Blackwater Shooting

On September 16, senior American officials were being evacuated by Blackwater USA after an explosion near their meeting. At least eight Iraqis were killed during the evacuation. According to those participating in the investigation of these deaths, at least one guard continued to shoot at the Iraqis after he was ordered to stop. The guards killed a family, including a mother and infant, and set their car on fire. If this is really what happened, the guards who fired at the Iraqis were not in compliance with human rights. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” (http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html). They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. It appears that the Blackwater guards fired without reason and with disregard for the lives of those Iraqis in the area.

This article reminds me of events that happened in WWII’s labor, concentration, and extermination camps. Many of the concentration camp leaders were very malicious to the Jews. Some of them would beat the Jews without reason. The Gestapo could send anybody they wanted to these camps without a trial. This gave them power which many of them abused. They killed or caused the deaths of many people without caring for their human rights. After WWII many more people realized the need for human rights and some governments created new laws that granted everyone human rights.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/world/middleeast/28blackwater.html?_r=1&ref=us