to intervening in the legal case.

But the now-defunct Blackwater’s owner was Erik Prince, a close Trump supporter and brother of his secretary of education, Betsy DeVos.

‘Utter outrage’

“I knew we’d never get justice,” Fares Saadi, the Iraqi police officer who led the investigations, said.

A former classmate of a medical student killed at Nisur called the pardons “an utter outrage”, but added they were not surprising.

“As far as they are concerned, our blood is cheaper than water and our demands for justice and accountability are merely a nuisance,” the classmate said.

Retired US general Mark Hertling, who served in Iraq, called the Blackwater pardon “egregious and disgusting”. “This was a craven war crime that resulted in the death of 17 Iraqi civilians. Shame on you Mr President,” Hertling tweeted, using the higher death toll.

Trump also extended pardons to two men convicted in the Russia election meddling investigation of his 2016 campaign, and three former Republican lawmakers that watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) called “three of the most corrupt members of Congress in recent history”. All five, however, have been vocal supporters of Trump.

“The message Trump has sent tonight is clear: no matter how awful your crime was, justice does not apply to you if you are loyal to him,” CREW said.

According to an analysis by Harvard University law professor Jack Goldsmith and an assistant, Matthew Gluck, 42 of the 65 pardons Trump has issued so far were “to advance a political agenda”, while only five were recommended by the official White House pardons attorney.

Those pardoned, or who had their sentences commuted, include other figures convicted in the Russia meddling investigation, and a broad mix of pro-Trump activists convicted of felonies.

Trump also stunned prosecutors in Florida with the pardon of Philip Esformes, a healthcare tycoon sentenced last year to 20 years in prison for bilking the federal Medicare programme of $44 million dollars, the largest-ever Medicare fraud case.

While Esformes had no evident links to Trump, he was backed by several influential former Republican attorneys-general and prosecutors who have supported the president.

Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff accused Trump of fostering illegal activity.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2020