Twitter / SophieCo_RT: 'Mercenaries are more up to
'Mercenaries are more up to the task than regular U.S. forces' - Erik Prince, founder of #Blackwater http://rt.com/shows/sophieco/mercenaries-better-us-army-560/
‘Mercenaries do better job than US Army’ - Blackwater founder Eric Prince ― RT SophieCo
They are the mercenaries of the 21st century. Hired by the corporations and governments they fight across the world, thriving on wars, conflicts and human suffering. They are called private military companies, but what are they really? Why are they called on to the battlefield, sometimes by Washington itself? Is the US military unable to do its job properly? Today we seek answers from the founder of the former Blackwater – the biggest PMC in the States, but with its name already crime-stained. Eric Prince is on Sophie&Co.
Sophie Shevardnadze: Eric Prince, founder of the biggest US private military contractor, Blackwater. Great to have you with us.
We’re going to start from the very beginning. You created Blackwater to train US Navy SEALs. So how did you become of one of the biggest security contractors in the world?
Eric Prince: Well, I guess I was an accidental tourist. I got out of the Navy, out of the SEAL teams because my father died, my wife was sick with cancer, so I built a facility to stay connected to the SEAL teams. You know, SEAL team, Special Operations units in America have been using private facilities really since 1970s and no one has done it on industrial scale, and so I did.
I sold my father’s business, I took some of the money from that and I built a facility, and then one thing led to another. There was a terrible tragic shooting in Colorado, called the Columbine Shootings, and the USS Cole was blown up in Yemen in 2000, and then of course after 9/11 – we kept saying “yes” when US government called [saying] they need our help for training, for logistics support, aviation support, security – one thing led to another and we grew very quickly.
SS: So you obviously got innumerable government contracts. How do you explain your success? Was it because the military wasn’t able to do their job properly?
SS: Is this what you were essentially? Policemen and private guards? Bodyguards? Is that your main difference with the military?
SS: But you were operating in a warzone, right? The military in Iraq and Afghanistan had very strict Rules of Engagement. Did you follow them?
SS:I guess what I’m asking is if a mercenary commits a crime in combat, who holds him responsible? Because in the army, for example, there’s a hierarchy, always someone above you looking over your shoulder, and if you do something, then, you know…Who was doing that thing inside Blackwater, the hierarchy thing?
SS: What I am asking is, within Blackwater was there a hierarchy to convicted them for crimes, was there someone to tell them “This is wrong, you’re off duty” or you just waited for the State Department to tell you it’s wrong?
SS: But you said that your men were “guards, not investigators – they shoot to kill and don’t check the pulse” - that’s from your book, that’s a direct quote. What gave you the right to behave in that way?
SS: How do did you as a head of that organization back in those times make sure that someone you were hiring won’t be a “shoot first ask questions later” kind of a person?
SS: What about the use of drugs – we also heard that in court. Were that individual slip ups? Or did you just look the other way to let the employees blow off the steam?
SS: Did you have any incidents when you had to fire people for that?
SS: As a former head of Blackwater back then, can you say with 100 percent certainty that you knew what went down on the ground, that you controlled the situation completely?
SS:I know, but people’s lives aren’t machines or robots.
SS: Eric, obviously the one incident that’s received most attention is the shooting in Nisour Square. The US military labeled the shooting “a criminal event” and “unprovoked shooting” – who should bear the brunt of the responsibility?
SS: Do you personally feel any remorse for the dead innocent victims? I understand it’s the war, I get that, but still, you are a human being after all – do you feel any remorse for that?
SS: Your men weren’t civilians, just walking around or passing by. Your men were contracted military workers. We’re talking about the civilian casualties.
SS: But you are a serious private military firm, you are not suicide car bombers. What about the US government? Do you feel like the US government used you as a scapegoat to avoid responsibility, in terms that “yeah, these guys went nuts and shot people, and we will prosecute them just because they are private firm”?
SS: But do you feel betrayed by your government, that’s what I’m asking, because you served them after all?
SS: When the Nisour story broke out, I remember the government gave you sort of a limited immunity – they immunized you, and then all of a sudden it all changed. What happened there?
SS: Getting back to diplomatic security – you’ve said that on many instances you regret working for the State Department, but you took so much pride in working for them…
SS: Would you do this again?
SS: Some claim that Blackwater was involved with US special forces in Pakistan and in Syria – these are countries that US isn’t officially at war with. Is it like you were doing a dirty work for them?
SS: What about the CIA contracts that were out in 2009?
SS: You personally – do you believe the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan were necessary or just a business opportunity?
SS: But there were no chemical weapons found.
SS: What about now? Blackwater, as it was formerly called is staying behind in Afghanistan after the US troops leave. Are they just the army’s Trojan horse? I know you are not the head anymore, but I’m sure you have the answer to that.
SS: Why do you think the Private Military contractors are so widely used nowadays – do you even think of modern war as possible without mercenaries?
SS: You weren’t exactly cooking food or doing laundry…
SS: Ah, so now we’re getting back to the beginning of the show, where I told you that you were hired because the US military wasn’t as efficient as a private military firm. Turns out – yes.
SS: Why not privatize t he military altogether?
SS: I don’t want to end on a dire note, but you are very proud of what you’ve achieved, you explained many times why, and you argued very well. But for people in general, Blackwater thrived on the conflict and misery. Did it ever bother you, if you look at it that way.
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/d1021/20140120#1390216089（Let’s start from the beginning. ）
