Erik Prince Running From The Justice Department?

There are now three independent sources that are saying Blackwater founder and mercenary-criminal-extraordinaire Erik Prince is getting ready to leave the the country for Dubai. Why you ask? His inner circle is about to be charged by the Justice Department for their nefarious ways and it seems Mr. Prince is trying to outwit those that may want to hold him accountable for the crimes of Blackwater.



Now the question is, will Attorney General Holder stand for this? Time to get smart Mr. Holder.

A Win For California, Blackwater Loses In Potrero

Today was a busy day in politics, despite it being a Saturday. Barack Obama pulled off a six to four victory in Wyoming (with one county pending as of this moment, but it will not significantly alter the outcome). Clinton's camp may call it a boutique state that sips lattes, but she can personally kiss my ass over that one, when shes done slobbering over McCain first of course. On the other side of the country, much to the fear of Republicans, Bill Foster might just win a victory in northern Illinois, a seat held by none other than ex-Speaker and all around Mr. Dennis "Nastiness" Hastert. Now both victories are great in my eyes, but the best news of the day came from Southern California.

From RawStory:

SAN DIEGO—Military security contractor Blackwater Worldwide has pulled its plans to build a training facility in a remote area about 45 miles east of San Diego.

Company project manager Brian Bonfiglio said in a letter submitted Friday to the San Diego County planning department that the site near the small community of Potrero no longer meets Blackwater's business needs.

"After examining the capacity of our existing facilities and our business development goals, we have decided not to pursue plans for a training campus in Potrero," Bonfiglio wrote.

The company had planned to convert a former chicken ranch into a camp that would host weeklong training courses for law enforcement and military personnel. The initial proposal for Blackwater West included 11 firing ranges, a driving track and a helipad in a valley tucked into rocky desert mountains.[...]

The company had said the Potrero camp would be an ideal complement to its headquarters in Moyock, and a satellite training center in Mount Carroll, Ill., about 150 miles west of Chicago. The site is a short drive from San Diego and its array of military bases and federal law-enforcement field offices—including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.

So it went from ideal to unfeasible just like that eh? Nothing to do with the large outcry in Potrero that led to a 180 degree switch in the town's leadership? Sure buddy. I'll believe that right after I come to realize that you run a reputable operation over there in Iraq.

Congratulations to the people of Potrero that put in the hard work and effort to repulse these mercenaries from setting up shop in their town.

Olbermann On The Blackwater Investigation...And Cover Up

Another amazing story surrounding the Bush Administration, it is almost mind-numbing. Thankfully we have someone that can put this on primetime TV.

Blackwater's Trigger-Happy Mercenaries

Iraqis are furious at Blackwater USA over the incident involving them and several dead civilians, but the animosity did not start overnight. This rogue force (paid for by American taxpayers) was recorded to be in more firefights than any other "contractor" that provides similar services. There is no reason to believe that they are higher-priority targets than the rest of the mercenaries out there, so why are they so damn trigger happy?

From The New York Times:

The disclosure came as the Pentagon said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates had sent a team of officials to Iraq to get answers to questions about the use of American security contractors there.

The State Department keeps reports on each case in which weapons were fired by security personnel guarding American diplomats in Iraq. Officials familiar with the internal State Department reports would not provide the actual statistics, but they indicated that the records showed that Blackwater personnel were involved in dozens of episodes in which they had resorted to force.

The officials said that Blackwater’s incident rate was at least twice that recorded by employees of DynCorp International and Triple Canopy, the two other United States-based security firms that have been contracted by the State Department to provide security for diplomats and other senior civilians in Iraq.

Since the information came through Bush Administration officials, we'll never learn why the statistics are so different between Blackwater and the rest. Blackwater officials obviously declined to comment as well.

The NY Times goes into more detail about their aggressive corporate culture, founder Erik Prince's ties to the Republican party and the subsequent lack of accountability. Blackwater employees get to do whatever the please without any repercussions. Of course nothing is 100 percent certain, but it seems that being a wealthy contributor to the Bushes and Republicans in general goes a long, long way towards getting whatever you want. Erik Prince certainly has learned that lesson quite well.