The first casualty in war is truth, closely followed by the rule of law. In the run up to and during the Iraq war the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld administration bombarded us with lies and their war efforts were riddled with unlawful actions that skirted or directly violated US as well as international laws. Among the extra-legal methods of warfare that the Bush administration engaged in was the deployment of "private security" personnel to protect US interests in Iraq. These para-military forces did not have to abide by US military rules, were armed, dangerous, fanatical and above all greedy. Manned by trigger happy bullies, they acted as the US government's Praetorian Guard, mercenaries with a license to kill and plunder.
Most prominent among the private security contractors in Iraq was the outfit Blackwater. Its chief Erik Prince, a former US Navy SEAl, is not only a war profiteer but also a religious zealot who saw his mission as that of a Christian soldier on a crusade against Islam. Although the Bush administration chose to look the other way, the excesses of Blackwater were noted by journalists, Iraqi citizens who saw their fellow Iraqis being killed and bullied by its operatives and sometimes even by the firm's own employees. As the truth about its unlawful actions in Iraq began to dribble out into the media, Blackwater decided to change its name to Xe to avoid recognition and perhaps also to evade prosecution. Now it is reported that despite secretive maneuvers to keep his criminal wrong doings under wraps, Prince is under investigation for the murder of witnesses against Blackwater who may have co-operated with federal authorities. Other charges against him include allegations of war crimes. So much for exporting democracy with the help of murderous thugs.
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.
Update: More details of the charges (including child prostitution) against Blackwater here.
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