We have the basis for yet another unfinished thriller:
The boyishly handsome former Navy SEAL founder and board chairman of a shoot-‘em-up paramilitary conglomerate stands accused of murder, gun running, child prostitution, as well as green-lighting a wife-swapping sex ring.
It has been reported two former employees of the company once known as Blackwater USA have filed affidavits to bolster an Iraqi lawsuit against company founder Erik Prince and his band of gun-toting men. The murders include those of supposed innocent Iraqis and at least one company employee who might have been “terminated” for cooperating with the feds. In fact, one of the informants alleges people who were ready to dish on Blackwater or who had already ratted on Prince have died under suspicious circumstances.
Regarding the gun smuggling, it has been alleged firepower was smuggled into Iraq using bags of dog food. We are unsure if the guns were for Blackwater (Xe) use.
But there’s more. Apparently Prince might have been laundering royal sums of money between his Prince Group companies to avoid income taxes. Prince’s men in Iraq were allegedly involved in adult and child prostitution. The wife-swap sex ring may have involved Blackwater top executives. (The sex ring sounds more like sour grapes.)
If accounts are accurate, these allegations from former employees make Prince appear less boy wonder and more of the elite gun-toter stereotype.
The turncoats say Prince encouraged this culture of lawlessness, and the more money it made the company, the better. One informant is said to be a former Marine who states excessive force by employees was routine and often unjustified. The other informant maintains Prince sees himself as a Christian crusader sent to eliminate Islam. Prince is said to be a member of the right-wing Opus Dei sect to the Knights Templar, an association full of irony and symbolism (and made infamous by “The Da Vinci Code”). It has been alleged Prince sent people with similar beliefs to Iraq to get the job done.
Outrageous? Inflammatory? We say explosive. But is it true? Prince’s renaming the company “Xe” and retaining only the title of chairman might have been in anticipation of a very ugly and expensive battle.
If the allegations are true, should it be a surprise? Are some behaviors inherent to the business? Private security is not for the faint of heart, though in some cases that’s who they protect. Though we often point out Blackwater’s troubles, admittedly we probably could not do what they and their bands of not-so-merry men do. Well — we might if we had Backwater USA training and an opportunity to get into character.
Blackwater, what’s in your holster?