|
|
|---|
|
American Politics Journal Atrios Barry Crimmins Betty Bowers Buzzflash Consortium News Daily Howler Daily Kos Democatic Underground Disinfotainment Today Evil GOP Bastards Faux News Channel Greg Palast The Hollywood Liberal Internet Weekly Jesus General Joe Conason Josh Marshall Liberal Oasis Make Them Accountable Mark Morford Mike Malloy Political Humor - About.com Political Wire Randi Rhodes Rude Pundit Smirking Chimp Take Back the Media Whitehouse.org More Links |
Secret Blackwater
Tape Exposed
Erik Prince is probably guilty of multiple murders
Excerpt:
Erik Prince, the reclusive owner of the Blackwater
empire, rarely gives public speeches and when he does
he attempts to ban journalists from attending
and forbids recording or videotaping of his remarks. On May 5,
that is exactly what Prince is trying to do when
he speaks at DeVos Fieldhouse as the keynote speaker for
the “Tulip Time Festival” in his hometown of
Holland, Michigan. He told the event’s organizers no news reporting
could be done on his speech and they consented
to the ban. Journalists and media associations in Michigan are
protesting this attempt to bar reporting on his
remarks.
Despite Prince’s attempts to shield his speeches
from public scrutiny, The Nation magazine has obtained an
audio recording of a recent, private speech delivered
by Prince to a friendly audience. The speech, which Prince
attempted to keep from public consumption, provides
a stunning glimpse into his views and future plans and reveals
details of previously undisclosed activities
of Blackwater. The people of the United States have a right to media
coverage of events featuring the owner of a company
that generates 90% of its revenue from the US government.
In the speech, Prince proposed that the US government
deploy armed private contractors to fight “terrorists” in Nigeria,
Yemen, Somalia and Saudi Arabia, specifically
to target Iranian influence. He expressed disdain for the Geneva Convention
and described Blackwater’s secretive operations
at four Forward Operating Bases he controls in Afghanistan. He called
those fighting the US in Afghanistan, Iraq and
Pakistan “barbarians” who “crawled out of the sewer.” Prince also revealed
details of a July 2009 operation he claims Blackwater
forces coordinated in Afghanistan to take down a narcotrafficking
facility, saying that Blackwater “call[ed] in
multiple air strikes,” blowing up the facility. Prince boasted that his
forces had
carried out the “largest hashish bust in counter-narcotics
history.” He characterized the work of some NATO countries’
forces in Afghanistan as ineffectual, suggesting
that some coalition nations “should just pack it in and go home.”
Prince spoke of Blackwater working in Pakistan,
which appears to contradict the official,
public Blackwater and US government line that
Blackwater is not in Pakistan.