ARE YOU NEW HERE? NOT LOGGED IN? PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO REGISTER FOR AN ACCOUNT AND LOGIN TO REMOVE THIS WINDOW
Welcome to PatsFans.com. Do you have an account? If not - please take a moment to register for our forum and experience a much smoother experience with fewer ads, along with no longer having to see this notification window. Also learn about how you can receive a free Patriots T-Shirt from the Patriots Official ProShop by CLICKING HERE. Please enjoy your stay here, and Go Pats!
Re: Blackwater’s Erik Prince to step down, reveals CIA role
Quote:
Originally Posted by patsfan13
DOn't know much about the killings in Iraq, we will never know whether they were being set up by insurgents who were trying to avoid these guys.
As to the rest of the article. Sounds like a great guy too bad we didn't kill the scum like AQ Khan and the others. I WANT PEOPLE KILLING AL QUEDA OPERATIVES.
I also found this part of the article interesting I am limied by the 4 sentence rule here:
Thanks to the idiot pols who protect terrorist and stab americans like this in the back.
Not quite sure how anyone can defend this guy who has literally defrauded the US of billions of dollars and is now implicated in a murder...
Not sure how anyone can give these guys benefit of the doubt, he has not been tried, but the exploits of Blackwater now Xe are very known...
In 2005 after Hurricane Katrina its forces deployed in New Orleans, where it billed the federal government $950 per man, per day--at one point raking in more than $240,000 a day. At its peak the company had about 600 contractors deployed from Texas to Mississippi. Since Katrina, it has aggressively pursued domestic contracting, opening a new domestic operations division. Blackwater is marketing its products and services to the Department of Homeland Security, and its representatives have met with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The company has applied for operating licenses in all US coastal states. Blackwater is also expanding its physical presence inside US borders, opening facilities in Illinois and California.
Its largest obtainable government contract is with the State Department, for providing security to US diplomats and facilities in Iraq. That contract began in 2003 with the company's $21 million no-bid deal to protect Iraq proconsul Paul Bremer. Blackwater has guarded the two subsequent US ambassadors, John Negroponte and Zalmay Khalilzad, as well as other diplomats and occupation offices. Its forces have protected more than ninety Congressional delegations in Iraq, including that of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. According to the latest government contract records, since June 2004 Blackwater has been awarded $750 million in State Department contracts alone. It is currently engaged in an intensive lobbying campaign to be sent into Darfur as a privatized peacekeeping force. Last October President Bush lifted some sanctions on Christian southern Sudan, paving the way for a potential Blackwater training mission there. In January the Washington, DC, representative for southern Sudan's regional government said he expected Blackwater to begin training the south's security forces soon.
The informants say they provided the same affidavits to the Justice Department, which is prosecuting six former Blackwater contractors on manslaughter charges in relation to the September 2007 killings of the 17 Iraqis.
Doe 1, who identifies himself as a former Marine, said he witnessed "multiple incidents of Blackwater personnel intentionally using unnecessary, excessive and unjustified deadly force."
Doe 2, who says he worked for the firm for about four years, said Prince viewed himself as "a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe." Prince intentionally sent mercenaries who shared his vision to Iraq "to take every available opportunity to murder Iraqis," Doe 2 said.
He also accused Prince of failing to stop his contractors from using prostitutes, including children. He said many of Prince's top executives engaged in an ongoing wife-swapping sex ring that ultimately caused so many disputes among them that Prince ordered an investigation.
__________________ "Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.
DONATE TO PATSFANS.COM
RECEIVE A FREE PATS T-SHIRT AND SAVE 15% OFF WHEN YOU BUY FROM THE OFFICIAL PROSHOP!
Free T-Shirt & Save 15% Off!
Like Our Site? Please help support our site and server costs by DONATING TO PATSFANS.COM and receive a FREE PATRIOTS T-SHIRT and SAVE 15% off EVERY purchase you make from PatriotsProShop.com. You'll also receive added benefits to your account including Removing All Ads During Your Experience Here At Our Forum.
NEEDED YEARLY SITE DONATIONS: 345 | CURRENT # OF SUBSCRIBED SUPPORTERS: 98
Re: Blackwater’s Erik Prince to step down, reveals CIA role
Fox reported anon informants, we know nothing of their credibility.
You seem to view contracts as proof of fraud in and of themselves. If they were getting contracts to assassinate Al Queda with the money hidden in other contracts I consider this money well spent if they got the job done.
__________________
"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."
Re: Blackwater’s Erik Prince to step down, reveals CIA role
Quote:
Originally Posted by patsfan13
If they were getting contracts to assassinate Al Queda with the money hidden in other contracts I consider this money well spent if they got the job done.
No one is surprised you would indirectly advocate murder and fraud for the mere possibility of "fighting terror." We get it.
But thanks for re-establishing your position. 28 percenters can never have quite enough explosions and gunfire. ... To hell with any innocents who "should know better" than to get in the way.
Last edited by PressCoverage; 12-02-2009 at 10:35 PM..
Re: Blackwater’s Erik Prince to step down, reveals CIA role
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarrylS
Not quite sure how anyone can defend this guy who has literally defrauded the US of billions of dollars and is now implicated in a murder...
Not to get into the whole evil or good argument or anything, but how exactly has he "defrauded" America of anything? His company was approached to provide a service, and was paid to provide a service. You may find that service repugnant, and you may not like how he provided it, but I'm not sure your using the correct verbiage here. Fraud has nothing to do with it.
He didn't "defraud" anyone. He was paid to provide a service......... and he provided it. Too well in some cases, but still....... you ge the point.
Last edited by Patriot_in_NY; 12-02-2009 at 11:04 PM..
Re: Blackwater’s Erik Prince to step down, reveals CIA role
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patriot_in_NY
Not to get into the whole evil or good argument or anything, but how exactly has he "defrauded" America of anything? His company was approached to provide a service, and was paid to provide a service. You may find that service repugnant, and you may not like how he provided it, but I'm not sure your using the correct verbiage here. Fraud has nothing to do with it.
He didn't "defraud" anyone. He was paid to provide a service......... and he provided it. Too well in some cases, but still....... you ge the point.
I do not get the point, Blackwater is not a good american organization and the bad seems to outweigh the good... Prince is a very rich powerful man, who has ties to the highest level of Government, his agenda is a right wing christian one .. he was an intern under George H. Bush and was concerned as the President was talking to gay advocates and climate change people...
A report prepared for the State Department's inspector general in January 2005, and obtained by TPMmuckraker, shows Blackwater's accounting system for its no-bid, multimillion dollar Iraq contract was "not considered adequate for accumulating costs on government contracts."
The report is an audit of Blackwater's contract prepared by the accounting firm of Leonard H. Birnbaum. It has been referred to by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (pdf) and in a 2006 story in The Nation, but has not been made publicly available until now. It was obtained by TPMmuckraker after we filed a Freedom of Information Act request in October with the State Department for Blackwater-related documents. You can read the 2005 State Department report in our Documents Collection here
According to former Blackwater officials, Blackwater, Regency and ESS were engaged in a classic war-profiteering scheme. Blackwater was paying its men $600 a day but billing Regency $815, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. "In addition," the paper reports, "Blackwater billed Regency separately for all its overhead and costs in Iraq." Regency would then bill ESS an unknown amount for these services. Kathy Potter told the News and Observer that Regency would "quote ESS a price, say $1,500 per man per day, and then tell Blackwater that it had quoted ESS $1,200." ESS then contracted with Halliburton subsidiary KBR, which in turn billed the government an unknown amount of money for the same security services, according to the paper. KBR/Halliburton refuses to discuss the matter and will not confirm any relationship with ESS.
The Iraqi government says it has evidence of seven deadly incidents involving Blackwater. It is essential that the Congress request information on these incidents from the Iraqi authorities. What we do know is that in just the past nine months, Blackwater forces have been involved with several fatal actions. Last Christmas Eve, as Katy mentioned, an off-duty Blackwater contractor allegedly killed a bodyguard for the Iraqi Vice President. Blackwater whisked that individual out of the country. Iraqi officials labeled the killing a "murder" and have questioned privately as to why there has apparently been no consequences for that individual. Blackwater says it fired the individual and is cooperating with the US Justice Department. To my knowledge no charges have yet been brought in that case.
This past May, Blackwater operatives engaged in a gun battle in Baghdad, lasting an hour, that drew in both US military and Iraqi forces, in which at least four Iraqis are said to have died. The very next day in almost the same neighborhood, the company's operatives reportedly shot and killed an Iraqi driver near the Interior Ministry. In the ensuing chaos, the Blackwater guards reportedly refused to give their names or details of the incident to Iraqi officials, sparking a tense standoff between American and Iraqi forces, both of which were armed with assault rifles.
__________________ "Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.
Re: Blackwater’s Erik Prince to step down, reveals CIA role
"paid to provide a service" ... that's rich.
this man is a sociopath... a brilliant business man, and likely a great organizer of men... but a sociopath.
what kind of Christian Crusader cheats on his dying wife with the nanny and gets her pregnant? Seems to me at that point, you're no longer required as a "Soldier of God." ...
Just live out your millions in quiet anonymity, Prince.
Last edited by PressCoverage; 12-03-2009 at 03:55 AM..
Re: Blackwater’s Erik Prince to step down, reveals CIA role
Quote:
Originally Posted by PressCoverage
"paid to provide a service" ... that's rich.
this man is a sociopath... a brilliant business man, and likely a great organizer of men... but a sociopath.
what kind of Christian Crusader cheats on his dying wife with the nanny and gets her pregnant? Seems to me at that point, you're no longer required as a "Soldier of God." ...
Just live out your millions in quiet anonymity, Prince.
Wonder if he viewed his activity as the 10th Crusade???
__________________ "Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.
Re: Blackwater’s Erik Prince to step down, reveals CIA role
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarrylS
I do not get the point, Blackwater is not a good american organization and the bad seems to outweigh the good... Prince is a very rich powerful man, who has ties to the highest level of Government, his agenda is a right wing christian one .. he was an intern under George H. Bush and was concerned as the President was talking to gay advocates and climate change people...
You don't?
Dude............. you said "Not quite sure how anyone can defend this guy who has literally defrauded the US of billions of dollars and is now implicated in a murder.." and that a totally DISHONEST statement. You do know the definition of defraud, correct?
Lemme help: It means to illegally obtain money from someone or something through deceptive means.
Say what you will about his moral compass, the services his company provided, that you think he is a murderer or that the government should not be hiring out such services. Those are separate issues, but by using dishonest characterizations about someone in that way, you change the narrative.
Bernie Madoff defrauded people.
Erik Prince was a master mercinary and black ops services provider that was legitimately (in a legal sense) contracted to do some very "dark arts" crap (along with some very legitimate civilian security services) by the US government.
The two ain't remotely similar.
Again, you may disagree with the services, how he provided them and all of that, but it's simply dishonest to say he "defrauded" anyone. The people paying him (government) knew exactly what they were getting for their money.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PressCoverage
"paid to provide a service" ... that's rich.
this man is a sociopath... a brilliant business man, and likely a great organizer of men... but a sociopath.
what kind of Christian Crusader cheats on his dying wife with the nanny and gets her pregnant? Seems to me at that point, you're no longer required as a "Soldier of God." ...
Just live out your millions in quiet anonymity, Prince.
Another typical "72%er" perspective that intertwines personal traits (crappy as they may be) and political or religious thought together and treats them the same for political convenience. It's BS, because....... people do really *****ty things on a personal level, but it doesn't (always) extend fully to their professional/political lives.
Look at your boy O, he sat quietly in church for many years, claims he moved by deep spiritual faith, yet has supported policies in the past that would essentially allow doctors to coat-hanger a baby right up to the point it's head starts to crown. Not exactly keeping with HIS GOD'S teachings, is it. It doesn't in and of itself make him evil, it makes him inconsistent personally and professionally.
Point is, and this escapes you 72%er's , That specific inconsistancy is offensive to only half of us. The rest of you think "what's the big deal"? There is little point in linking what someone does for a living, and their personal failings........ you'll find nothing but disappointment.......... ACROSS THE BOARD almost all of the time. Tiger Woods says hi as well
Last edited by Patriot_in_NY; 12-03-2009 at 08:24 AM..
Re: Blackwater’s Erik Prince to step down, reveals CIA role
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patriot_in_NY
Another typical "72%er" perspective that intertwines personal traits (crappy as they may be) and political or religious thought together and treats them the same for political convenience. It's BS, because....... people do really *****ty things on a personal level, but it doesn't (always) extend fully to their professional/political lives.
Look at your boy O, he sat quietly in church for many years, claims he moved by deep spiritual faith, yet has supported policies in the past that would essentially allow doctors to coat-hanger a baby right up to the point it's head starts to crown. Not exactly keeping with HIS GOD'S teachings, is it. It doesn't in and of itself make him evil, it makes him inconsistent personally and professionally.
Point is, and this escapes you 72%er's , That specific inconsistancy is offensive to only half of us. The rest of you think "what's the big deal"? There is little point in linking what someone does for a living, and their personal failings........ you'll find nothing but disappointment.......... ACROSS THE BOARD almost all of the time. Tiger Woods says hi as well
That's all fabulous. Unfortunately for your premise here, he is diabolical in BOTH his personal life and his professional life.
What about that don't you seem to understand with the very justified contempt for a man like Erik Prince? Are you unaware of the cases against him and his former business? There's a reason it changed CEO and its name you know.
Oh, and please don't reference Obama as my boy. NOt only is it offensive, he does not have my support right now at all. So you're both rude, AND misguided.
Last edited by PressCoverage; 12-03-2009 at 04:17 PM..