Will Erik Prince be charged with War Crimes?

mswas · August 4, 2009, 11:22pm

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.

Snowboarder_Bo · August 4, 2009, 11:26pm

I would love to see Mr. Prince charged, arrested, convicted and put away somewhere dank and unpleasant, like downtown Detroit maybe.

MOIDALIZE · August 4, 2009, 11:36pm

Wow.

Bricker · August 4, 2009, 11:39pm

Well, typically for a criminal indictment, you’re looking for more certainty than the statement that someone “may have” committed a crime.

Snowboarder_Bo · August 4, 2009, 11:44pm

Lest someone try and nitpick my post to death, let me amend it:

I would love to see Mr. Prince charged, arrested, tried, convicted and put away somewhere dank and unpleasant, like downtown Detroit maybe.
ETA: the link in the OP wasn’t working for me (just a blank page) but the story is now being put up elsewhere. link

Snowboarder_Bo · August 4, 2009, 11:53pm

from The Nation:

Blackwater has gone through an intricate rebranding 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.”

mswas · August 5, 2009, 12:00am

Please tell me that Greystone owns an island with a castle Greyskull on it somewhere.

elucidator · August 5, 2009, 12:15am

You just look at the guy and you can’t help but think he imagines himself a character in a James Bond book. Licensed to Kill for Jesus.

(Allegedly, the exact same Jesus they told me about in Sunday School. We were Methodists, so maybe this whole Commando Jesus thing is Baptist.)

gonzomax · August 5, 2009, 12:18am

Prince is beyond rich and so connected that i doubt he can be touched.

gonzomax · August 5, 2009, 12:24am

Princes father owns an auto supplier company that came up with the lit vanity mirrors. His sister is married to a Devos who started Amway. They fund conservative think tanks and push their brand of religion very hard.

mswas · August 5, 2009, 12:55am

Heh, actually I think the church militant is a Catholic thing.

Argent_Towers · August 5, 2009, 3:38am

I fail to see how Prince and Blackwater are more culpable than George Bush and the leadership of the American military.

mswas · August 5, 2009, 3:39am

Looks like they might actually have Prince on something indictable. That would be the big difference that I see. And he’s not a representative of the American government.

Argent_Towers · August 5, 2009, 3:44am

Both of those things may be true but I don’t see how the latter makes him any more culpable, as in, responsible for people’s deaths. How many completely innocent civilians were killed by US bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan? Surely more than Blackwater could ever dream of. At least Blackwater doesn’t bomb anyone. Most of the civilian casualties in war come from bombs, as far as I know.

mswas · August 5, 2009, 3:46am

That’s not the topic up for discussion. Nothing new can come from talking about how much we hate the Bush administration. We’ve all had the same conversation at least 100 times with the same exact people.

This isn’t about the morality of war, this is about whether or not Erik Prince will be brought up on charges.

elucidator · August 5, 2009, 3:51am

Seems everytime I think of Blackwater/XE I think of *Soldier of Fortune *magazine. That merc porn stroke rag still exist? Did Blackwater advertise there?

We never seem to run out of men who want to be tough guys, do we?

mswas · August 5, 2009, 3:59am

Heh, some people need killin’. We’re a violent species, don’t let the hippies tell ya any different.

Gorsnak · August 5, 2009, 4:22am

Good point. Arrest them too.

DrDeth · August 5, 2009, 5:30am

Looks like they may have him on Money laundering.

Warcrimes? :dubious: Look, they only charge the worst of the worst of the worst with War Crimes- and even of those they usually target the ones who have little power now.

gonzomax · August 5, 2009, 6:01pm

What war crimes. When Bremer took over one of his 100 rules was
No. 17. grants foreign contractors including private security firms immunity from Iraqi laws.
We set the ground work very early for a lawless environment. If an Iraqi has a complaint ,he has to take it to U.S, Courts. good luck with that.