More Blackwater developments. According to an unnamed senior US military official…

“Blackwater security guards involved in a Baghdad shootout last month that left up to 17 Iraqi civilians dead were “obviously wrong,” a senior US military official was reported as saying.

The unnamed official told the Washington Post newspaper that the US military reports from the scene of the September 16 incident suggested the US private security firm was to blame for the deaths, and that its employees in Iraq were trigger-happy.

“It was obviously excessive, it was obviously wrong,” the official told the newspaper.

“The civilians that were fired upon, they didn’t have any weapons to fire back at them. And none of the IP (Iraqi police) or any of the local security forces fired back at them,” he said.

In reports after the incident, Blackwater executives insisted their teams had come under fire in Baghdad’s Nisour Square.

But according to US military officials cited in the Congress report, Blackwater’s teams, contracted to protect US State Department diplomats and other officials in Iraq, behaved like impervious “cowboys” in Iraq.

“They tend to overreact to a lot of things,” the US military official told the Washington Post. “When it comes to shooting and firing, they tend to shoot quicker than others,” he said.

The official added that Blackwater has resisted sharing information with the US military on the incident, and prevented military officials from contacting company managers in Baghdad.”

The Guardian is reporting that the Iraqi government has received the report of Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi which calls for those involved to be prosecuted in Iraq and the families of those affected to be compensated…

“The official Iraqi investigation into last month’s Blackwater shooting has been submitted to the government and recommends the security guards face trial in Iraqi courts, and that the company pay compensation to the victims, an Iraqi government minister told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The three-member panel, led by Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi, finished its work earlier this week and submitted the report and recommendations to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday, the government minister told AP on condition he not be identified by name.

The minister said the report was issued under the signatures of al-Obeidi, Maj. Gen. Tariq al-Baldawi, the deputy minister of national security; and Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali Kamal, the deputy interior minister for intelligence and security affairs.

The cabinet minister said the report determined that 13 Iraqi civilians - not 11 as originally reported - were killed when Blackwater USA guards sprayed western Baghdad’s Nisoor Square with gunfire Sept. 16. The investigation maintained, as Iraqi authorities have throughout, that the Blackwater guards had not been fired on when they unleashed the fusillade. It said no shots were fired at Blackwater personnel throughout.”

Of course, no matter what the Iraqi government wants to do, those employees of Blackwater that were responsible will never see the inside of an Iraqi courtroom. In fact, I’ll wager that they’ll never see the inside of an American courtroom either.

Unfortunately, that’s the reality of war crimes. When you’re on the side writing the rules they’re never labeled as such.