Prior to running to the Middle East to escape prosecution for his many crimes against humanity, Eric Prince built a private army for his Republican masters, known first as Blackwater and subsequently as Xe. With investigators nipping at his heels he sold the company. It troubled me to learn that Eric Prince is back in the business of mercenary death squads.
United Arab Emirates — Late one night last November, a plane carrying dozens of Colombian men touched down in this glittering seaside capital. Whisked through customs by an Emirati intelligence officer, the group boarded an unmarked bus and drove roughly 20 miles to a windswept military complex in the desert sand.
The Colombians had entered the United Arab Emirates posing as construction workers. In fact, they were soldiers for a secret American-led mercenary army being built by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of Blackwater Worldwide, with $529 million from the oil-soaked sheikdom.
Mr. Prince, who resettled here last year after his security business faced mounting legal problems in the United States, was hired by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi to put together an 800-member battalion of foreign troops for the U.A.E., according to former employees on the project, American officials and corporate documents obtained by The New York Times.
The force is intended to conduct special operations missions inside and outside the country, defend oil pipelines and skyscrapers from terrorist attacks and put down internal revolts, the documents show. Such troops could be deployed if the Emirates faced unrest or were challenged by pro-democracy demonstrations in its crowded labor camps or democracy protests like those sweeping the Arab world this year… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <NY Times>
Just as GW Bush deployed Blackwater Troops to New Orleans during Katrina to protect rich neighborhoods from the victims of Republican incompetents, the UAE can deploy the equivalent of Blackwater killer thugs to announce that Arab Spring is not welcome there.
10 Responses to “Blackwater Deja Vu”
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Only money is welcome in the UAE. Thus it has ever been…
So the UAE must be a lot like Congress.
Big cuts to our military machine would mean no more mercenaries…ooops, sorry, CONTRACTORS! The all volunteer army that Bush bragged about are poor, uneducated, mostly unsuspecting grunts….the real ‘talent’ is hired. I complained about mercenaries way back when & got called crazy. Mercenaries are our downfall, we can’t afford them, now they’ll turn against us…their goal is $MONEY$, not allegiance…..they aren’t the children being forced to stand in schools pledging allegiance to our Flag for undisclosed reasons.Contractors were the GOP’s answer to the draft….they know they can’t win without talent & the talent won’t be brainwashed with false Nationalism. We are on a fast track to downfall for all the wrong reasons. Cut the contractors & pay real Americans to serve in a more realistic military which we use ONLY when attacked on our own soil. 9-11 was not an attack from a foreign nation and should have been handled JUST as Obama handled it without all the troops & war in between! We will become a third world nation where the richest man can buy his own military to take out his opponents! Who will the Conservative Teabaggers blame then?
Zada, I agree. Like you I have always opposed outsourcing military services, combat and noncombat alike, to subcontractors.
Zada – you are completely right. I do not understand why this man and his parents (who funded his little “expeditions”) are not in jail. They have no allegiance to any country and for all we know, some one could be paying him to plot terror attacks against us. The man has no morals and only cares about money. One of these days he’s going to get tripped up in one of his own schemes and get himself killed, hopefully.
His arrogant ass testifying before Congress (and taking his nameplate like a complete and utter douchebag) 😡 and lying his ass off should have landed him in jail for perjury at least. But once again, we were the ones who created and used the evil bastard so now he’s ours, just like Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. And he is just as crazy and cold hearted as they are. Someone, please wipe this motherfucker off the earth so he can do no more harm. 😡 😡 😡 😡 😡 😡 😡 😡 😡
Lisa, I agree that he does deserve to be prosecuted.
The Ruling Class, the Plutocracy, realize they have more in common with one another than they do with the people they rule and oppress. so of course, Erik Prince and Blackwater (the modern day Pinkerton’s) would have no problem being sell swords for an oppressive dictatorship.
Gene, that’s an excellent point. Had Republicans not screwed up the country so badly that allowing Democrats to take power and blaming them seemed preferable, I do not doubt that W would have declared martial law and deployed Blackwater against us.
Just some resources to tuck away WRT Erik Prince (a very scary person from a very scary family):
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/04/810764/-Erik-Prince:-American-Bin-LadenCIA-Asset,-MoneyGunmen
And Jeremy Scahill wrote extensively about Prince/Blackwater at “The Nation” – but you may have to signup (a pain, but free) to view it.
Thanks Nameless. I’ve read it. I’m a subscriber.