Ashcroft Assumes Ethical Advisory Role With Xe Services

Staff / Truthdig May 5, 2011 Hold your breath. John Ashcroft--George W. Bush's first attorney general and champion of the Patriot Act--has just taken an ethical advisory position with Xe Services, the military contractor formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide. (more) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Passing the Bloodstained Buck

Staff / Truthdig Dec 18, 2010 The mercenary firm formerly known as Blackwater has argued in court that the company’s private contractors who killed 17 Iraqis in Baghdad in 2007 should not be held accountable. Why? It’s Washington’s fault, they claim, as Blackwater fighters were acting as employees of the U.S. government at the time. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Karzai Shows Security Contractors the Door

Staff / Truthdig Oct 3, 2010 In your face, foreign community! Afghan President Hamid Karzai has begun dissolving foreign private security companies, including the firm formerly known as Blackwater, as he moves to make good on a promise to ban the private contractors by year's end. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Blackwater Agrees to Pay $42 million in Fines

Staff / Truthdig Aug 21, 2010 The company formerly known as Blackwater (now renamed Xe Services) has agreed to pay $42 million in fines, thereby avoiding criminal charges for the hundreds of alleged export violations it committed as a leading private contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

More Hot Water for Blackwater

Staff / Truthdig Apr 17, 2010 Once-esteemed (by the government, at least) mercenary corporation Blackwater is in some hot legal water after the company's former president and four other former employees were slapped with federal charges over the alleged stockpiling of automatic weapons. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

What Does Blackwater Have to Do?

Staff / Truthdig Mar 5, 2010 The company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide has been mired in scandal ever since its guards massacred some Iraqi civilians, but the government work keeps coming. Sen. Carl Levin has asked the Pentagon to think carefully about awarding a $1 billion contract to the company now known as Xe. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Blackwater Back in the Spotlight

Staff / Truthdig Feb 24, 2010 The Senate Armed Services Committee is investigating a Blackwater subsidiary's role in the shooting of two Afghans last year. The panel also criticized the Army for not properly supervising the company. Despite a dreadful track record, Blackwater, now called Xe, continues to have contracts with the U.S. government. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Justice Department Investigating Alleged Blackwater Bribes

Staff / Truthdig Feb 1, 2010 The Justice Department is reportedly looking into whether private security firm/mercenary agency Blackwater Worldwide attempted to buy off Iraqi officials following a shooting rampage in Baghdad. Blackwater employees have so far escaped criminal charges for the Nisour Square massacre that killed 17 Iraqis. (continued) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Biden Promises to Appeal Blackwater Dismissals

Staff / Truthdig Jan 24, 2010 Vice President Joe Biden expressed his personal regrets to Iraqi leaders and promised that the U.S. will appeal the dismissal of manslaughter charges against five Blackwater security contractors over a bloody Baghdad shooting in 2007 that killed 17 people. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Blackwater’s CIA Connection

Staff / Truthdig Dec 11, 2009 Reports are coming out that mercenaries from Blackwater Worldwide played central roles in some of the CIA’s most sensitive missions, including clandestine raids and the transport of detainees. Many guards claimed that Blackwater's participation was so routine that the lines between military and contractor were blurred. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Blackwater CEO Steps Down

Staff / Truthdig Mar 3, 2009 Saying that he's "taking on new challenges," Blackwater Worldwide founder and CEO Erik Prince announced Monday that he's resigning from his long-held position at the top of the security company, which has now changed its name to the spooky and sci-fi-tinged Xe. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )