The Obama administration plans to appeal the dismissal of manslaughter charges against five Blackwater operatives involved in the killing of seventeen Iraqi civilians in Nisoor Square. Vice President Joseph Biden announced the decision during a trip to Iraq.

Vice President Joseph Biden: “A dismissal, I want to make clear, is not an acquittal. And today I’m announcing that the United States government will appeal this decision. Our Justice Department will file that appeal from the judge’s decision next week.”