The founder of the world’s largest and most controversial mercenary army, Xe Services (previously known as Blackwater), has been accused of committing murder. Last month two whistle-blowers, one a former member of Xe’s management team, alleged Erik Prince may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were co-operating with federal authorities investigating the company.
These charges are contained in sworn affidavits filed in the Eastern District of Virginia as part of a 70-page motion by lawyers for Iraqi civilians suing Xe for alleged war crimes. What makes this all the more chilling is the weight which one of these witnesses attaches to Prince’s religious fanaticism: “[He] views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe. [Prince’s companies] encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life.”
In their testimony, both men allege that Xe was smuggling weapons into Iraq on Prince’s private planes. They also charge that Prince and other Xe executives destroyed incriminating videos, emails and other documents and have intentionally deceived the US State Department and other federal agencies. Prince allegedly intentionally deployed to Iraq certain men who shared his vision of Christian supremacy, knowing and wanting these men to take every available opportunity to murder Iraqis.
The affidavits state that Prince’s executives would openly speak about going over to Iraq to “lay Hajiis out on cardboard”.
Obama plans to expand the company’s use in Afghanistan by 30%.
Regardless of Xe’s situation, pundits are beginning to talk of an end to the recession. However in a report from the US Census Bureau in August it emerged that nearly 40 million people now live in poverty here. Real median household income meanwhile fell 3.6% – the biggest annual drop since 1991 – to $50,303 (£30,378) in 2008. The family poverty rate rose to 10.3% in 2008; 8.1 million families were in poverty. This compares with 9.8% and 7.6 million respectively in 2007. Poverty was higher among blacks, Hispanics and children: roughly 14.1 million children under the age of 18 lived in poverty last year, up from 13.3 million in 2007. The current definition of poverty equates to an annual income of $22,025 (£13,303) for a family of four, $17,163 (£10,366) for a family of three and $14,051 (£8,486) for a family of two.
By the end of last month, the unemployment rate was at 9.7%, the highest in over a quarter of a century. Almost seven million people had lost their jobs since the start of the recession 18 months ago. Official levels of health insurance suggest that 46.3 million Americans were without health insurance last year compared with 45.7 million the year before.
Louis Further
