( CNN ) -- There 's a lot of head-scratching at the CIA over an article in Vanity Fair magazine that dubs Erik Prince , the founder of the notorious private military contractor Blackwater , a `` tycoon , contractor , soldier , spy . '' In the piece , he comes across as so entrenched with the CIA that the agency needs him to perform the most sensitive secret missions , including those involving hunting down and taking out al Qaeda operatives . It 's true that Prince , as the sole owner of one of the most well-connected private military contractors in modern history , is in a position of enormous trust within the government . So why is it that he 's lashing out publicly at that same government ? Prince , a 40-year-old former Navy SEAL , inherited what he called a sizable amount of money when his father died in the late '90s . He 's used that money to help climb to the top of an industry that has mushroomed since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 . He built Blackwater , now operating under the name Xe , from the ground up , into a sprawling complex with enough tanks , planes and ammunition to launch a small war of its own . When President Obama addressed the nation and talked about his Afghanistan strategy , he did n't talk about the shadow army already employed there . There are more private contractors in Afghanistan on the U.S. payroll than there are U.S. troops . While Prince is a huge beneficiary of U.S. contract dollars , he has long been frustrated by two things . First , he does n't like the reputation his company has gained , with his men painted as ruthless cowboys -- which some are , but some are n't . Second , he believes some people in the government just do n't appreciate him the way they should . Prince uses the Vanity Fair article to re-air a lot of his complaints , but the story contains a great deal of classified information , with details about covert programs that involved him . So does that mean that when convenient , he uses that information to help express his frustration ? Prince unabashedly criticizes parts of the government he does n't like . And some current and former government sources question whether that 's a smart move . They ask whether , as a man who benefits financially from those contracts , he should really go public with his criticisms of the same government that signs his checks . Although the CIA has never publicly confirmed Prince 's involvement -- it has become common knowledge in the industry he disclosed details of that relationship to me , among many other things , in the book I wrote on him that was published earlier this year . A lot of those details came up again in this latest article , but Prince went even further this time . The Vanity Fair article reports that Prince is `` privately and secretly doing the CIA 's bidding , helping to craft , fund and execute operations ranging from inserting personnel into `` denied areas , '' places U.S. intelligence has trouble penetrating , to assembling hit teams targeting al Qaeda members and their allies . '' Some former CIA officials are , quite frankly , annoyed . Not only do they believe that Prince is overplaying any role he may have had or still has with the agency , but they believe he is exploiting it for personal gain . Few of the sources I talked with wanted their names associated with Prince or his company , but when asked about the Vanity Fair article , CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano told me the agency has never `` talked about what role contractors may or may not have played in ... initiatives over the years . But what no one should forget or overlook is the fact that this agency has the talent , tools , and authorities to go after terrorists , and has done so successfully . '' In other words : We can do our own jobs just fine , thank you very much , Mr . Prince . Another source with former ties to the CIA was outraged by the article , saying that Prince was putting a target on the backs of his own men by alluding to a close relationship between Blackwater and the agency . He fears that all around the world , Blackwater contractors would be perceived as agents of the CIA . A government official who also thought that the article exaggerated Prince 's role in the CIA put it this way : . `` Blackwater has good people . They do hard work , sharing the burdens of service overseas . But they 're not well-served by strange tales , the kind of stuff you saw in Vanity Fair about miraculous penetrations of hard intelligence targets or private assassination squads with their fingers on the trigger . `` That should all be shelved under fiction , the kind of stories that end with the alarm clock going off and mom calling you down to breakfast , '' the official said . What the article does n't say is just how much of a PR headache Prince has become . One of the lessons that has come with the marriage between private and military is that for a private business , PR can be crucial to your survival ; for a covert operation , it can be deadly . Striking a balance between the two has been the source of much hand-wringing in Washington . But no matter how you feel about private military contracting , it is here to stay . All of the major U.S. agencies -- the State Department , the Department of Defense , the CIA -- do business with Prince , and all are dependent on contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan . I flew with Prince to Afghanistan shortly after the shootings in a Baghdad traffic circle in September of 2007 that killed 17 people . Blackwater guards were accused . Four pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial ; a fifth struck a deal with prosecutors . Prince 's frustration was obvious . He felt like he had given everything to his country and that his country had let him down in countless ways ; namely by not defending him publicly when his company came under fire after the shootings . Prince says he does what he does for love of country , but of course , he does n't do it for free . His companies have received well over a billion dollars in the process . I asked his spokesperson to comment on concerns that Prince might be jeopardizing agency programs by going public with the details -- after all , he does have a security clearance . The response was this : `` Truth is he is a quiet hero , a great patriot and American . We need more men like him . '' Quiet ? Really ? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Suzanne Simons .
CIA dealing with revelations by Erik Prince , CEO of military contractor Blackwater . He paints himself in magazine articles as entrenched in sensitive CIA secret missions . Karen Simons says many are annoyed Prince lies about government that pays him well . She says military contractors have more people in Iraq than the troops there .