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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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August 5th,
2009 - Blackwater Chief Accused of Murder, Gun-Running |
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Blackwater
Chief Accused of Murder, Gun-Running Company Calls Allegations ‘Offensive’ By Justin Rood ABC News August 5, 2009 The head of Blackwater and
his employees may have killed or ordered the killing of people suspected of
cooperating with federal investigators probing their activities, according to
an anonymous affidavit filed in federal court Monday. The affidavit, one of two
filed Monday, makes an extraordinary bundle of claims about the former
Blackwater CEO, Erik Prince, and his employees. The existence of the
documents was first reported by the Nation magazine Tuesday. They were filed as part of a
civil suit against Prince and Blackwater by several Iraqis, which accuse the
firm and owner of war crimes, wrongful death and more. The men gave the affidavits
as "John Doe" and "John Doe 2," saying they feared for
their safety. "Mr. Prince's management has personally threatened me with
death and violence," wrote Doe 2. He says also that others told him
"Mr. Prince and his employees murdered, or had murdered" one or
more people who had cooperated with the feds, or were planning to. But allegations of murder
just scratch the surface: the two men - one alleges he is an ex-Marine, the
other says he shared his allegations with a federal grand jury - claim far
more. John Doe 2 claims routine murderous violence against Iraqis, a
wife-swapping sex ring, use of child prostitutes, gun-running and more by
Blackwater employees. John Doe 2 describes Prince as viewing himself as
"a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic
faith from the globe," who intentionally sent like-minded mercenaries to
Iraq "to take every available opportunity to murder Iraqis." In a statement Tuesday, a
spokeswoman for the firm - since renamed "Xe" - said the
allegations were "unsubstantiated and offensive." Stacy DeLuke
accused the plaintiffs' lawyers of having "chosen inappropriately to
argue their case in the media." A lawyer for Prince and Blackwater,
Peter Hugh White, declined to comment on the affidavits. Blackwater The company has been the
target of at least four grand jury investigations and accusations of tax
fraud, improper use of force, arms trafficking and overbilling. The firm has
denied any wrongdoing. In February, Blackwater
changed its name to Xe. Prince stepped down as its president in March. He is
still the company's owner and the chairman of its board of directors. The
firm no longer enjoys a billion-dollar contract to protect State Department
personnel in Iraq, as it once did, although it still provides aviation
services for U.S. government personnel there. The Iraqi government has tried
unsuccessfully to boot Blackwater personnel from operating in its country. The victims on whose behalf
the affidavits were introduced include Iraqis who died in the infamous 2007
Nisoor Square fiasco, in which Blackwater guards opened fire on Iraqi
civilians and 17 people died. They are being represented in this suit by the
Center for Constitutional Rights and the Washington, D.C-based lawyer Susan
Burke. Both declined to discuss the affidavits. In his affidavit, "John
Doe 1" alleges that Blackwater personnel routinely attacked and killed
innocent Iraqis who posed no security threat, sometimes without informing the
State Department of the incidents, and that they sometimes used powerful automatic
weaponry that was barred by their State Department contract. He also said
that Blackwater personnel destroyed videos that showed them conducting
criminal acts of violence. "John Doe 2"
alleges that Blackwater personnel used hand grenades and grenade launchers,
and that Prince obtained exploding bullets for his men to use. Such weaponry
and ammunition were barred by the firm's contract with State. "Doe 2" also
claims that Blackwater executives at the company's North Carolina
headquarters ran a "wife-swapping and sex ring," which caused so
many interoffice disputes Prince ordered an internal investigation into the
scheme. Additionally, he says that Blackwater personnel overseas used child
prostitutes. Erik Prince Both men allege that Prince
and his employees smuggled illegal weapons into Iraq. "Doe 2" says
that he did so using his subsidiary, Presidential Airlines, which continues
to hold a State Department contract. "It is obvious that
Plaintiffs have chosen to slander Mr. Prince rather than raise legal
arguments or actual facts that will be considered by a court of law,"
said Xe's DeLuke. "We question the judgement of anyone who relies upon
and reiterate anonymous declarations." Copyright © 2009 ABC News
Internet Ventures External link: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=8258915&page=1 Blackwater
boss and guards accused of murder and ‘killing Iraqis for fun’ Founder of security firm saw himself as a Christian Crusader whose
task was to eliminate Muslims, former employees allege. By Deborah Haynes The Times August 5, 2009 Two former employees of
Blackwater have accused the private US security firm and its founder of
killing Iraqis for fun, smuggling weapons and deceiving the State Department. The men, who requested
anonymity for fear of retaliation - one claimed that Blackwater management
threatened to kill him - also claimed they had learnt that at least one
person who has or planned to speak out against the US firm and its founder
Erik Prince was “killed in mysterious circumstances”. The claims were made in
sworn statements filed in a court in Virginia earlier this week as part of a
civil lawsuit by families of several Iraqis allegedly killed by Blackwater
guards. The ex-Blackwater workers, a
former Marine identified as John Doe No 1 and another man identified as John
Doe No 2, are American citizens. John Doe No 2 makes a series
of accusations against Mr Prince. He says the Blackwater Worldwide boss
“views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and
the Islamic faith from the globe”, according to his declaration posted, along
with a series of other legal documents, on the Center for Constitutional
Rights (CCR) website. “To that end, Mr Prince
intentionally deployed to Iraq certain men who shared his vision of Christian
supremacy, knowing and wanting these men to take every available opportunity
to murder Iraqis. Many of these men used call signs based on the Knights of
the Templar, the warriors who fought the Crusades.” He adds that "on
several occasions after my departure from Mr Prince's employ, Mr Prince's
management has personally threatened me with death or violence. In addition,
based on information provided to me by former colleagues it appears that Mr
Prince and his employees murdered or had murdered one or more persons who
have provided information or were planning to provide information, to the
federal authorities about the ongoing criminal conduct." Susan Burke, a private
lawyer working with the CCR, is acting against Blackwater in five separate
civil cases. She filed the documents in opposing a motion by Blackwater to
dismiss the cases. “The plaintiffs are
challenging Mr Prince’s callous scheme to kill, repeatedly, innocent Iraqis,”
Ms Burke’s motion reads. The two men allege that
Blackwater smuggled weapons into Iraq either on Mr Prince’s private planes or
concealed in bags of dog food. They say that some of the
weapons were illegal. John Doe No 2 lists hand grenades and hand grenade
launchers. John Doe No 1 names an M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon, known as a
“saw”. He also recounts three
incidents in which he says he witnessed Blackwater guards needlessly kill or
injure Iraqi civilians. In one case, John Doe No 1
says the convoy he was in pulled over to fix a flat tyre on a vehicle. A
civilian car with two people inside drove by. He says that one of the other
Blackwater employees began firing into the car. “From my vantage point, it
was clear that XXX was clearly injuring and likely killing the passenger and
likely injuring the driver as well.” John Doe No 1 also alleges
that the State Department was kept in the dark or deliberately misled about
such incidents. John Doe No 2 claims that
"going to Iraq to shoot and kill Iraqis was viewed as a sport or
game". Blackwater, which is based
in North Carolina, had a multimillion-dollar contract to protect the US
Embassy in Baghdad and other State Department officials. Washington did not renew the
contract after it expired in May. The Iraqi Government was highly critical of
Blackwater after the shooting in September 2007 of 17 civilians, which did
severe damage to the reputation of foreign private security companies in the
country. Blackwater, recently renamed
Xe, issued a statement yesterday saying it would respond "to the
anonymous, unsubstantiated and offensive assertions put forward by the
plaintiffs", in a brief to be filed on August 17, according to CNN’s
website. A comment was not available from the company. A hearing on the case
is due on August 28. External link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6740142.ece |