They are providing security against taliban which the people of pakistan, it's army and government forces have been unable to so so far. Remember the beheadings of polish and chinese engineers?
If you want any investment from foreigners in the country, you will have to deal with this and much more.
That's a load of rubbish. These people ARE terrorists, so you may as well hire "Talibs". Insane...
That's a load of rubbish. These people ARE terrorists, so you may as well hire "Talibs". Insane...
What terrorism have they committed in pakistan? Please list events.
What terrorism have they committed in pakistan? Please list events.
So if an act of terrorism wasn't committed in Pakistan, it's to be overlooked?
They've murderd civilians in Iraq for kicks and giggles...hell, that's even worse than a terrorist...
Bottom line is, they're as unwelcome as foreign terrorists.
So if an act of terrorism wasn't committed in Pakistan, it's to be overlooked?
They've murderd civilians in Iraq for kicks and giggles...hell, that's even worse than a terrorist...
Bottom line is, they're as unwelcome as foreign terrorists.
If you want money from western investors and cannot provide security to them, you will need to let them keep their own private security. Solution would be to refuse western money and investment first.
Also I'm interested in knowing which courts convicted them of murdering iraqis.
LOL at anyone who actually believes in Ahmed Quraishi's fantasy stories. This guy is Zaid Hamid's protege and equally unreliable.
Keep LOLing at the constant repeat cycle of foreign mercenary terrorists who only come back to killing more pakistanis. The case described in the article is very real (in the public record) and the circumstances very true. Anyone who has ever known about Blackwater's filthy motto will tell you how true this is.
Keep LOLing at the constant repeat cycle of foreign mercenary terrorists who only come back to killing more pakistanis. The case described in the article is very real (in the public record) and the circumstances very true. Anyone who has ever known about Blackwater's filthy motto will tell you how true this is.
Deaths caused by blackwater in Pakistan: 0
Deaths caused by talibs/jihadis in Pakistan:10,000+
Deaths caused by army in Pakistan: (my post would be deleted if i wrote this number down)
Deaths caused by blackwater in Pakistan: 0 Deaths caused by talibs/jihadis in Pakistan:10,000+ Deaths caused by army in Pakistan: (my post would be deleted if i wrote this number down)
Americans killed by Iraqis: 0
Iraqis killed by Americans: Countless
Deaths caused by US Army and Blackwater among other affiliates: This page will fill with a trail of zeros.
Only a genius like you would like to invite murderers with a terrible track record, into the nation only to later realize they're fascists in a uniform carrying out massacre under the cloak of "security".
Are you really so naive to not know that there are terrorists in white skin too? Ever heard of skin heads? Half of Blackwater and other private security firms' recruits have criminal background, and have committed murders before. Would you be okay with a murderer with a advanced weapon roaming in your streets and pointing the gun at your family members for no reason at all? Please wake up and smell the coffee. To justify one wrong with another is not justification at all, it's heedlessness.
Re: US Blackwater-Xe mercenaries spreads fear in Pakistani town Read more: http://ww
Why are you bringing iraq into a discussion about pakistan? The fact is that some foreign security organization will have to protect any foreigner in pakistan, no matter if it’s blackwater or somebody else. Otherwise you can forget about any non pakistani visiting pakistan for the next 100 years.
lol black water. Only a banana republic would allow such a ruthless private security firm step foot on its soil..oh wait..
lol black water. Only an banana republic would allow such a ruthless private security firm step foot on its soil..oh wait..
Forget blackwater, according to other news, 1,000 US marines will be arriving in islamabad to protect the us embassy compound there soon.
Why are you bringing iraq into a discussion about pakistan? The fact is that some foreign security organization will have to protect any foreigner in pakistan, no matter if it's blackwater or somebody else. Otherwise you can forget about any non pakistani visiting pakistan for the next 100 years.
Because that's where Blackwater showed its "expertise" the most, hence it is important to look at where it's been and what it's done there. comprende?
"you can forget about non pakistani visiting pakistan for next 100 years"
Why? Just because Pakistan won't allow mercenary murderers walking around with american weapons pointing at civilians? lol funny logic. are you okay with trading lives for measly dollars? Oh wait..... Musharraf Regime...got it :)
Re: US Blackwater-Xe mercenaries spreads fear in Pakistani town Read more: http://ww
These dollars are what is keeping the country of pakistan afloat. The moment they dry up, pakistan will head straight to collapse.
Until the pakistan can protect guests from abroad (it can’t even protect its own), it will have to rely on private security companies to provide that protection. End of story.
Re: US Blackwater-Xe mercenaries spreads fear in Pakistani town Read more: http://ww
I know what you’re saying, but that is besides the point. Most of $ revenue besides imports/exports comes from Expatriots who reside outside the country. And ask any expatriot with the exception of a few, most will reject the idea of having a foreign mercenary militia roaming the streets just so one of the “guests” can feel secure. That is no solid alternative.
Pakistan should do more to secure the guests and especially the citizens, but that does not mean giving a blanc check to the likes of Blackwater or any other foreign body. That’s absolutely foolish and a hard smack on the face of all pakistanis who gave their lives to create this free nation.
As far as what you said about Marines, American Embassy is international terrority and they can have their own guards. But they can’t roam around the streets as if they own the nation and look at civilians with inferiority and racial slurs.
Latest word on Eric Prince the founder of Blackwater and it's latest reincarnation Xe is that he is a messianic evangelical christan who considers himself a crusader and on a mission to rid the world of the evil of islam...he is under investigation for actively hiring and promoting mercenaries who'd go out of their way to use excessive force and kill as many muslims as they could, particularly civilians...he hired many a war crimianls from the balkan war who've commited atrocities and war crimes in croatia and bosnia...
Only an anti-islam supporter and paid hack of MQM, true to the agenda and manifesto of this terrorist organization would be an apologist for blackwater and see no wrong in their presence in Pakistan...
Latest word on Eric Prince the founder of Blackwater and it's latest reincarnation Xe is that he is a messianic evangelical christan who considers himself a crusader and on a mission to rid the world of the evil of islam...he is under investigation for actively hiring and promoting mercenaries who'd go out of their way to use excessive force and kill as many muslims as they could, particularly civilians...he hired many a war crimianls from the balkan war who've commited atrocities and war crimes in croatia and bosnia...
Only an anti-islam supporter and paid hack of MQM, true to the agenda and manifesto of this terrorist organization would be an apologist for blackwater and see no wrong in their presence in Pakistan...
Do you think Eric Prince is roaming the streets of Peshawar? Only someone posting under the name "CheGuvera" would think that the presence of blackwater guards is the coming of the crusade against pakistan. They're not the only foreign security company working in pakistan.
Do you think Eric Prince is roaming the streets of Peshawar? Only someone posting under the name "CheGuvera" would think that the presence of blackwater guards is the coming of the crusade against pakistan. They're not the only foreign security company working in pakistan.
Only those inspired by the chooran faroosh of london would use this idiotic and incoherent logic
Do you see Mullah Umer or Baitillah Masood roaming the streets of karachi before you and your quaid-e-awam went on crying wolf....
Secondly, it is not me calling Prince a crusader...he himself calls himself a crusader....blackwater executives considered shooting iraqi civilians or referred to as haji as a sport and encouraged the practice...blackwater mercenaries had call signs based on knights of Templar...
do some basic research on the subject before regurgitating crap coming out of chooran farosh of london's mouth...
Only those inspired by the chooran faroosh of london would be use this idiotic and incoherent logic
Do you see Mullah Umer or Baitillah Masood roaming the streets of karachi before you and your quaid-e-awam went on crying wolf....
Mehsud is now worm food thanks to the drone attacks flown by the US. Maybe the blackwater guys can also do some good by blowing up a few jihadis.
Re: US Blackwater-Xe mercenaries spreads fear in Pakistani town Read more: http://ww
Now it’s finally official MQM and it’s supporters are bona fide anti-islam entities…
This is the filth he is defending…read and weep…
Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder
Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder
By Jeremy Scahill
August 4, 2009
A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia. The two men claim that the company’s owner, Erik Prince, may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company. The former employee also alleges that Prince “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe,” and that Prince’s companies “encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life.”
In their testimony, both men also allege that Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq. One of the men alleges that Prince turned a profit by transporting “illegal” or “unlawful” weapons into the country on Prince’s private planes. They also charge that Prince and other Blackwater executives destroyed incriminating videos, emails and other documents and have intentionally deceived the US State Department and other federal agencies. The identities of the two individuals were sealed out of concerns for their safety.
These allegations, and a series of other charges, are contained in sworn affidavits, given under penalty of perjury, filed late at night on August 3 in the Eastern District of Virginia as part of a seventy-page motion by lawyers for Iraqi civilians suing Blackwater for alleged war crimes and other misconduct. Susan Burke, a private attorney working in conjunction with the Center for Constitutional Rights, is suing Blackwater in five separate civil cases filed in the Washington, DC, area. They were recently consolidated before Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Eastern District of Virginia for pretrial motions. Burke filed the August 3 motion in response to Blackwater’s motion to dismiss the case. Blackwater asserts that Prince and the company are innocent of any wrongdoing and that they were professionally performing their duties on behalf of their employer, the US State Department.
The former employee, identified in the court documents as “John Doe #2,” is a former member of Blackwater’s management team, according to a source close to the case. Doe #2 alleges in a sworn declaration that, based on information provided to him by former colleagues, “it appears that Mr. Prince and his employees murdered, or had murdered, one or more persons who have provided information, or who were planning to provide information, to the federal authorities about the ongoing criminal conduct.” John Doe #2 says he worked at Blackwater for four years; his identity is concealed in the sworn declaration because he “fear[s] violence against me in retaliation for submitting this Declaration.” He also alleges, “On several occasions after my departure from Mr. Prince’s employ, Mr. Prince’s management has personally threatened me with death and violence.”
In a separate sworn statement, the former US marine who worked for Blackwater in Iraq alleges that he has “learned from my Blackwater colleagues and former colleagues that one or more persons who have provided information, or who were planning to provide information about Erik Prince and Blackwater have been killed in suspicious circumstances.” Identified as “John Doe #1,” he says he “joined Blackwater and deployed to Iraq to guard State Department and other American government personnel.” It is not clear if Doe #1 is still working with the company as he states he is “scheduled to deploy in the immediate future to Iraq.” Like Doe #2, he states that he fears “violence” against him for “submitting this Declaration.” No further details on the alleged murder(s) are provided.
“Mr. Prince feared, and continues to fear, that the federal authorities will detect and prosecute his various criminal deeds,” states Doe #2. “On more than one occasion, Mr. Prince and his top managers gave orders to destroy emails and other documents. Many incriminating videotapes, documents and emails have been shredded and destroyed.”
The Nation cannot independently verify the identities of the two individuals, their roles at Blackwater or what motivated them to provide sworn testimony in these civil cases. Both individuals state that they have previously cooperated with federal prosecutors conducting a criminal inquiry into Blackwater.
“It’s a pending investigation, so we cannot comment on any matters in front of a Grand Jury or if a Grand Jury even exists on these matters,” John Roth, the spokesperson for the US Attorney’s office in the District of Columbia, told The Nation. “It would be a crime if we did that.” Asked specifically about whether there is a criminal investigation into Prince regarding the murder allegations and other charges, Roth said: “We would not be able to comment on what we are or are not doing in regards to any possible investigation involving an uncharged individual.”
The Nation repeatedly attempted to contact spokespeople for Prince or his companies at numerous email addresses and telephone numbers. When a company representative was reached by phone and asked to comment, she said, “Unfortunately no one can help you in that area.” The representative then said that she would pass along The Nation’s request. As this article goes to press, no company representative has responded further to The Nation.
Doe #2 states in the declaration that he has also provided the information contained in his statement “in grand jury proceedings convened by the United States Department of Justice.” Federal prosecutors convened a grand jury in the aftermath of the September 16, 2007, Nisour Square shootings in Baghdad, which left seventeen Iraqis dead. Five Blackwater employees are awaiting trial on several manslaughter charges and a sixth, Jeremy Ridgeway, has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and attempting to commit manslaughter and is cooperating with prosecutors. It is not clear whether Doe #2 testified in front of the Nisour Square grand jury or in front of a separate grand jury.
The two declarations are each five pages long and contain a series of devastating allegations concerning Erik Prince and his network of companies, which now operate under the banner of Xe Services LLC. Among those leveled by Doe #2 is that Prince “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe”:
To that end, Mr. Prince 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. Many of these men used call signs based on the Knights of the Templar, the warriors who fought the Crusades.
Mr. Prince operated his companies in a manner that encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life. For example, Mr. Prince's executives would openly speak about going over to Iraq to "lay Hajiis out on cardboard." Going to Iraq to shoot and kill Iraqis was viewed as a sport or game. Mr. Prince's employees openly and consistently used racist and derogatory terms for Iraqis and other Arabs, such as "ragheads" or "hajiis."
Among the additional allegations made by Doe #1 is that “Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq.” He states that he personally witnessed weapons being “pulled out” from dog food bags. Doe #2 alleges that “Prince and his employees arranged for the weapons to be polywrapped and smuggled into Iraq on Mr. Prince’s private planes, which operated under the name Presidential Airlines,” adding that Prince “generated substantial revenues from participating in the illegal arms trade.”
Doe #2 states: “Using his various companies, [Prince] procured and distributed various weapons, including unlawful weapons such as sawed off semi-automatic machine guns with silencers, through unlawful channels of distribution.” Blackwater “was not abiding by the terms of the contract with the State Department and was deceiving the State Department,” according to Doe #1.
This is not the first time an allegation has surfaced that Blackwater used dog food bags to smuggle weapons into Iraq. ABC News’s Brian Ross reported in November 2008 that a “federal grand jury in North Carolina is investigating allegations the controversial private security firm Blackwater illegally shipped assault weapons and silencers to Iraq, hidden in large sacks of dog food.” Another former Blackwater employee has also confirmed this information to The Nation.
Both individuals allege that Prince and Blackwater deployed individuals to Iraq who, in the words of Doe #1, “were not properly vetted and cleared by the State Department.” Doe #2 adds that “Prince ignored the advice and pleas from certain employees, who sought to stop the unnecessary killing of innocent Iraqis.” Doe #2 further states that some Blackwater officials overseas refused to deploy “unfit men” and sent them back to the US. Among the reasons cited by Doe #2 were “the men making statements about wanting to deploy to Iraq to ‘kill ragheads’ or achieve ‘kills’ or ‘body counts,’” as well as “excessive drinking” and “steroid use.” However, when the men returned to the US, according to Doe #2, “Prince and his executives would send them back to be deployed in Iraq with an express instruction to the concerned employees located overseas that they needed to ‘stop costing the company money.’”
Doe #2 also says Prince “repeatedly ignored the assessments done by mental health professionals, and instead terminated those mental health professionals who were not willing to endorse deployments of unfit men.” He says Prince and then-company president Gary Jackson “hid from Department of State the fact that they were deploying men to Iraq over the objections of mental health professionals and security professionals in the field,” saying they “knew the men being deployed were not suitable candidates for carrying lethal weaponry, but did not care because deployments meant more money.”
Doe #1 states that “Blackwater knew that certain of its personnel intentionally used excessive and unjustified deadly force, and in some instances used unauthorized weapons, to kill or seriously injure innocent Iraqi civilians.” He concludes, “Blackwater did nothing to stop this misconduct.” Doe #1 states that he “personally observed multiple incidents of Blackwater personnel intentionally using unnecessary, excessive and unjustified deadly force.” He then cites several specific examples of Blackwater personnel firing at civilians, killing or “seriously” wounding them, and then failing to report the incidents to the State Department.
Doe #1 also alleges that “all of these incidents of excessive force were initially videotaped and voice recorded,” but that “Immediately after the day concluded, we would watch the video in a session called a ‘hot wash.’ Immediately after the hotwashing, the video was erased to prevent anyone other than Blackwater personnel seeing what had actually occurred.” Blackwater, he says, “did not provide the video to the State Department.”
Doe #2 expands on the issue of unconventional weapons, alleging Prince “made available to his employees in Iraq various weapons not authorized by the United States contracting authorities, such as hand grenades and hand grenade launchers. Mr. Prince’s employees repeatedly used this illegal weaponry in Iraq, unnecessarily killing scores of innocent Iraqis.” Specifically, he alleges that Prince “obtained illegal ammunition from an American company called LeMas. This company sold ammunition designed to explode after penetrating within the human body. Mr. Prince’s employees repeatedly used this illegal ammunition in Iraq to inflict maximum damage on Iraqis.”
Blackwater has gone through an intricate reb*****ng process in the twelve years it has been in business, changing its name and logo several times. Prince also has created more than a dozen affiliate companies, some of which are registered offshore and whose operations are shrouded in secrecy. According to Doe #2, “Prince created and operated this web of companies in order to obscure wrongdoing, fraud and other crimes.”
“For example, Mr. Prince transferred funds from one company (Blackwater) to another (Greystone) whenever necessary to avoid detection of his money laundering and tax evasion schemes.” He added: “Mr. Prince contributed his personal wealth to fund the operations of the Prince companies whenever he deemed such funding necessary. Likewise, Mr. Prince took funds out of the Prince companies and placed the funds in his personal accounts at will.”
Briefed on the substance of these allegations by The Nation, Congressman Dennis Kucinich replied, “If these allegations are true, Blackwater has been a criminal enterprise defrauding taxpayers and murdering innocent civilians.” Kucinich is on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and has been investigating Prince and Blackwater since 2004.
“Blackwater is a law unto itself, both internationally and domestically. The question is why they operated with impunity. In addition to Blackwater, we should be questioning their patrons in the previous administration who funded and employed this organization. Blackwater wouldn’t exist without federal patronage; these allegations should be thoroughly investigated,” Kucinich said.
A hearing before Judge Ellis in the civil cases against Blackwater is scheduled for August 7.