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GUEST: Jeremy Scahill, Independent Journalist and Author of “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army”

After a two-week investigation in Baghdad last month, the FBI has found that the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians by Blackwater Security in September was unjustified under the State Department’s regulations for private security contractors. They say that the death of three others in the same incident may have fallen within the guidelines of deadly force. Blackwater asserts that their security officers simply responded to gunfire directed towards them as they tried to stop traffic to make way for a US convoy. The FBI’s findings, however, indicate that at least 14 of the 17 civilians killed were gunned down while they were trying to flee the scene. The case is under review at the Justice Department, but a decision has yet to be made whether Blackwater will face legal proceedings. A similar case, in which a bodyguard to Iraq’s vice president was killed nearly one year ago, has yet to be prosecuted – mostly because the prosecution of private security contractors in a war zone falls within a legal grey area. Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill’s new book, “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army”, chronicles the company’s growth, and the legal limbo under which it operates.