Andrew J. Moonen

Who is Andrew J. Moonen?

Andrew J. Moonen is a former employee of Blackwater Security, accused by the Iraq government of murdering Raheem Khalif, a security guard of the Iraqi Vice-president, Adel Abdul Mahdi. Khalif died from three gunshot wounds. Moonen, originally from Kalispell, Montana, in the US, served previously in the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army; he received an honorable discharge. In the wake of the killing, the United States State Department and Blackwater USA had attempted to keep his identity secret for security reasons. Currently, Moonen lives in Seattle, Washington. Responding to claims of company-wide negligence, Erik Prince, the company's founder, said “when we found knucklehead behavior, we fired them.”

The employee was identified on October 4, 2007 by the New York Times as Andrew J. Moonen, from Seattle, Washington, and federal law enforcement is investigating the case, which the Iraqi government considers a murder. In Congressional hearings on October 2, 2007, Blackwater USA CEO Erik Prince testified that Moonen was fired for "violating alcohol and firearm policy."

Despite the Blackwater incident, Moonen found subsequent employment. From February to August 2007, he was employed by US Defense Department contractor Combat Support Associates in Kuwait. In April 2007, the US Department of Defense tried to call him back to active duty, but cancelled the request because Moonen was overseas.