The suit alleges that Blackwater trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown resented Helvenston and deliberately reassigned Helvenston to the team that was ambushed. We can send our men out to die so that we can pad our bottom line, and if anybody comes back at us, we have insurance. Its essentially insurance to kill.. Thats why the company moved swiftly to apply for benefits for the families under the Defense Base Act. And theres all sorts of Scott speaks to us posthumously through his email, and I just want to read from this. Blood Is Thicker Than Blackwater | The Nation [includes rush transcript]. Did they assume the risk? He believed in what he was doing. He also had a financial motivation. V. Blackwater Security - Facts & Allegations. As we expose Blackwater in this case, it will also expose the inefficient and corrupt system that exists over there.. Helvenston arrived for training at Blackwaters North Carolina campus around March 1, 2004. He swam like a fish. In an expose in the new issue of the Nation magazine, independent journalist Jeremy Scahill tells the story of the struggle of the four families of the slain Blackwater contractors to hold those responsible for their deaths accountable. They had done everything in their power to keep us apart. Well, Scotty chose the military, and he wanted to continue his education through that. And that night he was ordered to change teams and go into Fallujah. It will be precise, and it will be overwhelming. Within days of the ambush, US forces laid siege to Falluja, beginning what would be one of the most brutal and sustained US operations of the occupation. Justin McQuown is a Director, Engineering at Caretaker Medical based in Charlottesville, Virginia. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution. But Katy mentioned the name of a guy named Justin McQuown, and I think its important to kind of back up for a second and explain who he is, because its a key part of this lawsuit. One team member, former Army Ranger Wes Batalona, complained to a friend that the team had never worked together before. And I do want to say we invited Blackwater on the program today. You said they had no map? And so, what happened is they set out on their mission, but because they didnt have G.P.S., because they didnt have maps of the area, because they werent able to do a pre-trip inspection of the route, they didnt necessarily know where they were going, so they essentially got lost. Blackwater said that they would be operating in armored vehicles. I believe that we should have gone into Afghanistan, but I never believed we should have gone into Iraq, and Scott bought the whole story about Saddam Hussein being involved with Al Qaeda and all that. The pictures are famous at this point of what happened to them on that day. They were standing outside our rooms when we got up in the morning. KATY HELVENSTON: He was told that he was going to be security for the ambassador, Paul Bremer. He is currently a Puffin Writing Fellow at the Nation Institute. He had a job waiting for him, but he needed to make some money in those two months. AMY GOODMAN: Were talking about a groundbreaking lawsuit against Blackwater, the security contractor in Iraq. When Helvenston set off for the Middle East, his family thought he was going to be working on Blackwaters high-profile job of guarding the head of the US occupation, Paul Bremer. And thats the type of conduct at Blackwater that were dealing with. MARTIN SMITH: Around 9:30 a.m., they approached the center of town. And this becomes very important, as Marc Miles talks about, because you have to prove intent. Several armed men approach the two vehicles and open fire from behind, repeatedly shooting the men at point-blank range. I would submit to you that in this case, this is one case that privatization is not a solution. This is life and death were talking about here, and as Marc Miles says, the commodity that Blackwater deals in is human beings. Helvenston began training at Blackwater USA's facilities in March 2004, and developed a personal conflict with head trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown. The man heading the training was Justin McQuown, nicknamed Shrek, after the green ogre movie cartoon character. AMY GOODMAN: Well, what was the memorial service itself like? The suit alleges that Blackwater trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown resented Helvenston and deliberately reassigned Helvenston to the team that was ambushed. And I think that, you know, when we talk about Iraq corruption, a lot of times its Halliburton overcharged for this or Bechtel did this. Justin McQuown is 50 years old and was born on 11/17/1972.Justin McQuown lives in Virginia Beach, VA; previous city include Joint Base Lewis McChord WA.Justin L Mcquown and Justin L Mcqvuwn are some of the alias or nicknames that Justin has used. After the killings, Katy Helvenston joined the families of Mike Teague, Jerko Zovko and Wesley Batalona in grieving and in seeking details about the incident. And so, did they assume the risk? KATY HELVENSTON: It was a brand-new area. For Reprints and Permissions, click here. But it just shows sort of the breakdown. JUAN GONZALEZ: Marc Miles, I would like to ask you, obviously there have been about 425, now, Americans who have been working for contractors who have been killed in Iraq. We are speaking with the mother of one of the four men who were killed in Fallujah, March 31, 2004, Katy Helvenston; Jeremy Scahill has written a piece, an article in The Nation magazine called Blood Is Thicker Than Blackwater; and Marc Miles, the attorney for the families of the four Blackwater contractors.

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