#Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful mercenary Army

[canchewread]

Editor’s note: after a weekend of doing precisely nothing and vaguely enjoying it, I’m back writing today. I’ve been waiting a solid five months for a news hook to allow me to share the above quotation and Donald Trump’s attempts to dog-whistle his support for the Crusader conquest of the Middle East finally presented one in the lead up to Memorial Day, but I ended up too busy to get to it until now. Buckle up; we’re headed back to 2007 folks.

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A Brief Look at Blackwater by J. Scahill

Today’s quotation comes from one of the most important books to come out of U.S. Iraq War and Occupation journalism, “Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army” - written by journalist Jeremy Scahill, who is now a founding editor at The Intercept; a publication I reference often in my work.

On the surface it may seem a curious decision to reach back in time to review a book originally published in 2007 and about a company (Blackwater) that in theory (and only in theory) no longer exists. That surface appearance however is precisely why it’s a shameful tragedy that Scahill’s excellent work has largely fallen down the memory hole in America - because Blackwater isn’t really gone, the U.S. still makes extensive use of largely unaccountable private mercenary corporations to enforce the interests of Western elite capital abroad, and governments throughout the Pig Empire continue to subsidize these private mercenary corporations with public money. Although the prosecution of a select few Blackwater war criminals remained something of a political football during the early portions of the Obama presidency and Erik Prince’s recent attempts to privatize the forever war in Afghanistan created a moderate amount of controversy in the mainstream media, the once impassioned resistance to accepting government-employed mercenaries as a consequence of empire has largely dissipated in “the West.”

This is unfortunate because at its heart Scahill’s “Blackwater” is more than an investigation into founder and now “former” owner Erik Prince’s infamous private mercenary army and its role in the Iraq war. The book is also about the terrifying and then-rapidly expanding (now, fully entrenched) role of private mercenaries in the Pig Empire’s permanent war economy.– mercenaries employed in volatile combat, assassination and security roles, both abroad and domestically in America. From deployment as a modern “Praetorian Guard” serving high level American officials in Iraq, to acting as an ad hoc private army for the wealthy in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and including ongoing training and even war zone contracts with various Western governments, Scahill lays out a virtually unassailable argument that private mercenary forces are simply unregulated thugs in the service of the American imperial project - an argument that now appears to be largely mainstream, if still rarely articulated thinking.

In terms of writing style, Scahill has the instincts of a war correspondent and the meticulous attention to detail of a prosecutor; useful traits for documenting what amount to war crimes, massive levels of bribery and direct protection for Blackwater employees provided by the Bush administration. This has led some commentators to critique Scahill’s writing in Blackwater as lacking an overall “narrative” flow, but personally I didn’t find that to be the case at all. Sure, you can argue that Blackwater lacks the casual storytelling of say Rajiv Chandrasekaran's "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone" but by that same measure, Scahill’s book is vastly more consequential. Frankly if you can read (Scahill’s friend and colleague) Seymour Hersh, you should have no problem following along with and enjoying Blackwater’s supposed “bombardment” of facts. Blackwater is, and remains both a rewarding and a monumentally important book in terms of exposing the inner workings of Pig Empire conquest and colonialism.

Mercenaries, Erik Prince and the Swine Emperor

All of which brings us to Downmarket Mussolini’s recent musings about possibly pardoning a number of accused American war criminals as a way of honoring veterans for Memorial Day; an objectively insane and monstrous idea Trump apparently decided not to go through with, at least for the moment. While much of the mainstream media coverage has (rightfully) focused on Herr Donald’s politically motivated potential pardon of depraved and murderous ex-Navy Seal Edward Gallagher, there was another curious name Trump was ruminating over - former Blackwater mercenary Nicholas Slatten.

For those unfamiliar with the exploits of Mr. Slatten, he’s the soldier of fortune the Department of Justice has successfully argued fired the first shot at a busy Baghdad intersection on September 16, 2007, triggering the depraved American war crime that would come to be known as the “Nisour Square massacre” or “Baghdad’s Bloody Sunday” - a morally repugnant and utterly unjustifiable mass murder that lasted for up to fifteen minutes and resulted in the deaths of at least fourteen (and likely more) innocent Iraqis during the later stages of the Bush Administration. While the crypto-Crusader right wing media protests his innocence and Slatten himself declares that he‘s a “POW in his own country” the simple truth is that there is very little reason to doubt Slatten’s guilt - as noted by former assistant U.S. attorney Glenn Kirschner:

“Please bear with me for a moment while I relate some basic public facts about the Blackwater case. The defendants were US civilians (veterans) who were being paid to perform security services in Iraq. Multiple Blackwater employees opened fire on innocent Iraqis in what was a massacre in broad daylight. They killed 14 unarmed Iraqi citizens and injured 17 others in front of dozens of witnesses

"Some of the testifying witnesses were the defendants own Blackwater teammates," Kirschner said. "Many of the fellow Blackwater members testified about how the defendants were in the wrong - they did not even attempt to defend their teammates, rather they described their teammates’ use of deadly force as being wholly unjustified and without provocation. Evidence at trial included how one defendant, Nicholas Slatten, called Iraqis 'animals' and 'less then human.' According to Slatten, Iraqi lives were worth 'nothing.'”

On a related note, the 2008 paperback edition of Jeremy Scahill’s “Blackwater” opens with a detailed expose of the Nisour Square massacre. While Scahill doesn’t mention Nicholas Slatten by name, the updated introduction does offer a devastating account of Slatten and Blackwater’s wanton slaughter and violence; an account delivered by numerous Iraqi witnesses, including doctors, police officers and heartbroken relatives of the slain - many of whom were women and children. In light of the fact that all of this evidence has existed in the public sphere since at least 2008, I think it’s fair to say that justice has been a very long time coming for Nicholas Slatten; while justice for then-chief Blackwater corpse-farming scumbag Erik Prince, remains deferred.

This of course brings up the puzzling question of why Trump would even consider pardoning an almost certainly guilty piece of dogshit like Nick Slatten. Is the Swine Emperor indeed merely courting Fox News nation? Is he dog-whistling to a fanatically pro-Crusader, anti-Muslim reactionary right that worships at the altar of the Pig Empire “troop?”

Perhaps, but I also think it’s important at this juncture to consider Trump’s disturbingly close relationship with Erik Prince, their shared network of wealthy far right patrons and the political ramifications of a potential pardon. Prince donated at least $250,000 (and possibly more through other channels) to Trump’s election campaign, his (nearly as infamous) sister, Betsy DeVos serves as Herr Donald’s secretary of education and it certainly appears like Prince lied under oath to cover up a  August 3rd, 2016 Trump Tower meeting to discuss Iran policy involving himself, Donald Trump Jr, advisor Stephen Miller, “George Nader, an emissary for the Saudi and Emirati crown princes; and Joel Zamel, the Israeli head of the rather dodgy private intelligence company Psy-Group.” 

More importantly however Prince has clearly demonstrated that he has privileged access to President Trump for the purposes of pitching potential lucrative mercenary contracts - including the aforementioned proposal to privatize the war in Afghanistan, a plan to deploy a US-backed private mercenary army to Venezuela and even the creation of an “off the books” private spy network to fight Trump’s political enemies at home and abroad.

Although intense public pressure has prevented the Swine Emperor from accepting any of Prince’s offers thus far, the “Dark Prince’s” continued presence in Trump’s inner circle seems to suggest that the President certainly wants to indulge the former Blackwater founder. Unfortunately for both men, while Nicholas Slatten is no longer “a troop”, he was serving as a private military contractor employed by Blackwater at the time he opened fire and touched off the mass murder of at least 14 Iraqi civilians. Since Prince is synonymous with Blackwater, and Slatten’s endless and exceptionally high profile series of trials has made Blackwater synonymous with “war crimes” - the would-be mercenary king has found it rather difficult to convince the American people he should be entrusted with multi-billion dollar government contracts.

While a pardon for Slatten won’t make all of that bad press go away, it would provide the necessary veneer of respectability for Prince’s ongoing attempts to worm his way back into the Pig Empire’s good graces; either now, or in the future. And if there’s one thing that anyone who has watched the rise, fall and rebirth of Erik Prince can say about that twisted son of a bitch, it’s that he knows how to grease the right wheels and he’s more than happy to play the long game.

- Nina Illingworth.

Independent writer, critic and analyst with a left focus.

You can find my work at ninaillingworth.com, Can’t You Read, Media Madness and my Patreon Blog.

Updates available on Twitter and Facebook.

[ravennafleur-de-lys]

Do you have a favorite book?

I do not! Mostly because I read too much so I can’t just choose one. As in I once listed all the books I read and reached 100 by the end of a semester. I am, however, partial to Rick Riordan’s earlier books. I kind of lost track after Heroes of Olympus though. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls holds a special place in my heart because it was the first book to make me cry and it does so every time I read it. When it comes to non-fiction, any of the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture books are pretty cool (I have the Alice and Wonderful one) and I also have this book called “Blackwater: the rise of the worlds most powerful mercenary army” which is fascinating especially when you think about what’s happening in the world now. Speaking of which, I’m gonna take this moment to suggest Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates it was the only book that I actually enjoyed reading from all the ones I had to read in college.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

#12yrsago Blackwater: superbly researched indictment of America's hired killers

Jeremy Scahill's brave and outraged "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" renders the story of the Blackwater mercenary group, and other mercenary groups that have seized the economic opportunities opened by the Bush regime's willingness to offer no-bid contracts and no-liability opportunities to fight America's wars. Backwater -- founded by ultra-right-wing Christian conservatives -- hires Pinochet-era Chilean war-criminals, ex-law-enforcement types and former military, and others to serve in Iraq, Afghanistan -- and in America. They can and do murder civilians with impunity, they line their pockets with cost-plus multi-billion-dollar military expenditures, and they kill their own men -- and the American soldiers they are supposed to be helping -- through corner-cutting profiteering.

Scarier still is their deployment on US soil, as with the Katrina disaster, where Blackwater took in millions for shoveling armed men and automatic weapons into the stricken city of New Orleans, where food and health care were impossible to come by but where there was no shortage of ammunition.

Scahill's book is incredibly, even mind-numbingly well-researched and documented. Framed around the gruesome, vile murder of four of Blackwater's mercs in Fallujah (Scahill shows that Blackwater sent them to their deaths by skimping on security, support, and intelligence), Scahill works from primary sources, Congressional testimony, on-the-ground reporters, and a wide variety of corroborating evidence to build the case against using hired killers to support American military objectives.

Link

https://boingboing.net/2007/03/11/blackwater-superbly.html

[alexsmitposts]

PMCs – a Lifeline that Protects US Interventionism If we examine USA’s foreign policy, it becomes apparent that the nation has been at war with one nation or another, or even several countries at once, 50% of the time over the past 50 years. If we take into account all the US military interventions, then, even according to American media outlets, over the past 25 years, the United States has carried out air strikes against at least one nation per year. And since its invasion of Panama in 1989, the USA has been, almost constantly, conducting military operations abroad. Thus, the common man from Iowa or Texas needs to don an army uniform and travel to the distant lands in order to defend “democratic values”. Nothing seems to have changed since The White Man’s Burden poem was published. Many of these men return home in a casket wrapped in stars and stripes. And politicians who sent them to war need to then explain to American people why they have to sacrifice their sons’ and daughters’ lives for the sake of little-understood geopolitical games. And with each passing year, it is becoming increasingly harder to do so. Unfortunately, neither the number of military conflicts, initiated by Washington, nor the number of American soldiers dying in these interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria has reduced over time. Presidential candidates who give speeches about ending armed confrontations or withdrawing US troops from foreign soil during their election campaigns do not follow through on their promises. Then, the next presidential election nears and candidates announcing their future plans do actually need to do something. Hence, it is not surprising that, recently, President Donald Trump, who had also promised to put an end to military confrontations in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan earlier and to even withdraw American troops from certain nations, decided to try and “contribute” to the resolution of conflicts in the Greater Middle East by replacing traditional US troops with personnel from private military companies (PMC). After all, operations under a “foreign flag” will allow the United States to steer clear of direct military and technical cooperation, illegal provision of supplies and training of “opposition” troops. In addition, if civilians in Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq are brutally killed by American soldiers, many unnecessary political issues arise, but if former US servicemen on the payroll of PMCs do the same, such problems are mainly “commercial in nature”. In the end, as Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and other nations started to demand, more and more actively, that the USA and Western nations remove their troops from their territories, Washington (and then London) began to replace them with “independent” PMC experts, all the while talking about withdrawing their forces in public. Still, substituting American military units with private military companies is not a new occurrence. DynCorp, the first US PMC, “traces its origins from two companies formed in 1946: California Eastern Airways (an air freight business), and Land-Air Inc. (an aircraft maintenance company)”. Shortly after it was established, DynCorp signed a contract with the US Department of Defense. More recently, the key corporation to earn the euphemism “private army” has been the Blackwater Security Company (BSC). The name of this US PMC is associated with the most notable precedents involving the use of private security forces, and with the geopolitical reasons why the mercenary trade was reborn in the 21st century. In 2003, immediately after invading Iraq, Washington established a transitional government (the Coalition Provisional Authority, CPA) there, headed by Paul Bremer, an American “diplomat”, who hired Blackwater personnel for security purposes. Their contract and work in Iraq served as the first precedent when a civilian as well as head of the occupying power hired a “decently-sized army” for his needs. After the Cold War had ended, PMCs took part in several armed conflicts in Africa. Americans from private security firms trained the Croatian Army during the Yugoslav Wars while Israeli private military companies helped prepare Georgian servicemen for armed conflict. It is not an exaggeration to say that PMCs have become modern equivalents of mercenary units, which began their existence a long time ago, when the first nation states were being established. As a rule, mercenaries are primarily motivated by hard cash and not by political, ideological or national aspects of a war that they participate in. Quite frequently, the hired guns are not citizens of nations where armed confrontations take place but this is not always true. There is another important consideration to be taken into account. Private military companies are a true symbol of hybridization of modern warfare. Hybrid conflicts allow a nation to not only hide the actual numbers of military causalities from its own people but also, if necessary, play “dumb” and conceal its involvement in any given confrontation. Nowadays, the United States, along with a number of other Western countries, is increasingly “outsourcing” its military operations. For instance, during recent peacekeeping missions private military companies, at the behest of Washington, have been treated as entities whose rights are equivalent to regular army units. It is important to understand that modern PMCs are not anything like the hard-boiled hired guns of the 1970s-1980s in Angola and Mozambique. At present, private military companies receive funding from the richest Western corporations; have close ties with the political establishment of Western nations, and are quite often headed by former high-ranking officials or retired generals. Western private security firms are entities rigidly controlled by a government that operate in the latter’s interests. This is the main difference between modern PMCs and mercenary units from the Middle Ages. In theory, the responsibility for a PMC’s actions (as well as any violations committed by it) lies with the government that has hired this particular firm. However, as a rule, the responsibility is not clear cut and it is far easier to shirk it than in cases of crimes committed by a “traditional” army. In the nearest future, the number of private military companies will surely only rise world-wide, after all, it is truly advantageous to outsource “military operations”. In fact, at present, the number of security staff from PMCs in Afghanistan and Iraq exceeds that of American servicemen in these nations. And even the Pentagon would most likely find it difficult to estimate the exact number of such mercenaries.

[mardatesto349156]

history of audiobooks : Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill | History

Listen to Blackwater new releases history of audiobooks on your iPhone, iPad, or Android. Get any BOOK by Jeremy Scahill History FREE during your Free Trial

Written By: Jeremy Scahill Narrated By: Tom Weiner Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks Date: October 2007 Duration: 14 hours 33 minutes

[justsomeantifas]

If you don’t know about Blackwater, Erik Prince, and the War on Terror then I’d suggest reading “Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army” (here’s a free PDF) or listen to the Dollop’s episode “Erik Prince and Blackwater” which you can listen to here.

[totodiletears]

Going through some nonfiction added to my list forever ago. I just now started Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. Nonfiction about topics like this is always harder to get through because... well, shit's real. Bad shit in fiction isn't worth thinking too hard about because it's all imaginary, but this? Yeah. Serious shit.

I don't like talking too much about it when I'm reading nonfiction, but I did just read this about the state of right-wing Christian politics at the time of Blackwater's founding:

"[T]he Clinton administration was viewed by the theocons as a far-left 'regime' that was forcing a proabortion, progay, antifamily, antireligious agenda on the country. In November 1996--the month Clinton crushed Bob Dole and won reelection--the main organ of the theoconservative movement, Richard Neuhau's journal First Things, published a 'symposium' titled 'The End of Democracy?' which bluntly questioned 'whether we have reached or are reaching the point where conscientious citizens can no longer give moral assent to the existing regime.' A series of essays raised the prospect of a major confrontation between the church and the 'regime,' at times seeming to predict a civil-war scenario or Christian insurrection against the government, exploring possibilities 'ranging from noncompliance to resistance to civil disobedience to morally justified revolution.' Erik Prince's close friend, political collaborator, and beneficiary Chuck Colson authored one of the five major essays of the issue, as did extremist Judge Robert Bork, whom Reagan had tried unsuccessfully to appoint to the Supreme Court in 1987. 'Americans are not accustomed to speaking of a regime. Regimes are what other nations have,' asserted the symposium's unsigned introduction. 'This symposium asks whether we may be deceiving ourselves and, if we are, what are the implications of that self-deception. By the word 'regime' we mean the actual, existing system of government. The question that is the title of this symposium is in no way hyperbolic. The subject before us is the end of democracy.'"

And it's like... damn, the only thing that has changed about right-wing rhetoric is how they no longer think anything of using the word "regime" when talking about a president they hate. It's used so routinely now I doubt it would even occur to anyone to defend their use of the word. Literally everything else has stayed the same. A presidential election not going the way they want it to is THE END OF DEMOCRACY and they believe that means they are morally justified in attempting revolution.

Makes me sad, and worried too. Because it's so clear, so so clear, that this rhetoric has been around for decades. That while it may have gotten worse in the Trump era, it's not the extreme shift that it feels like. This stuff was around in basically the same form when I was a kid; I was just too much of a kid to notice. But my parents and all their church friends were still listening to it.

It's no wonder they aren't concerned about January 6th at all.

[tomework]

On my “want to read” list comes,

“Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army” by Jeremy Scahill

I forget where I bought this one from. Maybe an airport bookstore? That seems right for this one? Who knows.

Anyhoo, this is a brick of a book investigating the riches surrounding private defense contractors and the US Military. The corruption and kickbacks involved and the lack of transparency and accountability in almost every case.

Helluva book. Could be considered controversial I would think.

[thewebofslime]

Private military firm, European Security Academy, carries out a training exercise. Britain’s $560 million a year mercenary industry is booming as governments and corporations seek to ‘evade responsibility for the use of violent and often deadly force.’ (Photo: YouTube Screenshot) LONDON — In a new report, a British anti-poverty charity puts Britain at the center of a growing global mercenary industry worth around $560 million to companies in the United Kingdom alone. In its report, “Mercenaries Unleashed: The brave new world of private military and security companies,” War On Want names a number of major military and security companies (PMSCs) making vast profits in conflict zones around the world, including Control Risks, G4S and Olive Group. The U.K.’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, for example, has awarded contracts to PMSCs in conflict zones with a combined value of around $70 million each year since 2003. This includes nearly $210 million in the five years between 2007 and 2012 awarded for operations in Iraq. War On Want reports: “From dependency on Pentagon contracts, they [PMSCs] have found a wealth of new and eager clients amongst the private sector, especially in the extractive industries. They have sought out and exploited political instability in the wake of the Arab uprisings. And they have spread floating armories across the world’s oceans to protect commercial shipping interests. In all of this, U.K. companies are playing a leading role, reaping enormous profits.” In its report, War On Want says the use of private armies by foreign governments and corporations is increasing rapidly because “states and companies seek to evade responsibility for the use of violent and often deadly force.” According to an earlier War On Want report in 2006, a proliferation of security firms led to human rights abuses, a flourishing weapons trade and political destabilization. The latest briefing provides an update on the situation, noting that hundreds of new PMSCs have been established in recent years in a secretive industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars. War On Want argues that the U.K. government could be complicit in the aforementioned crimes because it has allowed mercenaries to regulate themselves. John Hilary, executive director of War On Want, told MintPress News that the time has come to ban these companies from operating in conflict zones: “Now we are seeing the alarming rise of mercenaries fighting on the front line in conflict zones across the world: it is the return of the ‘Dogs of War.’ For too long this murky world of guns for hire has been allowed to grow unchecked. In letting the industry regulate itself, the government has failed; only binding regulation will do.” Dwindling US, UK military presence allowed PMSCs to flourish Many leading PMSCs are sprawling corporate entities, the War On Want report explains, adding that companies such as G4S (which acquired ArmorGroup in 2008), Aegis Defence Services (now part of GardaWorld), Control Risks and Olive Group, make hundreds of millions of dollars in profit each year from the industry and “come complete with PR departments and marketing teams.” An Afghan National Police officer meets a British security contractor during a engagement between U.S. Marines of 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment and Nawa District officials in the Nawa District Bazaar, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, July 22, 2009. (Photo: U.S. Marine Corps/William Greeson) No fewer than 14 British PMSCs are based in Hereford, England, close to the headquarters of the British army’s Special Air Service (SAS), while at least 46 PMSCs in the U.K. employ former members of the British special forces. While the report focuses on British firms, it also highlights the close links between the U.K. and the United States within the private security industry. Control Risks is a London-based security firm that operates in war zones around the world. Most of its staff, like Jim Brooks, are former members of the military and intelligence community. The report notes that Brooks, the CEO of the American arm of Control Risks, “is ex-CIA, and worked for the agency supporting its worldwide paramilitary operations, and as a Navy SEAL advisor to Latin American security services.” Meanwhile, the company’s Middle East operations are overseen by Andreas Carleton-Smith, a former officer in the SAS, and its Iraq operations are headed by David Amos, a former officer in the British army, who now leads more than 1,200 people with 340 armored vehicles in sites across the country. Control Risks declined to comment for this story, but a statement on its website outlines its expertise as “an independent, global risk consultancy specialising in helping organisations manage political, integrity and security risks in complex and hostile environments.” Echoing that, a statement sent to MintPress by G4S, the world’s largest private security company, which the report notes for its complicity in the Israeli occupation of Palestine and concerns about its operations in Iraq, maintains: “In limited circumstances, we deploy highly trained armed security specialists ‎to complex environments, often to support humanitarian operations, to protect critical national infrastructure or help companies looking to invest in local economies. However, nowhere do we operate in military combat situations.” The War On Want report says that as the large-scale military occupation of Iraq by American and British troops wound down, PMSCs expanded in scope. “Security operations which were once the preserve of the occupying armed forces were outsourced, with UK companies remaining key players,” the report notes, adding that Aegis Defence Services is “one of several PMSCs under contract from the U.S. military providing services to the Pentagon’s program for training and equipping Iraqi security forces under the Office of Security Cooperation’s Iraq program.” Contracts in the Middle East have brought huge profit increases to PMSCs, and War On Want points out that many, including Control Risks, have been hired to protect the oil and gas sector in Iraq. War On Want also mentions Academi, the U.S. mercenary firm founded by Erik Prince, formerly known as Blackwater. The report states that “hundreds of Colombian mercenaries recruited by the infamous US PMSC Blackwater (now renamed Academi) have been fighting alongside Saudi Arabian forces in Yemen.” Maritime militarization War On Want says the proliferation of PMSCs isn’t confined to land, but extends to the sea. Indeed, the use of private armies in the maritime industry is booming, and the report warns that the militarization of the oceans and the use of private armies is having “significant consequences.” Private military contractors are being increasingly employed to police the world’s waterways. The report notes that PMSCs have shot at vessels at sea, sometimes resulting in the deaths of innocent fishermen. One captain working in the Indian Ocean told War On Want: “It’s the Wild Wild West out there. There are no regulations or vetting process for these teams. The company doesn’t know who it’s getting on board.” At a 2012 shipping conference, Thomas Rothrauff, president of the Virginia-based Trident Group, played a video of armed personnel firing without warning on two skiffs approaching their vessel in the Indian Ocean the previous year, and, according to War On Want: “[He] acknowledged that those on board were probably killed, although the exact extent of injuries and the real intent of those in the skiff remains unknown: ‘We’re not in the business of counting injuries,’ he said.” After the video leaked, Bloomberg reported that it “highlights a lack of rules governing the use of weapons on the high seas amid questions over how much force is legal and necessary to fight Somali piracy attacks.” Reporters also noted that it “risks a Blackwater moment,” referring to the 2007 incident in which Blackwater Worldwide employees opened fire, killing civilians in Baghdad. Watch the leaked video that shows Blackwater contractors in Iraq running over a woman with a car, smashing into cars to move them out of the way and firing a rifle into traffic: In a statement to MintPress, Trident Group said War On Want’s reference to the company in its report was fragmentary, drawn entirely from a “grossly inaccurate secondary source,” and “all but flatly asserts that Trident Group subcontractors committed murder.” “Nothing could be further from the truth. Far from the callous, unprovoked mayhem implied by the Bloomberg article – and swallowed whole by the War On Want report – Trident Group’s subcontractors acted with restraint, and in full compliance with established rules of engagement,” the statement continued. Trident Group pointed out that it has been a signatory company to the U.N. International Code of Conduct since 2009 and continues that status to this day. Further, the report also explains how PMSCs exploit a legal loophole when it comes to use of arms in international waters by making use of floating armories. These ships are harbored at sea, stocked with high-power rifles, ammunition, night-vision goggles and other military-grade material. The U.K. Department of Business, Innovation and Skills has issued 50 licenses for floating armouries operating in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, according to a December 2014 report from the Omega Research Foundation. And, as the report warns, PMSCs on these floating armories in international waters “can operate without fear of legal repercussions.” Academi, Control Risks, Olive Group and the U.K. government all declined to comment for this article.

[grubstakers]

Research for Episode 31 - Erik Prince feat. Gabriel Pacheco

Soundcloud: Episode 31 - Erik Prince feat. Gabriel Pacheco

The book “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army” was a major source for this episode.

Jeremy Scahill article in the Nation including the sworn testimony of two former blackwater employees that Erik Prince either personally carried out or ordered the murder of a government witness against him, that Blackwater regularly murdered civilians in Iraq, smuggled weapons to militias, etc.

Another Scahill article, this one about Erik Prince working with Chinese intelligence officials and using the cover of a logistics company to run weapons and contract out his mercenaries.

Blackwater mercs engaged in “Night Hunting” in Iraq: flying out on helicopters at night and shooting any civilians they came upon.

A documentary that covers how Blackwater greed and cost cutting got 4 of their mercs killed in Falluejah and how Blackwater successfully lobbied the US government to actually increase their funding as a result of this.

The deferred prosecution agreement with Blackwater (now called “Academi”) where they admit to selling weapons to militias in Iraq and Afghanistan. A pretty weak slap on the wrist.

[automatismoateo]

Who is Eric Prince: Silver spoon born Crusader for Christ and war criminal founder of Blackwater / Xe / Frontier Private Mercenary Services. Human trafficking, witness assassinations, human rights abuses, sex trafficking, are just the start for this oligarch wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross. via /r/atheism

Submitted June 26, 2018 at 02:07AM by PatrickPlan8 (Via reddit https://ift.tt/2Kna9Tt) Who is Eric Prince: Silver spoon born Crusader for Christ and war criminal founder of Blackwater / Xe / Frontier Private Mercenary Services. Human trafficking, witness assassinations, human rights abuses, sex trafficking, are just the start for this oligarch wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.

Who is Eric Prince? Founder of Blackwater / Xe / Frontier private military services or mercenary group. Eric Prince is brother to Betsy Devos and he sees himself as a Christian crusader warrior who sees it as his personal mission to rid the world of Muslim scourge. If anyone would be the one to make The Handmaids tale a reality look no further.

He has massive facilities in the USA, Abu Dhabi, and China with one purpose, making and creating chaos and getting rich at it while following a perverse militarization of insane bastardization of Christianity. It has lead many in the world stage to call Eric Prince the military leader of the america ISIS / Taliban. Assassinations, human trafficking, slave labor, sex slaves, weapons smuggling, international treaty and weapons sale and trade violations and crimes .... you name it. This man born with a silver spoon sees the world as his feudal playground to go on human hunts in when ever he and his friends wants.

Check out the episode of comedy wise ass history podcast The Dollop​ as they run down the history and scope of international scale and human rights abuses of this monstrous treasonous sociopath oligarch who wraps himself in a flag and a cross.

https://soundcloud.com/the-dollop/321-erik-prince-and-blackwater

http://thedollop.libsyn.com/321-erik-prince-and-blackwater-live

SOURCES FOR Ep. 321 - Erik Prince and Blackwater

Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. Jeremy Scahill - MJF Books - 2012

Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of the War on Terror. Erik Prince - Portfolio/Penguin - 2014.

Master of War: Blackwater USA's Erik Prince and the Business of War by Suzanne Simons - HarperPaperbacks - 2011

“Conservatism’s Uncommon Core” Erik Eckholm. The New York Times Feb 5, 2017

“Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy” Adam Ciralsky Vanity Fair January 2010

“The MacArthur Model for Afghanistan,” Erik Prince op-ed Wall Street Journal June 1

“Memo Reveals Details of Blackwater Targeted Killings Program” Der Spiegel Online by Gabor Steingart August 24, 2009

Wikipedia: 2003 Invasion of Iraq, Nisour Square Massacre, Academi, Andrew J Moonen, Susan L. Burke

http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/27/bush.war.talk/

http://www.military.com/special-operations/training-to-be-a-navy-seal.html

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a54292/erik-prince-russia-seychelles/

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2010/01/blackwater-201001

https://www.thenation.com/article/blackwater-founder-implicated-murder/

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-dark-truth-about-blackwater/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-rv/politics/articles/blackwater_hearing_100207.html

https://www.wired.com/2007/12/blackwater-the [Roger Clemens of war]

http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1088&context=nslb

https://www.wired.com/2007/10/blackwater-japa

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/blackwater-probed-for-weapons-smuggling/

http://www.dmzhawaii.org/dmz-legacy-site-two/?p=6970

https://www.stripes.com/news/tiny-base-assimilates-into-japanese-town-1.69654#.WX35DYTyuM8

https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-prince-ab714365/

http://www.fsgroup.com/en/about.html

https://theintercept.com/2016/03/24/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-under-federal-investigation/

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/05/jury-rules-in-favor-blackwater-in-lawsuit.html

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/firm-once-known-blackwater-faces-another-suit

http://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/JohnDoe1Declaration2.pdf

http://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/JohnDoe2Declaration2.pdf

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/24/AR2009082401743.html

http://humanrights.ucdavis.edu/projects/the-guantanamo-testimonials-project/testimonies/testimonies-of-mercenaries/memo-reveals-details-of-blackwater-targeted-killings-program

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/world/17XE.html

https://limacharlienews.com/asia/chinese-blackwater-erik-prince/

https://www.buzzfeed.com/aramroston/betsy-devoss-brother-is-setting-up-a-private-army-for-china?utm_term=.fnw8Dl24LV#.uv7g1aZODr

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/10/29/BL2007102901024.html

https://lobelog.com/erik-prince-to-prince-bin-zayed-the-private-military-connection/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/25/at-least-120000-muslim-uighurs-held-in-chinese-re-education-camps-report

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/world/middleeast/15prince.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/10/world/asia/trump-afghanistan-policy-erik-prince-stephen-feinberg.html

https://theintercept.com/2017/01/17/notorious-mercenary-erik-prince-is-advising-trump-from-the-shadows/

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/18/1622036/-Blackwater-boss-Erik-Prince-helped-hack-the-election-for-Trump

https://www.democracynow.org/2017/1/24/jeremy_scahill_on_trump_team_a

https://www.thenation.com/article/blackwater-founder-implicated-murder/

[mostlysignssomeportents]

#11yrsago Blackwater: superbly researched indictment of America's hired killers

Jeremy Scahill's brave and outraged "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" renders the story of the Blackwater mercenary group, and other mercenary groups that have seized the economic opportunities opened by the Bush regime's willingness to offer no-bid contracts and no-liability opportunities to fight America's wars. Backwater -- founded by ultra-right-wing Christian conservatives -- hires Pinochet-era Chilean war-criminals, ex-law-enforcement types and former military, and others to serve in Iraq, Afghanistan -- and in America. They can and do murder civilians with impunity, they line their pockets with cost-plus multi-billion-dollar military expenditures, and they kill their own men -- and the American soldiers they are supposed to be helping -- through corner-cutting profiteering.

Scarier still is their deployment on US soil, as with the Katrina disaster, where Blackwater took in millions for shoveling armed men and automatic weapons into the stricken city of New Orleans, where food and health care were impossible to come by but where there was no shortage of ammunition.

Scahill's book is incredibly, even mind-numbingly well-researched and documented. Framed around the gruesome, vile murder of four of Blackwater's mercs in Fallujah (Scahill shows that Blackwater sent them to their deaths by skimping on security, support, and intelligence), Scahill works from primary sources, Congressional testimony, on-the-ground reporters, and a wide variety of corroborating evidence to build the case against using hired killers to support American military objectives.

Link

https://boingboing.net/2007/03/11/blackwater-superbly.html

[bill-gates-feed-nonissue-blog]

Blackwater, Monsanto, Bill Gates: War Machines - War Is Crime

http://billgatesfeed.nonissue.com/2014/12/07/blackwater-monsanto-bill-gates-war-machines-war-is-crime/ - #BillGates #Microsoft

Blackwater, Monsanto, Bill Gates: War Machines - War Is Crime

A report by Jeremy Scahill in The Nation (“Blackwater’s Black Ops,” 9/15/2010) revealed that the largest mercenary army in the world, Blackwater (now called Xe Services) clandestine intelligence services was sold to the multinational Monsanto. Blackwater was renamed in 2009 after becoming famous in the world with numerous reports of …

[mostlysignssomeportents]

#10yrsago Blackwater: superbly researched indictment of America's hired killers

Jeremy Scahill's brave and outraged "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" renders the story of the Blackwater mercenary group, and other mercenary groups that have seized the economic opportunities opened by the Bush regime's willingness to offer no-bid contracts and no-liability opportunities to fight America's wars. Backwater -- founded by ultra-right-wing Christian conservatives -- hires Pinochet-era Chilean war-criminals, ex-law-enforcement types and former military, and others to serve in Iraq, Afghanistan -- and in America. They can and do murder civilians with impunity, they line their pockets with cost-plus multi-billion-dollar military expenditures, and they kill their own men -- and the American soldiers they are supposed to be helping -- through corner-cutting profiteering.

Scarier still is their deployment on US soil, as with the Katrina disaster, where Blackwater took in millions for shoveling armed men and automatic weapons into the stricken city of New Orleans, where food and health care were impossible to come by but where there was no shortage of ammunition.

Scahill's book is incredibly, even mind-numbingly well-researched and documented. Framed around the gruesome, vile murder of four of Blackwater's mercs in Fallujah (Scahill shows that Blackwater sent them to their deaths by skimping on security, support, and intelligence), Scahill works from primary sources, Congressional testimony, on-the-ground reporters, and a wide variety of corroborating evidence to build the case against using hired killers to support American military objectives.

Link

https://boingboing.net/2007/03/11/blackwater-superbly.html

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Blackwater: superbly researched indictment of America's hired killers #10yrsago

Jeremy Scahill's brave and outraged "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" renders the story of the Blackwater mercenary group, and other mercenary groups that have seized the economic opportunities opened by the Bush regime's willingness to offer no-bid contracts and no-liability opportunities to fight America's wars. Backwater -- founded by ultra-right-wing Christian conservatives -- hires Pinochet-era Chilean war-criminals, ex-law-enforcement types and former military, and others to serve in Iraq, Afghanistan -- and in America. They can and do murder civilians with impunity, they line their pockets with cost-plus multi-billion-dollar military expenditures, and they kill their own men -- and the American soldiers they are supposed to be helping -- through corner-cutting profiteering.

Scarier still is their deployment on US soil, as with the Katrina disaster, where Blackwater took in millions for shoveling armed men and automatic weapons into the stricken city of New Orleans, where food and health care were impossible to come by but where there was no shortage of ammunition.

Scahill's book is incredibly, even mind-numbingly well-researched and documented. Framed around the gruesome, vile murder of four of Blackwater's mercs in Fallujah (Scahill shows that Blackwater sent them to their deaths by skimping on security, support, and intelligence), Scahill works from primary sources, Congressional testimony, on-the-ground reporters, and a wide variety of corroborating evidence to build the case against using hired killers to support American military objectives.

Link

https://boingboing.net/2007/03/11/blackwater-superbly.html