Note: there is no way to talk about Blackwater without sounding like a rant coming from a ultra-left conspiracy theorist. Unfortunately, the following stuff is true.
In case you missed it: Last week, it was reported that a mercenary company, Saracen International, is putting together massive operations in Somalia to take on what American and European governments failed to- Somali Piracy. And to complicate the matters, the man behind it all is Erik Prince, the founder of controversial Blackwater, the private security company, infamous for the role of its mercenaries in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The reports, based on a leaked paper by African Union, suggest that the operations are advised by former White House and CIA officials, which may indicate involvement of US Government, which is known to have deep interests in Somalia. But the company is largely funded by someone in the government of United Arab Emirates and with a possible investment from Ugandan President. This further complicates the whole issue considering that the Islamist insurgents in Somalia, who have been waging a brutal civil war against the government (read warlord coalition) have decidedly opposed piracy and keep exchanging blows with the pirates in the country.
Who is Erik Prince: Erik Prince is the founder of infamous private military company Xe (formerly known as Blackwater). Inheriting more than a billion dollars from his father, Prince decided to start the company to provide training support to US military in 1997. Within the next five years two miracles happened that would change the fortunes of this small-time company and turn it into one of the largest and most famous mercenary company in the world – election of George W Bush as the US President and 9/11.
Within days of the beginning of the Afghanistan War Blackwater started collecting contracts left, right and center. The neo-con regime in Washington believed in outsourcing its wars and Blackwater was one of the biggest beneficiaries, no small thanks to millions Prince donated to Republican Party.
It would recruit ex-army types from around the world and deploy them to war zones to guard bases, provide VIP security etc. Additionally, it flies planes in and out of hotspots, sells guns and targeting systems, did disaster relief during Katrina Hurricane (for which it charged about $240,000 per day) and other nice things. According to some reports it has even been hired by CIA to kill Al Qaeda terrorists. It has been embroiled in controversies over shooting innocent civilians, smuggling guns, mislead investigators (the whole laundry list can be seen here). To top it all off, it has made more than US$ 2 billion from government contracts to the date.
For more information, you can read Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army by Jeremy Scahill, but try to get it from a library instead of buying it. Frankly, it is not the best piece of research out there.
In essence, it is the epitome of “evil corporation” mental model that we all carry. On the other hand, it wouldn’t have existed in the first place, if US Government had decided to fight its own wars. In December 2010, Prince sold his stake in the company and moved to UAE, to lead a quite life, or so we thought…
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