Erik Prince

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Blackwater Founder: CIA 'Threw Me Under the Bus'

Erik Prince's story raises security issues

(Newser) - Erik Prince says he and Blackwater—the defense contractor now known as Xe—got a raw deal from the government. "I put myself and my company at the CIA's disposal for some very risky missions," the firm's founder tells Vanity Fair . "But when it became politically expedient...

CIA Hired Blackwater to Help Plan al-Qaeda Killings

(Newser) - We knew the US outsourced a lot of its work in Iraq to Blackwater, but this takes the cake: The CIA hired the infamous military contractor in 2004 to help it figure out how to track down and kill al-Qaeda operatives, reports the New York Times. The move to hire...

Blackwater Founder Linked to Investigators' Murders

(Newser) - Two former Blackwater employees accused company founder and CEO Erik Prince of murder in statements filed in federal court this week, the Nation reports. The former guards, including an ex-Marine, say Prince may have either killed or facilitated the killing of operatives probing the security contractor's Iraq operations. The investigators...

Blackwater Founder Steps Down as CEO

Now called Xe, security company regroups, changes focus

(Newser) - Blackwater Security founder Erik Prince stepped down today as CEO of the private security company he built into one of the world's most respected—only to see it become reviled for a 2007 Baghdad massacre in which his testimony incurred congressional wrath, the AP reports. Prince expressed pride in Blackwater,...

US Firm Calls for Islamic Law in Lawsuit

Blackwater boss seeks Sharia law to dodge Afghan plane crash suit

(Newser) - An American firm blamed for the death of three US soldiers in a plane crash has asked a federal court to apply Islamic law to a lawsuit brought by their widows, the Raleigh News & Observer reports. Presidential Airways, Blackwater's sister company, argues that since its plane crashed in Afghanistan,...

Embattled Blackwater Maneuvering to Expand Role

Seeks new contracts despite massacre

(Newser) - Blackwater, the private security firm under fire for controversial shootings in Iraq, is preparing expansion plans to develop a bigger role as an arm of the US military. Company founder Erik Prince wants to make Blackwater a one-stop shop for all kinds of operations to which Washington won't commit US...

How Blackwater Came to Be
How Blackwater Came to Be
Oct 13, 2007 1:49 PM CDT

How Blackwater Came to Be

(Newser) - Erik Prince, the politically savvy CEO of Blackwater USA, took advantage of a confluence of events—a rise in terrorism coupled with military cutbacks and an administration committed to outsourcing—to create one of the fastest-growing US contractors of the past decade. The Washington Post investigates the extraordinary rise of...

Iraqis Vow to Prosecute Blackwater
Iraqis Vow
to Prosecute Blackwater
Oct 8, 2007 1:19 AM CDT

Iraqis Vow to Prosecute Blackwater

Blackwater deaths called 'deliberate killings'

(Newser) - A spokesman for the Iraqi government continued to escalate the rhetoric on the Blackwater shootings yesterday, charging that security guards "deliberately killed" 17 Iraqi civilians in last month's massacre in Baghdad. Ali al-Dabbagh said the Iraqis intend to take legal action, despite a US ruling in 2004 that the...

Maliki Again Takes Aim at Blackwater

Security firm no longer ‘valid’ in Iraq in wake of incidents, PM says

(Newser) - Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki has stepped back into the Blackwater fray today, saying the influx of accusations against the security contractor “do not make it valid to stay in Iraq.” One day after Blackwater's CEO appeared before a Congressional committee, Maliki signaled he wouldn't sitting on his hands...

CEO Defends Blackwater
CEO Defends Blackwater
Oct 2, 2007 5:25 PM CDT

CEO Defends Blackwater

Prince tells Congress company behaved well in 'complex war zone'

(Newser) - Blackwater USA's CEO testified before Congress today that his company was misjudged by an oversight committee that determined Blackwater employees show a pattern of reckless civilian shootings. Erik Prince maintained his personnel reacted normally to "a complex war zone" on Sept. 16 when they were involved in an incident...

Blackwater CEO Thick as Thieves With Bush, Christian Right

Prince's ties date to White House internship

(Newser) - The CEO of embattled Blackwater USA has deep ties to the GOP and the religious right, beginning with a college internship in the first Bush White House. Erik Prince’s security firm's federal contracts have grown from under $1 million in 2001 to over $1 billion today, and he's made...

195 Blackwater Shootings Bared
195 Blackwater Shootings Bared
Oct 2, 2007 6:44 AM CDT

195 Blackwater Shootings Bared

Guards fired first in 80% of incidents since 2005

(Newser) - Private security firm Blackwater USA has been involved in shooting incidents nearly every week since 2005, according to an investigation by the Democratic congressional staff. While Blackwater is contracted to use force only defensively, company guards used force at least 195 times, firing first 80% of the time, the report...

Blackwater 'Cowboys' Faster on Trigger

Have been in twice as many shootings as other security firms in Iraq

(Newser) - The US security firm being investigated in an Iraqi operation earlier this month that killed at least 11 civilians has been involved in twice as many shootings as other companies providing protection to American officials in Iraq, the New York Times reports. Guards working for Blackwater killed 10 and wounded...

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