Trial Lawyer Still Hiding from Media

The trial lawyer who took advantage of grieving Blackwater families and tried to profit from the terrorists who murdered four contractors is still hiding from the media.

More than a week after a federal court effectively threw out his case against Blackwater, California trial lawyer Daniel Callahan has avoided making any press appearances.

Callahan devised a high-profile psychological campaign to discredit Blackwater, exploit the families of four Blackwater contractors murdered in Fallujah in 2004, and make millions from his made-for-media lawsuit. He's the source of phony allegations that Rep. Henry Waxman made against the company - allegations repeated without substantiation in the media. But since the federal court told the plaintiffs to abide by the terms of Blackwater's own contract, Callahan has been strangely silent.

Profile in courage.

Loser In Fallujah Suit Is Hiding from Press

California trial lawyer Daniel Callahan was never shy about talking to the press during his effort to profit financially from the deaths of four American military veterans in Iraq.

But now that a federal appeals court has effectively thrown out his suit against Blackwater, Callahan suddenly isn't talking.

The Virginian-Pilot, which serves the area near Blackwater Worldwide's headquarters and has been one of the main newspapers to break stories about the company, tried to get comments from both sides of the case for its October 21 story about the court decision.

Only Blackwater spokesman Anne Tyrrell would talk to the newspaper. According to Virginian-Pilot reporter Louis Hansen, the trial lawyers "did not respond to requests for comment."

Three Federal Judges Throw Out Fallujah Lawsuit

A panel of three federal judges has effectively thrown out the highly publicized lawsuit against Blackwater in relation to the ambush of four of its security contractors in 2004. The federal appeals court judges have ruled that Blackwater's contract that each of the men signed - requiring any disputes to be resolved in confidential arbitration and not in court - is valid and must be observed.

The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, which serves the area near Blackwater Worldwide's headquarters, has the story. The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond dismissed the petition filed by trial lawyer Daniel Callahan on behalf of shell companies that another trial lawyer set up in the names of the estates of the deceased.

Callahan planned to make millions of dollars profiting from the insurgents who murdered the four American military veterans, mutilated their bodies, and hung two of the bodies from a bridge in Fallujah, Iraq, in March, 2004.

Blackwater spokesman Anne Tyrrell says that the federal appeals court has vindicated the company, and upheld the firm's contracts. "The federal courts have now honored those written agreements," Tyrrell says in the article.

Report: War Profiteer Defeated in Federal Court

We're hearing out of the US Federal Court of the Fourth Circuit in Richmond that a federal judge has rejected the trial lawyers' suit against Blackwater for the terrorist ambush in Fallujah, and has told the parties to settle their differences out of court.

This is a huge blow for ambulance chasing trial lawyer Dan Callahan (pictured), who had shell companies set up in North Carolina in the names of four deceased Blackwater contractors whom Islamist insurgents ambushed, murdered and mutilated in 2004. Via the shell companies, which he represented as "estates," Callahan was hoping to pocket many millions of dollars by taking advantage of the terrorists' attack on the Blackwater men. He persuaded several grieving members of the deceased men's families to go along, blaming Blackwater instead of the terrorists for the deaths, and holding out the prospect of lots of money from a court decision.

The trial lawyer is going to have to settle for a lot less now - if anything at all - after spending millions of dollars in venture capital in hopes of profiting from the atrocities.

It's also a big blow to Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Cal.), who opened up his "investigation" of Blackwater at Callahan's request, had Callahan's anti-Blackwater clients testify before Congress as expert witnesses, and followed the trial lawyer's script in holding the hearings and leaking confidential documents to the media.

Of course, this blogger's opinion that Dan Callahan is a sleaze is, indeed, an opinion, and is therefore protected speech. I'll be sure to post links to legal documents and news reports as soon as they're online.

Terrorist Propaganda Targets Contractors

WIRED reports that the Islamic Army of Iraq (IAI), a Sunni breakaway faction of al Qaeda, has released a video specifically targeting the contractors who protect US diplomats and provide key services to American uniformed personnel.

Sophisticated propaganda operations - such a slick website in English, Spanish, French and Arabic designed for Western media outlets and a strong presence on YouTube - seem to be hallmarks of the Islamic Army of Iraq and other new insurgent groups.

Noah Shachtman of Wired.com writes:

The video starts on March 31, 2004 -- a day when Iraqis, not American contractors, were the ones acting barbaric. Four Blackwater employees were killed by locals after getting lost in Fallujah. Their bodies were burned, dragged through the streets, and hung from a bridge.

The video goes on to claim that "crimes against Iraqis happen on a daily basis done by unleashed barbarians dressed in security uniforms, criminals protected by law and instructed by the Bush administration to murder for the sake of killing." As this blog and others committed to the truth have worked hard to show, this is not at all the case. But the propaganda pieces of the IAI and others have been picked up and believed by the American media and extreme elements of the anti-war movement and the political left. The consequence? Terrorist vitriol against those serving the US government has now become "common knowledge."

This latest video from the IAI shows "that security contractors are not being targeted just as an extension of targeting US forces but rather as a direct target," says Ben Venzke, the CEO of IntelCenter, which meticulously tracks insurgent and jihadist propaganda.

While attacks on contractors are nothing new, this video is one sign that the threat profile for contractors has continued to increase and that groups like IAI are specifically looking for ways to attack contractors such as Blackwater both on the ground and in the information war space.

Atrocity bridge rededicated in Fallujah

"Four years ago today," the New York Daily News writes, "four American security men from Blackwater were ambushed in Fallujah. They were shot in their vehicles, doused in gasoline and set afire, mutilated and strung up on a bridge over the Euphrates River. The grisly images of their blackened corpses dangling from the steel bridge fueled the drive for a ... Marine offensive into the city days later."

The four men were led into ambush by their Iraqi security detail. The attackers planned the ambush for its international propaganda value; some of the attackers had video cameras to record the murders and mutilations, and relied on the international news media to spread the images around the world. A trial lawyer is trying to profiteer from the tragedy by holding Blackwater - not the terrorists - responsible for the killings. He is suing the company on behalf of some of the family members of the deceased.

Four years after the horrible incident, the city of Fallujah is much quieter. In fact, the Public Affairs Office of the Multi-National Corps at has announced that the bridge, reportedly nicknamed "Blackwater Bridge," has been refurbished and will be rededicated on 5 April. The bridge was first dedicated by King Feisel in 1927 and will henceforth bear his name.

Lawyer Tries to End Blackwater Suit

Wiley Rein, who - along with former partner Margaret Ryan - is facing a $30 million legal malpractice lawsuit, is seeking to have the case dismissed, the Legal Times reports.

Rein and Ryan defended Blackwater against a 2005 wrongful-death suit, but for some reason did not cite the federal officer removal statute and appropriate case precedent when conducting their defense. Had they done so, the case would have remained in federal court and been thrown out. Instead, Rein and Ryan allegedly mishandled the case, which was remanded to the Superior Court of Wake County in North Carolina and is now in arbitration.

At the heart of Rein's argument is a shaky proposition: that Blackwater's four employees killed in Fallujah, Iraq, were not technically working for the US military - in which case the statute would apply - but for a catering contractor which was working for the US military. It takes some pretty serious mental gymnastics to avoid the common-sense conclusion that coming under fire from insurgents in a city where the US military is conducting active combat operations, while employed for folks working for the military, does not constitute working with the military yourself.

Waxman 'investigation' tracks trial lawyer allegations

Blackwater's report to a House panel on the killings of four of its men in Fallujah in 2004 says that the congressional committee's "investigation" is politically motivated and that it tracks with a lawsuit filed by a trial lawyer who stands to make millions of dollars from suing the company.

Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA, pictured) has led the hearings in response to a request from trial lawyer Daniel Callahan.

Bloomberg reports, "Blackwater officials, in their response yesterday to Waxman's accusations about the Fallujah incident, said there were 'striking similarities' between Waxman's report and a lawsuit filed against the company on behalf of the families of the four victims.

"The complaint and the Waxman report, for example, both accuse Blackwater of not using armored vehicles as a way to save costs. Waxman's report 'intentionally or not, tracks the litigation position,' Blackwater said.

"The report also noted a Dec. 13, 2006, letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in which an attorney for the families urged Congress to investigate allegations of cost cutting by 'extremely Republican companies' such as Blackwater."

2004 Fallujah incident was ambush

The 2004 incident in Fallujah that left four Blackwater guards dead and mutilated was a planned ambush designed for its propaganda effect.

That's what a Blackwater report to Congress explains, in the company's first significant public comment on the matter. A California trial lawyer is suing Blackwater, alleging that the firm was negligent in sending its men on the fatal mission. That lawyer, Daniel Callahan, has been the source of congressional allegations against the North Carolina company.

After years of silence, Blackwater gives a revealing account of a well-prepared ambush of private security guards Jerry Zovko, Wesley Batalona, Michael Teague and Scott Helvenston. The Associated Press gives the following highlights:

• Sectarian Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC) personnel "intentionally betrayed" the Blackwater guards and led them into the ambush;


• "It was ICDC betrayal and enemy ambush — not contractor incompetence — that led to the deaths of four Blackwater personnel on March 31, 2004," the company says.


• "Stronger weapons, armored vehicles, ammunition or maps would not have shielded these brave military veterans from the certain death that awaited them on that morning," Blackwater says. "Even if Blackwater had placed six men on the mission, the result would likely have been the same."


• ICDC representatives showed the Blackwater guards the quickest route through Falljuah. At a downtown crossing, Iraqi police stopped the convoy.


• As the convoy moved out of the intersection, at least five gunmen opened fire at close range with Kalashnikov assault rifles. Two of the shooters held video cameras in one hand.


• "The fact that the assailants were set to record the murders is further proof that there was a pre-existing plan at work," according to Blackwater.


• Oncoming traffic cut off the escape route. The non-US drivers escaped. The four American guards never had time to fire a shot.


• "The ambush, apparently, was only intended to kill the Americans."


• Nearly four hours passed before the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps or Iraqi police began to investigate.
  

Text of Blackwater statement on Fallujah ambush

Blackwater's First Public Response on Fallujah:

Murdered Blackwater Men Were the Victims of a Well-Coordinated Ambush and Attack - A tragedy for which no one but the terrorists are to blame

Moyock, NC - In response to a document issued by Chairman Waxman's Majority Staff in September, Blackwater has issued its own report that is the first publicly available account by Blackwater on the tragic events leading to the death of four of its personnel in Fallujah on March 31, 2004.

The full Blackwater report, available on Blackwater's website at http://www.blackwaterusa.com/press_releases/pr_07-10-23.asp, explains the following:

Blackwater personnel were deliberately led into a well-planned ambush by personnel of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corp and enemy insurgents.

Blackwater uses the facts to refute findings of the Majority Staff Report regarding the staffing, preparation, equipment and other resources used: the experienced team of military veterans who were killed, including an Arabic speaker, had all of the resources they needed.

The Majority Staff Report seeks to assess blame for the death of Americans in Fallujah. Within a year of these events Fallujah was the subject of significant U.S. military effort and casualties, when Marines and Army personnel were required to take this city back from the enemy insurgents block by block, and faced severe and well organized military resistance.

The lower profile manner by which the Fallujah mission was carried out is blamed by the Majority Staff for the death of the Blackwater personnel. The same staff has criticized Blackwater for excessive use of force on September 16, 2007. For years Blackwater critics have inappropriately and inconsistently labeled Blackwater as being too casual and unprepared (see Fallujah) and too aggressive (see September 16). The truth is Blackwater professionals are the same personnel trained by the U.S. military and law enforcement, and who do their best every day in a very dangerous war zone, where the enemy has a vote.

Blackwater demonstrates the significant overlap between the complaint of trial lawyers suing Blackwater and the findings of the Majority Staff Report.

The entire Blackwater family mourns the loss of these heroic lives. Our thoughts remain with their families.

Guided by integrity, innovation, accountability, and a desire for a safer world, Blackwater Worldwide leverages state-of-the-art training facilities, professional program management teams, and innovative manufacturing and production capabilities to deliver world-class, customer-driven solutions.

Should trial lawyers make terror policy?

Who should make US policy concerning terrorism: the president and Congress, who serve the nation's interests, or the trial lawyers, who seek to profit for themselves? Ted Frank of the American Enterprise Institute looks at the issue in a September paper titled, "Should trial lawyers make terror policy?"

Among the trial lawyers at work, Frank notes, is Daniel Callahan, who is trying to make millions by suing Blackwater on behalf of family members of the four security men who were murdered and mutilated by Islamist militants in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004.

Callahan, Frank writes, "is clear that his goal is more than simple recovery for his clients: 'As we expose Blackwater in this case, it will also expose the inefficient and corrupt system that exists over there [in Iraq].' He has successfully lobbied the Democratic Congress to hold hearings that promote his litigation, in part by calling Blackwater an 'extremely Republican' company."