Erik Prince, CEO of the mercenary security service, Blackwater USA, defended his company before a House committee today about the controversial shooting incident in Baghdad in which seventeen Iraqi civilians were killed by Blackwater security agents. The mercenaries claimed their motorcade was fired upon from several different directions and they returned fire. But an Iraqi national police investigation has cast serious doubts on that version of events. It concluded the Americans fired first and indiscriminately. The House Government Oversight committee's staff issued a critical memo claiming that Blackwater operatives fired first in 84% of the shooting incidents they have been involved in. The company has been involved in at least one shooting incident a week since 2005. Blackwater has fired about 122 of its own employees for various causes including alcohol and drug abuse, lewd conduct, and firearm related violations. The company is bound by contract to use their weapons for defensive purposes only in the face of grave danger, but the committee staff concluded, "that the vast majority of Blackwater weapons discharges are preemptive" In other words, Blackwater mercs shoot first, most often from a moving vehicle, and with little regard for the consequences of their actions. Similar tactics are employed by criminal gangs in American cities. In one high profile incident, a drunk Blackwater merc killed a guard of the Iraqi Vice President on Christmas Eve. Despite this alarming rate of shooting incidents (more than the other two security contractors combined), Blackwater continues to enjoy the patronage of the State Department. It's diplomat protection service contracts are worth $832 million. Recently an aviation subdivision of Blackwater received a lucrative contract award from the Pentagon in excess of $90 million. In all, Blackwater has gone from a less than a million dollars a year in government contracts to over half a billion dollars worth of federal business in 2006.One of the thematic subtitles of General David Petraeus' much heralded revision of the Army's Counterinsurgency manual is "Legitimacy is the Main Objective". So why does our government continue to do business with a firm, described as "trigger happy cowboys", which causes severe diplomatic and public relations problems for American officials? As with everything in Washington, its who you know not what you do. Erik Prince is a former SEAL that served as an intern to George H.W. Bush. Erik's father, Edgar Prince, was a prominent Michigan businessman that gave to conservative causes. Edgar was instrumental in founding the Family Research Council, an influential right wing advocacy group. Erik's sister earned the coveted "Pioneer" status by arranging at least $100,000 in campaign donations to George the Charlatan. Erik's brother in law is a former Republican gubernatorial candidate and CEO of Amway. Prince himself is a heavy contributor to the Republican party, giving $160,000 to the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee. His ties to fundamentalist political action groups are strong too. He is the vice president of the Prince family foundation that gave away $470,000 to the Family Research Council and $531,000 to Focus on the Family, another prominent right wing Christian group. The stink of corruption in Washington is only exceeded by that coming from the dead bodies lying on the hot streets of Baghdad.
Update: A former Blackwater employee who worked in Iraq for 3 years says the number of incidents where his team used their firearms was more than reported by the company. According to the WaPo story the security guard is quoted as saying his 20 man team used their guns 4 to 5 times a week, and that undereporting of shooting incidents was routine.