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<a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/brauchli08272010.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.counterpunch.org/brauchli08272010.html<br>
</a></font><font size=2 color="#990000">August 27-29, 2010<br><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5 color="#990000">The
Petulant Prince of Blackwater<br><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4>By
</font><font size=3>CHRISTOPHER BRAUCHLI <br><br>
<i>Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation. You do not find it among
gross people. Samuel Johnson, “ Journal of a Tour to the
Hebrides”<br><br>
</i>It’s hard to understand why Eric Prince is mad. The settlement
sounded like such a good deal for him and his company. And
furthermore, he’s trying to sell the company - and the settlement will
probably help that, and to make things even better, he now lives happily
in Abu Dhabi where it is harder to sue him. (He moved hurriedly in
August. It had nothing to do with the lawsuits he was
defending. He needed to get there quickly so his children could
enroll in school. School started on August 15.) Here’s why
Eric Prince’s petulance is hard to fathom.<br>
<br>
On August 21, 2010 it was announced that Xe, formerly known as Blackwater
Worldwide, the company founded by Eric Prince in 1997, had settled State
Department allegations of hundreds of export and other violations by
agreeing to pay fines of $42 million. According to the New
York Times, the illegal activities for which it was fined included
“illegal weapons exports to Afghanistan, making unauthorized proposals to
train troops in south Sudan and providing sniper training for Taiwanese
police officers.” Xe signed a $120 million contract with the State
Department to provide security services at new U.S. Consulates in Herat
and Mazr-e-Sharif in mid-June of 2010. If the settlement and the
contract are netted out, Xe will net $78 million on the two deals.
<br><br>
Although the fines seem like a lot of money to those not involved in such
things, in fact they are a small price to pay. Here’s what Xe got
in exchange for paying the fines: the company is now able to once again
bid on and get contracts with the government, something it would have
been barred from doing had it pled guilty to criminal conduct.
(Since 2001 it’s been paid hundreds of millions by the U.S. Government
for activities it conducted in Afghanistan and Iraq. It can now
look forward to many hundreds of millions more.) Here’s something else it
got for paying the fines: it won’t be subject to any criminal
charges on account of those transactions. <br><br>
Not that all its criminal type legal troubles are over. According
to reports there is still an ongoing federal probe to see whether the
company bribed Iraqi officials; five executives have been indicted on
weapons and obstruction of justice charges; and two former employees face
federal murder charges in connection with the death of two Afghan
civilians. Whether those charges would impact its ability to get
government contracts is unclear. What is also unclear is whether
the investigation of Xe requested by Senator Carl Levin in February
from the attorney general might yet result in criminal charges that could
impact its ability to get government contracts. (In February Senator
Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked Attorney
General Eric Holder to investigate whether Xe had made false or
misleading statements in bidding for an Army contract in
Afghanistan.) What is clear is that for the present, Xe is once
again able to bid on government contracts and stands to make millions of
more if its bids are accepted. <br><br>
Mr. Prince no longer lives in the United States. According to court
documents filed in a case brought by former Xe employees against Mr.
Prince accusing him of defrauding the government, Mr. Prince has moved to
Abu Dhabi. In addition to enrolling his children in good schools,
he reportedly hopes to continue the very profitable line of work in which
he has been engaged, in Africa and the Middle East. According to
colleagues there’s another reason he moved. They told the New York
Times, Mr. Prince is bitter about the “legal scrutiny and negative
publicity his company had received.” It’s hard to imagine why he
thought his company, facing the kinds of charges described above and
having settled the charges described above, would be surprised at the
absence of favorable publicity. The offenses for which it’s been
fined as well as those still being investigated, rarely earn their
perpetrator applause.<br><br>
Mr. Prince’s colleague who spoke to the NYT also said that Mr. Prince
needed “a break from America.” Mr. Prince is an heir to a “Michigan auto
parts fortune.” Michigan is in America. His family made its fortune
in America and that fortune enabled Mr. Prince to make millions
more. I am confident his “break from America” will not have
any adverse affect on his fortunes and I am sure he does not want it to
be perceived as a lack of appreciation for all America has done for
him. He probably just moved because Abu Dhabi has really good
schools. It’s too bad he didn’t stay in the town in which he lived
and worked and help to improve the schools there. <br><br>
<b>Christopher Brauchli</b> can be e-mailed at
<a href="mailto:brauchli.56@post.harvard.edu">
brauchli.56@post.harvard.edu</a>. <br><br>
<br><br>
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