Blackwater: company of evil

kidflash2008 · 08-09-2009, 01:24 PM

There have been a number of scathing charges launched against Blackwater (now known as Xe). Among them are the use of child prostitutes. The link to the story:

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/...d-prostitutes/

An excerpt:

'Perhaps the most shocking of those charges — quoted by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann on Thursday from the employees’ sworn declarations — is that Blackwater was guilty of using child prostitutes at its compound in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone and that owner Erik Prince knew of this activity and did nothing to stop it.

The declarations describe Blackwater as “having young girls provide oral sex to Enterprise members in the ‘Blackwater Man Camp’ in exchange for one American dollar.” They add even though Prince frequently visited this camp, he “failed to stop the ongoing use of prostitutes, including child prostitutes, by his men.”

One of the statements also charges that “Prince’s North Carolina operations had an ongoing wife-swapping and sex ring, which was participated in by many of Mr. Prince’s top executives.”

According to the two former employees, Blackwater supervisors in Iraq sometimes sent men back to the United States for wanting to “kill ragheads,” excessive drinking, steroid use, or failure to follow weapon safety procedures, but “Mr. Prince and his executives would send them back” with a reprimand to the supervisor for costing the firm money. Blackwater even fired “those mental health professionals who were not willing to endorse deployments of unfit men.”

The former employees additionally state that Prince was engaged in illegal arms dealing, money laundering, and tax evasion, that he created “a web of companies in order to obscure wrong-doing, fraud, and other crimes,” and that Blackwater’s chief financial officer had “resigned … stating he was not willing to go to jail for Erik Prince.” '

Of course, the owner of Blackwater denies these and other charges.

$$kneel-B4-me$$ · 08-09-2009, 10:08 PM

figures

Mingus · 08-13-2009, 04:50 PM

That's exactly what has been going on in the business world for years. You set up dummy companies to launder money, place losses on balance sheets, and redirect legal issues. Enron extensively used dummy corporations to mask the massive losses that were being incurred, and that was just one of the many diversions that made them so suspicious. Strictly speaking of finances, Enron would use complicated terms and utilize loopholes to shave off as much debt and paint as much profit on as possible. The language of law and economics are two very confusing and difficult languages, which is why it's so easy for politicians and bankers to screw around.

Sillygoth · 08-15-2009, 09:44 AM

This isn't a surprise at all; oftentimes "private contractors" are given carte blanche to do as they see fit. I have a close friend who was VERY close to working for Blackwater, and was told simply to avoid using terms like "raghead" or "sand n***er" in front of anyone outside of actual combat operations, so he would avoid being reprimanded or let go.

Thankfully, he managed to miss out on his opportunity with them, but only due to getting engaged. Hopefully SOMEONE higher up in this company will be held accountable for what's going on over there.

kidflash2008 · 08-15-2009, 10:48 AM

The owner of the company (and self professed "Crusader") has not been held accountable for anything yet. The accusations come from two people who were higher up and have not released their names to the public for fear of their lives.

I wonder what would happen if the tables were reverse and our country had been taken over with troops from a foreign country and a private security firm that wanted to kill Christians? This is what the Iraqis and Afghanis go through every day.

Sillygoth · 08-15-2009, 03:32 PM

If that happened, Kid, we'd find ourselves doing EXACTLY what the insurgents are doing now. One man's terrorist is another man's hero.

$$kneel-B4-me$$ · 08-15-2009, 11:41 PM

i honestly hope it never happens, but lets say it did. i think americans would destroy another country try'n to do what we did. we are way to heavily armed, from government to farmers to let another country come in here. there some wanted change, and their armed forces didn't have nearly the training of our police has for dealing with our own. it would take several very statigic nukes to get us to the point their at. plus, after that there would be no need to come take over. the united states biggest threat of invasion is its own people. Over there, we hear about the ones who hate us more than the ones who appreciate what we've done so far. think about it, what headline is going to grab your attention quicker? muslims throw U.S. troops a parade for helping to immancipate their people, or suicide bomber blows up bus, killing 2 marines, 5 civilians, and put 10 others in critical condition. its sad but true, we as a people (the majority) are attracted to violence.

kidflash2008 · 08-16-2009, 10:35 AM

I don't think the ones who wanted us there would have agreed to a privately run security company with heavily armed foreigners on the Iraqi soil. The leader has Crusader like ideas and hires people who refer to the locals as sandn****rs and other racist names. Our country will never face such a problem as the ones in the Middle East.

Also, if Iraq did not have oil, would George II have invaded it? We had no business going into Iraq the first place. They had nothing to do with the terrorist groups for 9/11. The Saudis had more involvement and yet we did not invade that country.

Area-51 · 08-16-2009, 11:24 AM

I think the biggest problem with a privat army like blackwater, is the lack of professionalism among the mercenaries (they are definitely not soldiers) employed by blackwater. Sure they are getting a trainingprogram and everything, but many of them just want to blast around. And second of all some of them are former outlaws who are unable to live a life without violence.

Sillygoth · 08-16-2009, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Area-51

I think the biggest problem with a privat army like blackwater, is the lack of professionalism among the mercenaries (they are definitely not soldiers) employed by blackwater. Sure they are getting a trainingprogram and everything, but many of them just want to blast around. And second of all some of them are former outlaws who are unable to live a life without violence.

Our own army (or any army, for that matter) loses a lot of professionalism in a war zone, so a certain amount of a complaint of "lack of professionalism" isn't entirely fair, even for Blackwater.

Many of the employees of Blackwater are not true "outlaws". They're ex-soldiers that either have a misguided sense of patriotism or a desire for revenge. In many cases, they're not bad people, they're just doing things for the wrong reasons.

I think if you took a similarly-sized company and grabbed a cross section of their employees, you'd find a similar percentage of employees with a criminal record. Admittedly, the folks working at WalMart aren't being armed with guns and told to take care of problems, but I hope you're seeing my point.

The real problem isn't with the mercenaries, but with the people who are agreeing to send them over there in the first place.

08-09-2009, 01:24 PM	#1
kidflash2008 Senior Investigator Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,699	Blackwater: company of evil There have been a number of scathing charges launched against Blackwater (now known as Xe). Among them are the use of child prostitutes. The link to the story: http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/...d-prostitutes/ An excerpt: 'Perhaps the most shocking of those charges — quoted by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann on Thursday from the employees’ sworn declarations — is that Blackwater was guilty of using child prostitutes at its compound in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone and that owner Erik Prince knew of this activity and did nothing to stop it. The declarations describe Blackwater as “having young girls provide oral sex to Enterprise members in the ‘Blackwater Man Camp’ in exchange for one American dollar.” They add even though Prince frequently visited this camp, he “failed to stop the ongoing use of prostitutes, including child prostitutes, by his men.” One of the statements also charges that “Prince’s North Carolina operations had an ongoing wife-swapping and sex ring, which was participated in by many of Mr. Prince’s top executives.” According to the two former employees, Blackwater supervisors in Iraq sometimes sent men back to the United States for wanting to “kill ragheads,” excessive drinking, steroid use, or failure to follow weapon safety procedures, but “Mr. Prince and his executives would send them back” with a reprimand to the supervisor for costing the firm money. Blackwater even fired “those mental health professionals who were not willing to endorse deployments of unfit men.” The former employees additionally state that Prince was engaged in illegal arms dealing, money laundering, and tax evasion, that he created “a web of companies in order to obscure wrong-doing, fraud, and other crimes,” and that Blackwater’s chief financial officer had “resigned … stating he was not willing to go to jail for Erik Prince.” ' Of course, the owner of Blackwater denies these and other charges.

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08-09-2009, 10:08 PM	#2
$$kneel-B4-me$$ Investigator Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 148	figures

08-13-2009, 04:50 PM	#3
Mingus Investigator Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 325	That's exactly what has been going on in the business world for years. You set up dummy companies to launder money, place losses on balance sheets, and redirect legal issues. Enron extensively used dummy corporations to mask the massive losses that were being incurred, and that was just one of the many diversions that made them so suspicious. Strictly speaking of finances, Enron would use complicated terms and utilize loopholes to shave off as much debt and paint as much profit on as possible. The language of law and economics are two very confusing and difficult languages, which is why it's so easy for politicians and bankers to screw around.

08-15-2009, 09:44 AM	#4
Sillygoth Junior Investigator Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 48	This isn't a surprise at all; oftentimes "private contractors" are given carte blanche to do as they see fit. I have a close friend who was VERY close to working for Blackwater, and was told simply to avoid using terms like "raghead" or "sand n***er" in front of anyone outside of actual combat operations, so he would avoid being reprimanded or let go. Thankfully, he managed to miss out on his opportunity with them, but only due to getting engaged. Hopefully SOMEONE higher up in this company will be held accountable for what's going on over there.

08-15-2009, 10:48 AM	#5
kidflash2008 Senior Investigator Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,699	The owner of the company (and self professed "Crusader") has not been held accountable for anything yet. The accusations come from two people who were higher up and have not released their names to the public for fear of their lives. I wonder what would happen if the tables were reverse and our country had been taken over with troops from a foreign country and a private security firm that wanted to kill Christians? This is what the Iraqis and Afghanis go through every day.

08-15-2009, 03:32 PM	#6
Sillygoth Junior Investigator Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 48	If that happened, Kid, we'd find ourselves doing EXACTLY what the insurgents are doing now. One man's terrorist is another man's hero.

08-15-2009, 11:41 PM	#7
$$kneel-B4-me$$ Investigator Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 148	i honestly hope it never happens, but lets say it did. i think americans would destroy another country try'n to do what we did. we are way to heavily armed, from government to farmers to let another country come in here. there some wanted change, and their armed forces didn't have nearly the training of our police has for dealing with our own. it would take several very statigic nukes to get us to the point their at. plus, after that there would be no need to come take over. the united states biggest threat of invasion is its own people. Over there, we hear about the ones who hate us more than the ones who appreciate what we've done so far. think about it, what headline is going to grab your attention quicker? muslims throw U.S. troops a parade for helping to immancipate their people, or suicide bomber blows up bus, killing 2 marines, 5 civilians, and put 10 others in critical condition. its sad but true, we as a people (the majority) are attracted to violence.

08-16-2009, 10:35 AM	#8
kidflash2008 Senior Investigator Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,699	I don't think the ones who wanted us there would have agreed to a privately run security company with heavily armed foreigners on the Iraqi soil. The leader has Crusader like ideas and hires people who refer to the locals as sandn****rs and other racist names. Our country will never face such a problem as the ones in the Middle East. Also, if Iraq did not have oil, would George II have invaded it? We had no business going into Iraq the first place. They had nothing to do with the terrorist groups for 9/11. The Saudis had more involvement and yet we did not invade that country.

08-16-2009, 11:24 AM	#9
Area-51 Investigator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Germany Posts: 459	I think the biggest problem with a privat army like blackwater, is the lack of professionalism among the mercenaries (they are definitely not soldiers) employed by blackwater. Sure they are getting a trainingprogram and everything, but many of them just want to blast around. And second of all some of them are former outlaws who are unable to live a life without violence.