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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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February 13th,
2009 - Blackwater Dumps Tarnished Brand Name |
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Blackwater Dumps Tarnished Brand
Name By Mike Baker Associated Press February 13, 2009 Raleigh, N.C. - Blackwater
Worldwide is abandoning its tarnished brand name as it tries to shake a
reputation battered by oft-criticized work in Iraq, renaming its family of
two dozen businesses under the name Xe. The parent company's new
name is pronounced like the letter "z." Blackwater Lodge &
Training Center - the subsidiary that conducts much of the company's overseas
operations and domestic training - has been renamed U.S. Training Center
Inc., the company said Friday. The decision comes as part
of an ongoing rebranding effort that grew more urgent following a September
2007 shooting in Iraq that left at least a dozen civilians dead. Blackwater
president Gary Jackson said in a memo to employees the new name reflects the
change in company focus away from the business of providing private security. "The volume of changes
over the past half-year have taken the company to an exciting place and we
are now ready for two of the final, and most obvious changes," Jackson
said in the note. In his memo, Jackson
indicated the company was not interested in actively pursuing new private
security contracts. Jackson and other Blackwater executives told The
Associated Press last year it was shifting its focus away from such work to
focus on training and providing logistics. "This company will
continue to provide personnel protective services for high-threat
environments when needed by the U.S. government, but its primary mission will
be operating our training facilities around the world, including the flagship
campus in North Carolina," Jackson said. The company has operated
under the Blackwater name since 1997, when chief executive Erik Prince and
some of his former Navy SEAL colleagues launched it in northeastern North
Carolina, naming their new endeavor for the area swamp streams that run black
with murky water. But the name change underscores how badly the Moyock-based
company's brand was damaged by its work in Iraq. In 2004, four of its
contractors were killed in an insurgent ambush in Fallujuah, with their
bodies burned, mutiliated and strung from a bridge. The incident triggered a
U.S. siege of the restive city. The September 2007 shooting
in Baghdad's Nisoor Square added to the damage. The incident infuriated
politicians both in Baghdad in Washington, triggering congressional hearings
and increasing calls that the company be banned from operating in Iraq. Last month, Iraqi leaders
said they would not renew Blackwater's license to operate there, citing the
lingering outrage over the shooting in Nisoor Square, and the State
Department said later it will not renew Blackwater's contract to protect
diplomats when it expires in May. Blackwater spokeswoman Anne
Tyrrell said the company made the name change was largely because of changes
in its focus, but acknowledged the need for the company to shake its past in
Iraq. "It's not a direct
result of a loss of contract, but certainly that is an aspect of our work
that we feel we were defined by," Tyrrell said. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gk8APZD4Rl7fH7ST9w0AzVIBYN8QD96AQE782 |