Reddit reviews Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

Published over a decade ago but Jeremy Scahill's book on Blackwater and the rise of Prince's mercenary-centric idea of warfare is worth a read.

This family and people like them are pure fucking evil. They give no fucks about the lives they destroy.

Read the book "Blackwater" if you want an idea. Also pretty relevant because it discusses a lot of Erik Prince's political views as well as the DeVos family. Disgusting to see Betsy DeVos in a position of power ESPECIALLY concerning education.

>On September 16, 2007, employees of Blackwater Security Consulting (now Academi), a private military company, shot at Iraqi civilians, killing 17 and injuring 20 in Nisour Square, Baghdad, while escorting a U.S. embassy convoy.[1][2][3] The killings outraged Iraqis and strained relations between Iraq and the United States.[4] In 2014, four Blackwater employees were tried[5] and convicted in U.S. federal court; one of murder, and the other three of manslaughter and firearms charges.[6]

>Blackwater guards claimed that the convoy was ambushed and that they fired at the attackers in defense of the convoy. The Iraqi government and Iraqi police investigator Faris Saadi Abdul stated that the killings were unprovoked.[7][8] The next day, Blackwater Worldwide's license to operate in Iraq was temporarily revoked.[9] The U.S. State Department has said that "innocent life was lost",[10] and according to the Washington Post, a military report appeared to corroborate "the Iraqi government's contention that Blackwater was at fault".[11] The Iraqi government vowed to punish Blackwater.[12] The incident sparked at least five investigations, including one from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[13] The FBI investigation found that, of the 17 Iraqis killed by the guards, at least 14 were shot without cause.[14]

>In December 2008, the U.S. charged five Blackwater guards with 14 counts of manslaughter, 20 counts of attempted manslaughter and a weapons violation but on December 31, 2009, a U.S. district judge dismissed all charges on the grounds that the case against the Blackwater guards had been improperly built on testimony given in exchange for immunity.[15] Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki harshly criticized the dismissal.[16] In April 2011, a U.S. federal appeals court reinstated the manslaughter charges against Paul A. Slough, Evan S. Liberty, Dustin L. Heard and Donald W. Ball after closed-door testimony. The court said “We find that the district court’s findings depend on an erroneous view of the law,”[17] A fifth guard had his charges dismissed, and a sixth guard (Jeremy Ridgeway) pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and attempted manslaughter.[3] On January 6, 2012, Blackwater settled a lawsuit filed on behalf of six of the victims for an undisclosed sum.[18] On October 22, 2014, a Federal District Court jury convicted Nick Slatten of first-degree murder, and three other guards (Slough, Liberty and Heard) guilty of all three counts of voluntary manslaughter and using a machine gun to commit a violent crime.[6][19] On April 13, 2015, Slatten was sentenced to life in prison, while the other three guards were sentenced to 30 years in prison.[20]

>On August 4, 2017, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit tossed Slatten's murder conviction and ordered the other defendants to be re-sentenced.[21] A new trial was also recommended for Slatten, on the grounds that it was unjustifiable to try him with his co-defendants, and that he should have been tried separately.[21]

The above is just from Wikipedia, but for more in-depth info about this heinous fucking scum Eric Prince, check out Jeremy Scahill’s reporting and his book...

Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

Thought I could hold off reading this as its relevance would diminish over time.

Seconded. He spent his early years as a journalist for Democracy Now, and they've also done a great job reporting on Blackwater.

Jeremy Scahill also put out a book about Blackwater. Terrifying is putting it mildly.

>On September 16, 2007, machine gun fire erupted in Baghdad's Nisour Square, leaving seventeen Iraqi civilians dead, among them women and children. The shooting spree, labeled “Baghdad's Bloody Sunday,” was neither the work of Iraqi insurgents nor U.S. soldiers. The shooters were private forces working for the secretive mercenary company, Blackwater Worldwide.

>This is the explosive story of a company that rose a decade ago from Moyock, North Carolina, to become one of the most powerful players in the “War on Terror.” In his gripping bestseller, award-winning journalist Jeremy Scahill takes us from the bloodied streets of Iraq to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans to the chambers of power in Washington, to expose Blackwater as the frightening new face of the U.S. war machine.

Yeah, I read the entire article and seen that interview, along with multiple books on the topic, which go into far more depth than a couple of agenda driven articles/reporters.

And yes, I've read Scahill's Blackwater and Dirty Wars.

http://www.amazon.com/Blackwater-Rise-Worlds-Powerful-Mercenary-ebook/dp/B0097CYTYA

http://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Wars-The-World-Battlefield-ebook/dp/B00B3M3TS4/ref=pd_sim_351_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51dkyNcRAWL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_OU01_AC_UL160_SR105%2C160_&refRID=1H586DVK9BET6N9HYRN7

Seen the documentary too, it doesn't cover everything...

I've also read Prince's book Civilian Warriors.

http://www.amazon.com/Civilian-Warriors-Inside-Blackwater-Unsung-ebook/dp/B00E5UJAG6/ref=pd_sim_351_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=517qP%2BPVBeL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_OU01_AC_UL160_SR104%2C160_&refRID=1H586DVK9BET6N9HYRN7

He's surprisingly open about the companies short comings.

I've also read the The Bremer Detail: Protecting the Most Threatened Man in the World

http://www.amazon.com/The-Bremer-Detail-Protecting-Threatened-ebook/dp/B00LUA02OI/ref=pd_sim_351_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51xoGU9WypL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_OU01_AC_UL160_SR104%2C160_&refRID=05HMC7F4FAZ3NG51NHDJ

I've also read what the military community says, those who actually served alongside Blackwater in the field, including articles and dialogue with the authors at SOFREP, and an interview with Eric Prince himself with the guys at SOFREP on their podcast, which is worth a listen.

https://sofrep.com/31444/founder-of-blackwater-erik-prince-civilian-warriors/

https://sofrep.com/sofrep-radio/episode-80-exclusive-erik-prince-former-seal-founder-blackwater/

https://sofrep.com/14189/the-next-mercenary-gold-rush-sub-saharan-africa-erik-prince/

You can read the 3 part series on the Rise of Private Military Security Companies here:

https://sofrep.com/44960/the-rise-of-private-military-security-companies/

https://sofrep.com/44961/rise-private-military-security-companies-pt-2/

https://sofrep.com/44963/rise-private-military-security-companies-pt-3/

I've also read Big Boy Rules by Steve Fainaru which is good starter book if are looking for more information. It's pretty even handed about the good and the bad regarding PMC's in Iraq.

http://www.amazon.com/Big-Boy-Rules-Americas-Mercenaries-ebook/dp/B001M5JV98/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1458860678&sr=1-1&keywords=big+boy+rules

Like everything, the truth is somewhere in the middle. I'm not defending everything the BW has done, and there are more reputable companies like Triple Canopy, but this idea that ALL Blackwater employees are blood thirsty lions devouring sheep everywhere they go is just laughable.

Unbelievably, Nicholas Slatten was convicted of first-degree murder, implying that the killing was both willful and premeditated. In order to believe this, one must believe that this was somehow all planned by Slatten, which is ridiculous.

Look, I’m not going to pretend that I know all of the details about this case, because I wasn’t there. But to throw these guys in the middle of a combat zone, and then expect perfection, is absurd. Because that’s what this is: Our government is asking them to be perfect, which is impossible in war.

So the U.S. State Department abandoned their contractors to be prosecuted. What about their supervisors at the state department? What about the Regional Security Officers? What about the people responsible for putting them in that situation to begin with? Where are the consequences for them? As usual, the shit sandwich rolls downhill and the guys at the bottom are the only ones who get to take a big bite.

Ironically, the same people, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton included, who were so critical of Blackwater, continued to push contracts to the company under a different name. This proves how much we’ve come to rely on the private and flexible services offered by modern-day PMCs and how effective they were at keeping US HVT's safe (including ambassadors, CIA agents, heads of state, etc).

One mistake in Baghdad in 2007 meant that you, your client, and everyone else in the car was dead. Say what you will about Blackwater: Under their watch, they never lost an American diplomat, which is more than we can say for the rest of the State Department.

Edit: You'll notice nothing ever came from this 2009 report by Scahill, or the Times or the Post. 7 years later and nothing. All were grasping at some very thin straws. Furthermore, the CIA has designated authorized teams that do this type of work, that receive complete top cover, including the Ground Branch teams in the Special Activities Division and the guys at JSOC. They have no need for Blackwater to do this kind of work. Or they can "rent" Delta or ST6, so the entire idea that they needed Blackwater to run kill missions is kind of ridiculous.

Jeremy Scahill is a brilliant journalist and his book on Blackwater was a great read. Would recommend it here.

http://www.psr.org/assets/pdfs/body-count.pdf

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/30164-report-shows-us-invasion-occupation-of-iraq-left-1-million-dead

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-War-on-Terror-Leaves-1.3-Million-Dead-in-3-Countries-20150330-0011.html

These are all from a separate report -

You dismiss alternet out of hand as written by a "disgruntled redditor" then proceed to ad hominem my writing chops. Ok buddy - the facts speak for themselves that's not the only report written on the casualties in the Iraq war. You also haven't provided a source for your pitifully low estimate of 100,000, which by itself is a gargantuan number of deaths. The link to the sources I cited are by NOBEL PRIZE winners, as stated in that source.

Academi is blackwater Renamed, but nice sidestep there. Erik Prince, the terrorist evangelical Christian leader that was head of blackwater paramilitary, has had his crimes documented by none other than highly acclaimed journalist Jeremy scahill --

https://www.amazon.com/Blackwater-Rise-Worlds-Powerful-Mercenary-ebook/dp/B0097CYTYA

They renamed themselves academi because their violent crusading savagery and murder in the name of Christianity forced them to. All well documented - a simple google search of Jeremy scahills articles and book on the topic are available.

You discredit the Middle East eye source when it clearly indicates that these are wars that don't include wars like the Iran Iraq war, a war which by the way the United States provided chemical weapons to saddam Hussein, and shipped weapons to both sides.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/08/26/exclusive-cia-files-prove-america-helped-saddam-as-he-gassed-iran/

And of course let's not forget Iran contra - I love this idea that the United States exists to bring democracy to the world, all while planting and encouraging dictstorships all over the world everywhere from Guatemala to Iran to Iraq, to Syria, the list goes on and on

It's an extremely complicated mess over there that was exacerbated by the US government bringing in private contractors to act as "military without rules". In all of those places the US government essentially said "we're taking this country over" and then only allowed their friends to set up businesses and extract natural resources (like oil). So the people who lived there were suddenly unemployed and didn't have businesses to run... and then you add the lawless mercenaries who were hired to protect the US officials by any means necessary and it became a powder keg. The US officials essentially became dictators and killed the local economy. The businesses that came in were allowed to take all of their earnings out of country, so while people literally are starving to death the mercenaries are killing people willy-nilly to clear a path for the US officials to drive through.

If you want an in-depth backstory, check out Jeremy Scahill's book about Blackwater -- and you will see how we got to where we are (it isn't a new phenomenon, it's always been the way the US government operates) and why it's so dangerous to "outsource" the military functions to people who don't follow any rules/laws.

https://www.amazon.com/Blackwater-Rise-Worlds-Powerful-Mercenary-ebook/dp/B0097CYTYA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501808631&sr=8-1&keywords=blackwater

It's well documented in this book and read this article while you're at it to get an inside look of who Erik Prince really is.

The reason for his permanent relocation to the UAE is simply an pretext: why the fuck would he move there just to create a mercenary force for the Sultan of Dubai? He could do that very well from home or have his army of consultants do that for him.

The reason why Blackwater went from Blackwater USA -> Xe -> Academi is because their tarnished reputation. Baghdad. Afghanistan. Hurricane Katrina killing civilians as "sport." They're nefarious and are a private military force with no allegiance.

The town he was born in was created by a Christian fundamentalist family and he kept up with that tradition. His father is the guy who invented the visors in cars among other inventions. He was born into wealth with a military background and a fixation for special ops.

There's an audio transcript of him (you can find it in YouTube) when during a presentation he says Muslims "eat in the sewers and probably like to live there since it's accustomed to their way of life."

The guy isn't liberal that's for sure. And he hates the religion of Islam. That's why Jeremy Scahill labels him as a "neo-crusader:" he thinks of it as his personal duty to use the vanguard of Christianism to rid of the world of any Islamic ideology.

He's a fanatic just like his entourage.

>Vice has a reputation for (...) not putting too much spin on it

Wait ...what? Vice has the most controversial form of journalism you can find. They call it "immersive journalism"
What is it?
Some journalists think their job is not only to relay events, but to explain them, investigating their historical, geopolitical, cultural, social context, balancing points of view, confronting ideas,,, and maybe paint some of the many subtle nuances of our complicated world.
Then some journalists want to explore that complicated world from closer, and deliver their "raw" experience. Believing objectivity doesn't exist in the field, Hunter S Thompson "invented" Gonzo journalism by using the first person, and let's say "coloring" his stories with alcohol and drugs.[(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzo_journalism) "Immersive (Vice) journalism" is kind of a modern evolution of that idea, with a billion dollar business plan.

>How in the world does Vice get this footage?

Typically their notion of "immersion" imply they are very willing to be very friendly with scary people. They won't object to bad things being done in front of them, they'll do what they're told, they will not try to ask too many questions, preferring to let people talk... Contemporary media has learn a lot in the past 15 years frm reality tv, see A Reality TV Producer's Secrets to Provoking Unforgettable Moments

So what's the problem with all this?
At first you might be interested to learn that Robert Murdoch's 20th Century Fox has 5% of Vice's shares, So they're not that independent from "traditional media".
Then, their money comes from advertising, in the form of "branded content". On a web full of blogs and buzzfeed, it's getting harder and harder to make the distinction between journalism and Native advertising So you might be at loss when it comes do what defines news for Vice. How do their editorial team work, what rules do they follow?
They find great footage, I think anybody would agree. But at what cost?

If that question interests you, I suggest a little comparison, about a fascinating subject, Blackwater and the world of private military.
Vice recently did at sponsored short doc about it: Superpower for Hire: Rise of the Private Military
Compare their message to what tell Jeremy Scahill, who wrote Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
Here's a short clip of him talking to Bill Mohers about it, and there him giving a longer presentation of the book.
Not the same thing...