Blackwater Founder Linked to Murder of Witnesses in Criminal Investigation
Aug 4th, 2009 | 31 responses
If these affidavits, filed in federal court yesterday by two former Blackwater employees, are true, the founder and owner of the biggest security contracting company in Iraq during the previous administration is not just a felon, but a psychopath:
A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia. The two men claim that the company’s owner, Erik Prince, may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company. The former employee also alleges that Prince “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe,” and that Prince’s companies “encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life.”
In their testimony, both men also allege that Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq. One of the men alleges that Prince turned a profit by transporting “illegal” or “unlawful” weapons into the country on Prince’s private planes. They also charge that Prince and other Blackwater executives destroyed incriminating videos, emails and other documents and have intentionally deceived the US State Department and other federal agencies. The identities of the two individuals were sealed out of concerns for their safety.
These allegations, and a series of other charges, are contained in sworn affidavits, given under penalty of perjury, filed late at night on August 3 in the Eastern District of Virginia as part of a seventy-page motion by lawyers for Iraqi civilians suing Blackwater for alleged war crimes and other misconduct. Susan Burke, a private attorney working in conjunction with the Center for Constitutional Rights, is suing Blackwater in five separate civil cases filed in the Washington, DC, area. They were recently consolidated before Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Eastern District of Virginia for pretrial motions. Burke filed the August 3 motion in response to Blackwater’s motion to dismiss the case. Blackwater asserts that Prince and the company are innocent of any wrongdoing and that they were professionally performing their duties on behalf of their employer, the US State Department.
And if any or all of the above is true, Steve Hynd adds, “it’s still only the tip of the iceberg.”
General Petraeus “lost” over 170,000 weapons in Iraq. His close aide, Lt. Col. Lavonda Selph pled guilty to accepting bribes in connection with another gun smuggling operation. At around the same time, his subordinate Col. Theodore Westhusing was found dead in Iraq, apparently a suicide. A note found by him said he could not “support a [mission] that leads to corruption, human rights abuses and liars,” and that he didn’t know who to trust among his superiors any more.
There are 154 open criminal investigations into allegations of bribery, conflicts of interest, defective products, bid rigging and theft in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. Jonathan Landay of McLatchy newspapers said in a March 2009 interview that he believes U.S. officials — not U.S. contractors, but officials — are complicit and involved in the widespread corruption there.
Steve links to Daniel Schulman at Mother Jones, who in turn provides links to both sworn statements “here and here.”
Via Memeorandum.
opinions powered by SendLove.to
31 Responses to “Blackwater Founder Linked to Murder of Witnesses in Criminal Investigation”
The Past Still Haunts ……
I know it seems like a long time ago, but think back a bit and see if you can recall anything about a paramilitary company called Blackwater. Ring any bells? Well, they go by the name of Xe, these days, but that’s probably an attempt to disassociate t…
This may have started under Bush, but it's Obama's mess now. I wonder if the Republicans will now charge Obama with all this stuff going on under his watch.
Love the new Avatar, SB!
Jesus H Christ, what a horrible mess.
Why is it that the craziest among us come from the Republican right wing?
AR, (new avatar): Thanks! But it seems to come and go…. The new one, when it shows is of one of my two favorite pussies!
Oooh.. Mafia style. And just when I thought my opinion of the GOP ganstas couldn't get lower…
Good Lord, the lost weapons is old news…REALLY old news. It has been out there for YEARS. No idea why it is being brought up again. Liberals need to leave Petraeus alone. Go read, “The Gamble”, and humble yourselves a little bit. If it weren't for a handful of people, Petraeus included, Iraq would be in a full blown civil war right now….maybe that is what some of you really want??
As far as Blackwater goes….there are numerous books about it also…and this sort of thing seems to fit perfectly. They are nothing but mercs, getting paid 10 times what a normal grunt makes to do the same work.
Iraq! Evil! Arrested in time, arrested development…
SB – hmm. Interesting. I never thought of you as a pussy lover, but more of a 'big dog' type of guy!
SB- You mean you actually own that adorable little feline?
Yes, I have two of them- the other is her brother, though with a rounder face he looks a little different (he takes after his father, so I am told). This pic was taken a couple weeks ago- they turned one year old June 1. Thanks for asking!
SB As an incurable cat fancier— I'm in awe— what a beautiful little face! Is she an Abissynian?
AR, I grew up with both cats and dogs. In the city cats are easier. I'm happy with either, call me flexible
…. though I prefer my pussies.
You should her go at times…. She'll jump up on my bed, lay flat on her back and demand to be stroked. Gets her little engine going. If I stop before she's had her fill she'll swat at me. Fortunately her claws are mostly retracted so it's more of a love swat than a clawing that does real damage.
kritt- Savannah, with some Abby in her lineage.
SD-
Well, she is very cute. I go both ways, myself, and have passed that trait onto both my children!
OK, enough with the double entendres.
We are a HUGE pet family, and all of out pets are indoor members of the family. I do have 3 dogs (Ranger, a cream-colored Golden; Bandit, a undetermined mix-breed rescue terrier; and Molly, a PomaPoo (the wife's, if you couldn't guess!), and 2 cats (a brother and sister set of American short hair rescue cats, one an orange Tom and the female (of course) a Calico); my daughter has one of each (Toby, a mixed-breed rescue terrier; and Sookie, a Calico Manx she pulled out of a sewer as a 3 week old kitten!); and finally my son has one of each as well (Sam, a rescue Red-Nosed Terrier; and a Max, a rescue black American long-haired) at least until this past Monday when my son had to put Max down.
He is heading out this weekend to the shelters to start the search for two kittens to replace Max.
I knew you were an OK guy, and having multiple cats (and liking dogs, too) only confirms it!
Kathy – sorry we hijacked your thread.
Hijacking my thread to enthuse about the wonderfulness of cats and dogs is fine by me, anytime.
I have two cats. One is the kitten of the other (although that kitten is now over 11 years old).
Until a year ago, I had another cat (a one-eared black-and-white long-haired domestic shorthair — go figure), and a dog (a beagle). That cat, and the dog, both died the week I moved into this apartment (a year ago this month).
Kathy -
Sorry (belated) about your loss. I have been surrounded by pets my whole life, and the loss of each and every one is a clear, and painful, memory, even when I knew I was doing it for them.
btw – a long-haired shorthair?? That is indeed…an interesting combination.
We are huge pet lovers here as well. I even stopped eating meat and poultry 3 years ago because of the critters. We have a gray and white bunny named Pebbles, a gray white and yellow talking cockatiel named Twinkie, and 2 cats- one a big handsome brown male tabby – Scooter- the other a shy gray striped female named Lucky.
Ok they do make a mess, but are part of the family now. My daughter begged me for another kitten- but I had to say no- or become a crazy cat lady with meow mix in the freezer:-)
SB enjoy your kitties– they are really gorgeous. Some days, the only ones I want to be around are the animals!
AR,
Thank you. It was among the worst weeks of my life. The cat was my favorite (I know, you're not supposed to have a favorite, but…) and the dog… I adored him. They both died before I could put them down; I knew they were sick but in the chaos of moving, I hadn't been able to do it. It was horrible.
Oh, I forgot about the long-haired domestic short hair part — I always thought she must have been part Persian (I got her from a shelter), because her fur was so long. She did not look like a DSH, but the vet said she wasn't a special breed, just a DSH, so who was I to argue?
Some days, the only ones I want to be around are the animals!
Ain't that the truth. Carole King (one of my favorite singers) once said that animals are the real people, and I believe that says it all.
Kathy -
Sorry again for your pain. And I want to add that it is nice to know that two people who can disagree as deeply as we do on certain political issues still have in common the traits that are most important in people – the ability to love both other people and the extensions to their family we choose (like pets) and to empathize with the pain of even with those with whom we do not see eye to eye.
As a final thought, I wish to say I have recently let at times my emotions run ahead of my thoughts in some of our back-and-forth comments. I do have a habit of returning fire-for-fire, if you will, and even throwing the first bomb at times, and I am well aware that nothing contructive comes from that.
For those comments that I made that had no purpose but to be mean mean-spirited toward you I apologize.
I do actually respect the deepness with which you hold to your convictions, even if some of them are SO obviously wrong!
Kathy- I'm sorry for hijacking the thread too. Thanks for helping us change the topic!
Sorry to hear about your loss. Pets are part of our family and we love and care for them just as much as the “people people” in our family. The grief process is just the same when a pet dies as when a person dies. It's heartbreaking….
AR, wow all those animals- that's incredible! And fantastic! Stray cats are attracted to my Mom (and I suppose to me to). Mom has a couple “regular” stray cats around the house and they will even come in (through a cat door) and sleep in the house. Though some are more skittish than others….
Animals are a real delight and I'm so glad I grew up cats and dogs. We also had fish and as my brother I got older we had gerbils. We have a place in the country (still have it, but rarely go there now) and during the summers we used to catch snakes, even poisonous ones (we were very careful and were never bitten).
The closest neighbors out there raised snakes (seriously they did, they even had cobras and pythons). We used to sell them the snakes we caught.
It was a great way to spend summers, and gain a healthy respect for all things living (especially those poisonous snakes).
If I had more space I'd have dogs too (I'll pass on snakes). You are so lucky and blessed! Sounds like a great family. Whatever you're doing keep up the good work!
kritt, thanks for the pet compliments! I'll pass them on to the kitties.
Wow, you have a regular farm there- that's great! I've never had birds but I do feed the birds outside giving the cats something to watch. The cats get so excited. As soon as the cats hear the birds singing they'll rush to the window and watch them.
Enjoy your farm- it seems very delightful! And I bet whatever mess they make, in the long run they're worth it. They're family so what are you gonna do?
I also agree that some days I only want to be around the animals. Whatever trouble they get into only lasts five minutes and then you're guaranteed to have their unconditional love for the next 24 hours.
kathy-I have always had a favorite when we had 2 cats– always loved the dominant male more than the shyer female.
I had to put down two cats that I loved to pieces– so I sympathize. We buried them in the woods near our house- had funerals and everything.
One died in my arms from heart disease the day before my birthday- and I couldn't celebrate it. The other was hit by a car and had a serious spinal column injury. I was bereft both times– as though my best friend or a close relative had died. No one understood it but the vet and her staff who sent a condolence card. But, as you said, it was horrible. I finally got over it by getting a kitten that looked just like the cat that had passed away.
AR,
I have started and deleted a response to what you wrote several times. Nothing seems adequate. All I can say is thank you, and I feel the same way you do about how it feels to find that people can disagree on political matters so vehemently and then find that on a much more basic human level they have so much in common.
I don't know if I could have written an apology as open-hearted and classy as the one you wrote. I appreciate it, and respect you greatly for it.
I finally got over it by getting a kitten that looked just like the cat that had passed away.
That's exactly what I did after my beagle died. A few weeks later, I adopted another beagle, but it didn't work out.The cats didn't like him, but the bigger problem was that he was uncontrollable on the leash (at least for me). Since I live in a very urbanized area, I absolutely could not walk him w/o his leash, and I could not control him. He *galloped* the instant he got out the door. SO different from Shiloh (beagle no. 1), who even when I first got him and he was much younger, *never* walked fast. In fact, my problem with him was more learning to be patient when he moved like a snail. Anyway, I tripped and fell several times walking Caleb (beagle no. 2), and one time pretty seriously injured myself. I had to return him to the shelter.
Then after that I got a pit bull from a shelter that was being forced to close by the town (not for any good reason — it's a long story, but the town was the villain), and they were trying to get all their animals adopted out because what was replacing the shelter was a kill facility. He was fine on the leash (oddly!) but he was a disaster with the cats. (He was, shall we say, too interested in them.) So I had to find a new home for him, too.
After that, my daughter made me promise I would not adopt another dog — at least as long as the cats were still around.
It breaks my heart, but I guess a dog doesn't fit my life circumstances at the moment.
Kathy -
I don't know if I could have written an apology as open-hearted and classy as the one you wrote.
I don't know. I think you did a pretty good job yourself. Thank you.
I am sure we will manage to inflame overzealous passions toward each other about our relative positions in the future, but for now let's just enjoy the glow of mutual respect on this matter.
I am sure we will manage to inflame overzealous passions toward each other about our relative positions in the future, but for now let's just enjoy the glow of mutual respect on this matter.
Sounds good to me. Love that purple prose, too.
Harper's Magazine contributing editor Scott Horton will be my guest Monday Aug 10 at 5 PM NY time on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com to discuss the allegations against Blackwater.
Please go to my blog, http://www.garybaumgarten.com to join in the conversation then.
Thanks,
Gary