United Arab Emirates Confirms Hiring Blackwater Founder’s Firm

[maddezmom]

Source: NYT

The United Arab Emirates confirmed on Sunday that it had hired a company run by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of Blackwater Worldwide, to provide “operational, planning and training support” to its military. But it gave no details of the company’s project to build a foreign mercenary battalion for the Emirati government.

A written statement from a top Emirati general, issued through the U.A.E.’s official news agency, said that the country had relied extensively on outside contractors to bolster its military, and that all work with contractors was “compliant with international law and relevant conventions.”

The statement, by Gen. Juma Ali Khalaf al-Hamiri, said that the U.A.E. had signed a contract with Reflex Responses, Mr. Prince’s company, but made no mention of the hundreds of Colombian, South African and other foreign troops now training at an Emirati military base. The statement did not mention Mr. Prince by name.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that the company last year signed a $529 million contract with the Emirati government to recruit and train a foreign battalion for counterterrorism and internal security missions, according to former Reflex Responses employees, American officials and corporate documents.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/world/middleeast/16prince.html

[RandomThoughts]

1. Private armies should be globally illegal.

They move power to money, that is why they exist, and they like any company, can pick anywhere for a headquarters to avoid any laws.

It is the worst of things to have soldiers swearing loyalty to money.

Very sad.

They have no oath, but to do what there bosses pay them to do. By that edict, Mob hitmen, Hired drug dealers violence squads, even vigilantes are all legal. That is why we are in worse then anarchy, they want money, with no morale component to be what makes rules.

Anyone can carry a gun and shoot anyone, just say someone paid you to do it.

It is why some in the government are skitish, becuase the private sector has an army they are using against people.



Then again, The bin laden guy was a Saudi Prince, and why some people are actually upset, since they think they can't be held to account, and violence is not an answer.


And Eric Prince should be in jail, after a trial of coarse, and if found guilty.

[Festivito]

2. Xe foreign legion for personal profit selling America's military information.

Tax dollars create the information, the manuals, ... and some arrogant kid sells the information for his own personal profit.

Taxes have become a rich-tax, we have rich people so we tax ourselves to give those rich people money.