Blackwater Founder Builds Secret Army for UAE
Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater (now Xe Services), the world’s most notorious private military contractor, is discreetly training an 800-man army capable of defending infrastructure, suppressing rebellions and battling regional state enemies for the UAE. (more)
Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater (now Xe Services), the world’s most notorious private military contractor, is discreetly training an 800-man army capable of defending infrastructure, suppressing rebellions and battling regional state enemies for the UAE. For $529 million, Prince’s new enterprise, Reflex Responses (or R2), has been assembling and training a battalion of men from conflict-stricken countries in Latin America to fight in Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan’s private forces.
Some observers are concerned that U.S. leaders will privately support Prince’s efforts to strengthen the UAE’s military, since the troops could blunt the regional aggression of Iran. Federal law prohibits American citizens from training foreign troops without State Department permission. –ARK
Your support is crucial…The New York Times:
Mr. Prince, who resettled (in Abu Dhabi) last year after his security business faced mounting legal problems in the United States, was hired by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi to put together an 800-member battalion of foreign troops for the U.A.E., according to former employees on the project, American officials and corporate documents obtained by The New York Times.
The force is intended to conduct special operations missions inside and outside the country, defend oil pipelines and skyscrapers from terrorist attacks and put down internal revolts, the documents show. Such troops could be deployed if the Emirates faced unrest or were challenged by pro-democracy demonstrations in its crowded labor camps or democracy protests like those sweeping the Arab world this year.
… People involved in the project and American officials said that the Emiratis were interested in deploying the battalion to respond to terrorist attacks and put down uprisings inside the country’s sprawling labor camps, which house the Pakistanis, Filipinos and other foreigners who make up the bulk of the country’s work force. The foreign military force was planned months before the so-called Arab Spring revolts that many experts believe are unlikely to spread to the U.A.E.
With an uncertain future and a new administration casting doubt on press freedoms, the danger is clear: The truth is at risk.
Now is the time to give. Your tax-deductible support allows us to dig deeper, delivering fearless investigative reporting and analysis that exposes what’s really happening — without compromise.
Stand with our courageous journalists. Donate today to protect a free press, uphold democracy and unearth untold stories.
A coalition of artists and writers has been instrumental in raising awareness of the mind-boggling exploitation of laborers who support some of the richest people on the planet.
It was going to be known as the Burj Dubai (Dubai Tower), but given Dubai's recent economic woes and given that its UAE neighbor, Abu Dhabi, came to the rescue with $10 billion last month, it's both a fitting tribute and a sign of the times that the world's tallest building is now called the Burj Khalifa in honor of Abu Dhabi's leader.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.