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February 09, 2010

Wounded Green Beret sues 'mercenary' firm, one target escapes

Army Sgt. Khadim Alkanani nearly lost his foot, and he definitely lost his career, following a June 2005 shooting in Baghdad. A member of the U.S. Special Forces, Sgt. Alkanani says the men who shot him were civilian contractors working for Aegis Defense Services.

The sergeant had to be discharged after he developed Hepatitis C. He sued Aegis, claiming his shooting had been remarkably similar to other shootings in which civilian contractors had allegedly compiled "trophy videos" depicting their greatest, so to speak, hits.

Sgt. Alkanani's suit was picked up by critics of the Iraq War, who saw in the claims made by this veteran soldier further evidence of the depredations of military contracting firms. See here, and here, and here and here.

The lawsuit, in other words, fed a narrative. Now, that lawsuit has gotten smaller.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Richard W. Roberts dismissed one corporate defendant. Aegis Defense Services LLC was able to show it hadn't existed as a corporate entity at the time of the 2005 shooting. The other corporate defendant, Aegis Defence Services Ltd. (British spelling, London-based firm) remains active as a defendant.

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kay sieverding

I can't find that link. Wouldn't the fighter have been vaccinated for hepatitis C before being sent to Iraq? So can't the plaintiff file a motion for judicial notice about vaccination standards for combatants?

Danny DeMichele

So can't the plaintiff file a motion for judicial notice about vaccination standards for combatants.

J hass Group

Alkanani's suit was picked up by critics of the Iraq War, who saw in the claims made by this veteran soldier further evidence of the depredations of military contracting firms.

The comments to this entry are closed.

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mike

"Suits & Sentences" is a legal affairs blog written by Michael Doyle, a reporter for McClatchy's Washington Bureau. He was a Knight Journalism Fellow at Yale Law School, where he earned a Master of Studies in Law; he also earned a Masters in Government from The Johns Hopkins University with a thesis on the Freedom of Information Act. He teaches journalism as an adjunct instructor at The George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs.

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