Community | December 03, 2009 | 60 comments

Blackwater CEO quits to teach High School

source: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/02/blackwater-prince-leave/

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RyanBWylie
Founder and CEO of Blackwater, Erik Prince is cutting ties with the company. A spokeswoman for the company said today that Prince will relinquish involvement in its day-to-day operations and give up some of his ownership rights. The company has been shelling out $2 million a month in legal fees to cope with a slew of federal investigations and civil lawsuits stemming from, among other incidents, the “unprovoked and unjustified” killing of 17 Iraqi civilians. Prince told Vanity Fair that after years of serving his country, “someone threw me under the bus”:

Prince has become a scapegoat for some of the Bush administration’s misadventures in Iraq. … Congressmen and lawyers, human-rights groups and pundits, have described Prince as a war profiteer, one who has assembled a rogue fighting force capable of toppling governments. … “I put myself and my company at the C.I.A.’s disposal for some very risky missions. … But when it became politically expedient to do so, someone threw me under the bus. … I’m an easy target.”

Prince said he is instead “going to teach high school.” “History and economics,” he said. “I may even coach wrestling. Hey, Indiana Jones taught school, too.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/02/blackwater-prince-leave/
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60 comments // Blackwater CEO quits to teach High School

  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  

    • I think he is angling for a political career . Never . trust . him . He has more money than he needs ever , why would he teach high school ? To mold more young men in his image .

    • 2 years ago
  • WhiteNoise
  • extracrazykiwi2008
  • kennymotown
  • corndog67
    • 0
      corndog67  

    • I would rather have him teach my kid not to take any shit from people, than to be nice to them and maybe they won't blow you the fuck up. Lots of really sheltered people making comments. Ask most returning military people what they thought of the hired help (Blackwater) and the answer is, that most of them appreciate what they did.

      Yeah, the Iraqis are nice. That's why they blow up people in markets with suicide bombers. Kids, women, whomever that happens to be there. The only reason they are nice when they get here is because me and you are giving them a free ride. I'd be nice too.

    • 2 years ago
  • LowShred
  • WhiteNoise
  • Logos51891
  • RyanBWylie
    • 0
      RyanBWylie  

    • I wonder if he's not just stepping down in order for our government to justify a continued contract with Blackwater? Meaning he is the scapegoated man of the scapegoated company. Well earned.

    • 2 years ago
  • ryan8566
    • 0
      ryan8566  

    • i figured he would be another "on-call analyst" for Fox News.
      why does the government outsource/sub-contract this 'work' in the first place?

    • 2 years ago
  • Saladin
  • Nephwrack
  • Giganticus
  • carmalite
    • 0
      carmalite  

    • LOL Oh is he going to recruit fresh young Evangelical Christians to fight for the Christian wars? He is scum. And he gives Christianity a really bad name.

    • 2 years ago
  • Jeellis2
    • Jeellis2  
    • This comment was removed by its owner.
  • carmalite
  • libertyforall
  • carmalite
    • 0
      carmalite  
    • libertyforall:

      I think that Obama is not really running the show, and GW Bush was not either. I suspect that over time and very quietly the Military Industrial Complex and the filth that profit from unnecessary wars have taken over and our presidents are just willing or unwilling puppets. Look how stressed Obama looks. And GW just delegated to Cheney, who is in fact, nothing but a war profiteer and a part of the MIC.
      It would not suprise me if Obama was not threatened and if they did not have to threaten Bush because his own father is involved in the MIC.

    • 2 years ago
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  

    • After $1.3 billion in government contracts and controversy over the killing of innocent Iraqi civilians, Blackwater Worldwide is moving on. The powerful military corporation has no plans to slow down after what has been an extraordinarily profitable decade.

      "The greatest threat to our world and its peace comes from those who want war, who prepare for it, and who, by holding out vague promises of future peace or by instilling fear of foreign aggression, try to make us accomplices to their plans." - Hermann Hesse

    • 2 years ago
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  
    • WhiteNoise:

      Republicans left office armed and dangerous. Will corporate owned armies dictate & stage mankind's future for the wealthy beyond reason ? This Praetorian Guard could presage the final stage in the collapse of American democracy.

      meanwhile...

      GOING UP !
      Top 1% share of total income
      Income gap between rich and poor
      Foreign debt as a percent of GDP
      Age at which one can receive Social Security
      Hunger
      Consumer credit debt
      Housing foreclosures
      Severe poverty rate

      GOING DOWN !
      Real income
      Real manufacturing wages
      Percent of single women and mothers in the workforce
      The bottom 40%'s share of national wealth
      Older families with pensions.
      Workers covered by defined benefit pensions.
      The savings rate
      US manufacturing jobs

      AMBIANT...

      Protest restricted/ignored
      Dissenter labeled terrorist/traitor
      False-flags
      Elections suspect
      Leaders benefit from wars/disasters
      Use of propaganda/lies & partisan mass-media
      Claims that War is needed for everchanging false reasons
      Secret/extrajudicial/torture camps
      Curtailed/suspended civil rights/liberties
      Wiretap/intercept/surveillance net
      Stealthily expands int'nl influence/power
      Judiciary/Opposition ineffective/ignored
      Legislation to defy Constitution

      BTW, have you noticed that the good guys always win execpt on the news ?

    • 2 years ago
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  
    • WhiteNoise:

      "To maintain this position of disparity (U.S. economic-military supremacy)... we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming.... We should cease to talk about vague and... unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standard and democratization. The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts.... The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better." - George Kennan [Director of Policy Planning U.S. State Department 1948]

    • 2 years ago
  • DEM46
    • 0
      DEM46  

    • Hey, I'd gladly get thrown under a bus if I got the golden parachute he's leaving BW with.

      I generally feel bad for those who profit handsomely and feel compelled to leave. Gees.

    • 2 years ago
  • snuggles1535
  • thewhompus
    • 0
      thewhompus  
    • snuggles1535:

      What a remark! I can't resist the urge to point out that Al-Qaeda says the same thing about americans. Soooo........If Al-Qaeda is wrong about americans........maybe....just maybe.......you're wrong about Iraqis?
      And just to give my words a slight bit of creedence, so you know I'm not just talking out of my ass- I work with Iraqi refugees regularly and find them far more polite and hosiptable than your average american. In fact, in all the countries I've visited, I've invariably found the local populus FAR more hospitable than you would ever expect to see in america.

    • 2 years ago
  • Nephwrack
  • hcocdr
    • 0
      hcocdr  

    • All I know is I owe my Life to the Blackwater guys for pulling us out of a tight jam when I was in Iraq. Thanks Guys, Not everyone is casting the first stone.

    • 2 years ago
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  

    • If you believe Erik Prince... I've got a WAR to sell ya ;)

      MEANWHILE BACK AT THE RANCH BLACKWATER'S CONTRACTS PILE UP...

      Obama quietly authorises expansion of war in Pakistan

      Washington, Dec 2 (PTI):
      http://www.deccanherald.com/content/39019/obama-quietly-authorises-expansion-war....

      As the US announced deepening of its involvement in Afghanistan by despatching 30,000 more troops, President Barack Obama has quietly authorised an expansion of war against terrorism in Pakistan under which CIA would widen its campaign of strikes against militants by unmanned drones.

      The expanded operations by the CIA could include drone strikes in the southern province of Baluchistan, where senior Afghan Taliban leaders are believed to be hiding, New York Times reported today quoting officials.

      CIA has submitted its plan to widen its campaign in Pakistan to the White House and has asked for commitment to jack up the agency's budget for operations inside the country.

      CIA also wants to send more spies into the terrorist infested areas in Pakistan's tribal belt to try to infiltrate into groups like Taliban and other foreign militant groups.

      fact check
      The Secret US War in Pakistan
      http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091207/scahill

      Why Doesn't Hillary Clinton Fire Blackwater?
      http://rebelreports.com/post/178028358/why-doesnt-hillary-clinton-fire-blackwate...

      We Need a Special Prosecutor for Blackwater and Other CIA "Contractors"
      http://rebelreports.com/post/175842520/we-need-a-special-prosecutor-for-blackwat...

      INFO+
      US ARMY/BLACKWATER GONE ROGUE !
      http://current.com/items/91534386_us-army-blackwater-gone-rogue.htm

      "The CIA is a state-sponsored terrorists association. You don't look at people as human beings. They are nothing but pieces on the chessboard." - Verne Lyon, former CIA agent in revealing documentary Secrets of the CIA

      Given the unaccountability of the intelligence agencies, it is therefore essential that the CIA be reorganized and stripped of its covert operations capability. Effective congressional oversight is also an important condition for ending the misuse of the intelligence apparatus that has plagued every U.S. administration since the formation of the CIA. A great deal is at risk our personal freedoms as well as the viability of this society. The CIA must be put in its place. Should we demand or allow anything less, we will remain vulnerable to these abuses and face the risk of decaying into a lawless state destined to self-destruction. - Verne Lyon, former CIA agent in revealing documentary Secrets of the CIA

    • 2 years ago
  • shanklinmike
  • bansheewail
    • 0
      bansheewail  

    • Oh, the choices he'll have to make! Will I drive the Hummer with the 50 cal on top or take one of the aircraft from my private air force? He's going to teach History (His....Story) and Economics? HA! So far, he's been on the wrong side of both of those subjects. No-bid contracts to do the same job our military has already been trained to do requires no knowledge of either. You just have to have friends in high places and talk to God on occasion, apparently. Blind Faith and connections make a great mercenary force. Hilter's SS was the model for Blackwater. Blackwater has been a publically funded, para-military force that operated outside the US legal system and outside the military code of conduct and outside the chain of command. Blackwater's contracts put billions of public/tax payer dollars in private hands. Prince made a killing off the killing. George Bush created a monster and you and I paid for it. If you want to know how why they hate us, look no further than Blackwater and the 500+ defense contractors operating in the Middle East.

    • 2 years ago
  • CalgarC
  • jaystyx
    • 0
      jaystyx  

    • “Future Christian Supremacist Mercenaries of America” taught by Erik Prince

      Major Lessons of this Course
      1) Opening fire into a crowd of people is ok if they are Muslim.
      2) How to slip through domestic and foreign legal systems to avoid liability.
      3) How to get a no bid contract from the government.
      4) How to spend tax payer dollars as recklessly and carelessly as possible.

    • 2 years ago
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  
    • jaystyx:

      "A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side" - Aristotle

      INFO+
      US ARMY/BLACKWATER GONE ROGUE !
      http://current.com/items/91534386_us-army-blackwater-gone-rogue.htm

      "The CIA is a state-sponsored terrorists association. You don't look at people as human beings. They are nothing but pieces on the chessboard." - Verne Lyon, former CIA agent in revealing documentary Secrets of the CIA

      Given the unaccountability of the intelligence agencies, it is therefore essential that the CIA be reorganized and stripped of its covert operations capability. Effective congressional oversight is also an important condition for ending the misuse of the intelligence apparatus that has plagued every U.S. administration since the formation of the CIA. A great deal is at risk our personal freedoms as well as the viability of this society. The CIA must be put in its place. Should we demand or allow anything less, we will remain vulnerable to these abuses and face the risk of decaying into a lawless state destined to self-destruction. - Verne Lyon, former CIA agent in revealing documentary Secrets of the CIA

    • 2 years ago
  • Mike_Johnston
    • 0
      Mike_Johnston  

    • There is something inherently perverse in this concept. On the other hand, didn't Dr. Mengele return to private practice in Argentina after WWII?

    • 2 years ago
  • tommytripper
  • Ares
    • 0
      Ares  

    • You people are so ridiculous. This fantastic quote immediately comes to mind:

      "...we live in a world that has walls and those walls need to be guarded by men with guns.Who's going to do it? You?"

      Y'all love to cut the throat of anyone who is responsible for taking life. We need wars, get used to the idea.

    • 2 years ago
  • ii386
    • 0
      ii386  
    • Ares:

      I don't understand who your comment is directed to. The taking of live is not glorified, especially when its innocent life. No one is really bashing him, it was the employees at his company who are brought up on charges and it was Prince's decision to leave his own company.

      I really don't think that we need wars either. We need diplomacy, understanding, and tolerance.

    • 2 years ago
  • LarzNero
    • 0
      LarzNero  
    • Ares:

      That may be true, but we DON'T need private war profiteers whose obvious business model is to use every political connection they have to keep the war going.

    • 2 years ago
  • etienna
    • 0
      etienna  
    • Ares:

      Seriously? Every comment you make drive me up the wall. Justified wars and the death and violence that are a by product of those wars are one thing. Giving our soldiers duties to a bunch of money-hungry gun nuts who kill civilians is another. Please, get educated.

    • 2 years ago
  • redvelvet1278
    • 0
      redvelvet1278  
    • Ares:

      Ares spoken like someone who spends tons of time on the couch playing world of warcraft. When you start reading and interacting with people and maybe have a kid or travel someplace outside your town then I will maybe possibly give you the time of day.

    • 2 years ago
  • Ares
    • 0
      Ares  
    • Ares:

      velvet: I hope you read the message I just replied to you. The world is bigger than you think it is, buddy. You aren't as wise as you apparently like to think you are.

      etienna: Good.

      isnamthere: People like me are the people that are serving in the military so you don't have to. War is inevitable, for the rest of time. Fucking deal with it.

      The rest of you: They did the job they were hired to do. Stop running your suck about it. I'm sorry if war is an "eye opener" to you as to how the world really works, but guess what: it IS like that. I almost feel like all of your reactions are just knee-jerk responses to something you can't identify with or understand, so you just bitch and complain about it. I'm sorry for that.

    • 2 years ago
  • thewhompus
    • 0
      thewhompus  
    • Ares:

      I'm only suggesting that you fulfill your bloodlust away from innocent bystanders. There's nothing facist about that. I think it's rather considerate actually.
      Plus, if you're going to kill people aimlessly, wouldn't you want someone that'll give you a challenge, that'll put up a real fight?

    • 2 years ago
  • Giganticus
    • 0
      Giganticus  
    • Ares:

      Looks to me like you have found a simple idea that you could latch onto that makes you feel like you have a center point from which to make sense of the world. How sad for you and the for the world that that is the particular idea you and so many others have settled on. The world is what we make of it.

    • 2 years ago
  • Saladin
    • 0
      Saladin  
    • Ares:

      They're dogs of war Ares, give me a fucking break.

      You gonna tell me the S.S. and the Black Hand were "necessary" too?

      Yes, war happens. No, we don't need to hire paramilitary Nazis to do our fighting for us. We're actually already quite good at that in case you forgot.

    • 2 years ago
  • AlbeeYap
  • jef_jef
    • 0
      jef_jef  

    • I smell PR move. I'm sure he'd be an extremely devoted teacher while still receiving billions from government contracts. And now he will be paid even more by the gov't to teach.

    • 2 years ago
  • keithponder
  • chmk
  • FlexSF
  • isnamthere
  • arenegade
  • ozoneocean
  • AmericanStandard
  • timlfrench
  • thewhompus
    • 0
      thewhompus  

    • Yeah. I think it'll be pretty difficult for the Prince of Darkness to find a school system that'll have him. Talk about a PR nightmare.

    • 2 years ago
  • MizPiz
  • Ares
  • djaked
  • panichead
    • 0
      panichead  

    • How would you like your child being instructed by a person who is under suspicion of murdering innocent Iraqi's and condoning the rape of children all in the name of Jesus?

    • 2 years ago
  • carmalite
  • WhiteNoise
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