Categories: CIA | Corporations
President Dwight Eisenhower once said "When Rome went out and hired mercenary soldiers, Rome fell." (Source: [Time magazine, April 2, 1951 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,814485,00.html])
The company called Blackwater USA is a private military company, a.k.a. mercenaries. The firm is active around the planet, including in Iraq, where four of its employees were burned to death and hung from a bridge in Fallujah. Blackwater has hired former special prosecutor Ken Starr to defend it from claims by the four men's families.
Blackwater founder, Erik Prince, claims to be a Christian but shows none of the traits promoted by the faith.
Some of Blackwater's other senior executives include:
Cofer Black, former head of counterterrorism at the CIA
Robert Richer, former deputy director of operations at the CIA
Joseph Schmitz, former Pentagon inspector general
1 Smuggling Weapons
Smuggling Weapons
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Blackwater employees illegally smuggled weapons into Iraq, which they then sold to insurgents. (Source: Feds probe Blackwater links to arms smuggling, MSNBC.com, Sept. 21, 2007)
As of 2008 Blackwater has started to claim they are scaling back their relationship with the US military.
Blackwater is a technical name for shit (I shit you not).
Blackwater USA - official website
Bush's Private "SS": How is he getting away with it? - DailyKos diary
Blackwater USA Does Exactly As It Pleases - DailyKos diary
Synopsis & Book Review: Jeremy Scahill's "Blackwater"
Book Review: Jeremy Scahill's "Blackwater" - DailyKos diary
America's shadow army in Iraq, By Jeremy Scahill, Salon.com, May 1, 2007.
A little bit about Blackwater USA - good info on Erik Prince
Iraq revokes security contractor license after shootout - the Iraqi Interior Ministry pulled Blackwater's licence after its employees opened fire into a crowd of civilians.
Maliki blasts Blackwater firm for other incidents, by Leila Fadel, McClatchy, Sept. 19, 2007.
Does Blackwater Play By Its Own Rules in Iraq?, by Larry Kaplow and Michael Hastings, Newsweek, October 15, 2007.
The Man Behind Blackwater - A profile of Erik Prince, By Evan Thomas and Mark Hosenball, Newsweek, October 22, 2007.
Blackwater, The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army By Jeremy Scahill
"Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror", by Robert Young Pelton
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This page was last modified 13:48, 30 October 2008 by dKosopedia user Centerfielder. Based on work by Totally Awsome and roger and dKosopedia user(s) Corncam, Densityland and BartFraden. Content is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.