Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

JustAnotherGen

(31,683 posts)
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 12:38 PM Mar 2016

Remember Blackwater? Erik Prince?


So I wrote this last year
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026501711#post65




He’s back – and he’s in trouble – big Time.
https://theintercept.com/2016/03/24/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-under-federal-investigation/

Did my best to take four paragraphs to get to the heart of the case.

ERIK PRINCE, founder of the now-defunct mercenary firm Blackwater and current chairman of Frontier Services Group, is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies for attempting to broker military services to foreign governments and possible money laundering, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the case.

What began as an investigation into Prince’s attempts to sell defense services in Libya and other countries in Africa has widened to a probe of allegations that Prince received assistance from Chinese intelligence to set up an account for his Libya operations through the Bank of China. The Justice Department, which declined to comment for this article, is also seeking to uncover the precise nature of Prince’s relationship with Chinese intelligence.



For more than a year, U.S. intelligence has been monitoring Prince’s communications and movements, according to a former senior U.S. intelligence officer and a second former intelligence official briefed on the investigation. Multiple sources, including two people with business ties to Prince, told The Intercept that current government and intelligence personnel informed them of this surveillance. Those with business ties were cautioned to sever their dealings with Prince.


Among the concerns of government investigators is that Prince’s attempts to provide defense-related services to Libya and other countries violate U.S. defense export regulations. Under federal law, U.S. citizens seeking to offer military services or technologies to Libya must have a license certifying that the services or articles are approved under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR. “Many of these services and articles are designed to kill people or defend against killing people,” said John Barker, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for export controls. “To protect U.S. national security and foreign policy as well as that of its allies, the U.S. requires prior authorization.”


ITAR is really serious. I have a sort of Homeland Security Function at a Telecom - and my team touches OFAC / BIS Lists - Import/Export regulations. ITAR violations - he might as well be smuggling children into the US as sex slaves. The teams that get to the root of these types of violations -

They don't charge unless they've got you.

It's really worth going to the article (Jeremy Scahill is one of the writers). Scahills writing always cuts down on the b.s. and gets you the 5 w's - and there are lots and lots and lots.

AND his team at Frontier Services Group threw him under the bus!

They aren't going the route of the former blackwater then xe and NOW Academi colleagues of protecting the little Prince. They threw his ass hard on this one.

Enjoy!
100 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Remember Blackwater? Erik Prince? (Original Post) JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 OP
Just Emailed to my Team JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 #1
I hope that you will update up with their responses. avebury Mar 2016 #20
Oh I've been talking and typing at the same time JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 #21
I have a long bio on the Prince and his parallels with UBL as a CIA contractor, here: leveymg Mar 2016 #54
Here's the kicker: HRC's State Dept. granted new contracts to Prince while he was being prosecuted leveymg Mar 2016 #55
T.M.T. Octafish Mar 2016 #61
If Wall Street can fake promise "compliance", then I suppose the MIC can, too, eh? MrMickeysMom Mar 2016 #92
You deserve a Pulitzer, leveymg. Octafish Mar 2016 #63
Blackwater was hardwired into Defense policy infrastructure - like Halliburton and KBR. blm Mar 2016 #79
Ditto on the thanks. leveymg Mar 2016 #82
I wonder: Was Robert Kagan hard-wired into the State Dept.? cprise Mar 2016 #97
Cole and Cahill deserve the Pulitzer. leveymg Mar 2016 #81
Obviously elljay Mar 2016 #23
You mean this Blackwater? Scuba Mar 2016 #2
Yep Scuba - and if you read the article JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 #4
Holyshit!! From Condie to Hillary! Duppers Mar 2016 #58
Wouldn't that be premeditated murder? Octafish Mar 2016 #62
Yeah, and Prince and the family he married into are supposed to be so super-Christian. bulloney Mar 2016 #3
Stacey Capace Deluke - his third wife? JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 #5
Isn't Prince married to someone from the Amway company? bulloney Mar 2016 #15
Yeppers! JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 #17
West Michigan and the DeVoss Family. safeinOhio Mar 2016 #38
What a Blackwater sewer rat. Duppers Mar 2016 #59
In this home we say if someone tells you they are Christian malaise Mar 2016 #52
. ReRe Mar 2016 #90
As we have all learned malaise Mar 2016 #93
Wasn't/isn't Prince some type of Christian fundamentalist zealot? jalan48 Mar 2016 #6
Roman Catholic JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 #7
Thanks for the info-I will check it out. jalan48 Mar 2016 #8
West Michigan, the home of the Dutch Reformed church. longship Mar 2016 #77
Just another friend of W's... Atman Mar 2016 #9
His relationship with Fed gov started in 1998 JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 #16
Prince sold Blackwater to.....Monsanto! dixiegrrrrl Mar 2016 #33
Monsanto owns JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 #34
Makes 2 of us. dixiegrrrrl Mar 2016 #43
Found these... Duppers Mar 2016 #69
Not exactly. Monsanto hired 'Total Intelligence'. progressoid Mar 2016 #50
dirty hands glinda Mar 2016 #84
And Disney and Barclays and  Deutsche Bank and the Canadian military etc. progressoid Mar 2016 #85
There should be a word or two added chervilant Mar 2016 #99
K&R. Thanks for posting this? nt tblue37 Mar 2016 #10
I could just hug you for finding this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! dixiegrrrrl Mar 2016 #11
Re Competition - it could be JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 #12
Wouldn't rule out the sex slave involvement--big money in that.. dixiegrrrrl Mar 2016 #13
Oh there's some juice about that JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 #14
The guy is absolute SCUM. SoapBox Mar 2016 #18
No wonder Prince changed his name to that glyph for a while! KamaAina Mar 2016 #19
He's one db I'd love to see strung up. nt valerief Mar 2016 #22
K&R me b zola Mar 2016 #24
maybe in my lifetime i will see at least one of these SOBs rot in jail rurallib Mar 2016 #25
Prince's attorney says he's totally innocent gratuitous Mar 2016 #26
Who is she???? dixiegrrrrl Mar 2016 #44
Victoria Toensing . . . gratuitous Mar 2016 #46
I can't wait to (fking hope) see him locked up lastone Mar 2016 #27
If we are very good and eat all our vegeatables dixiegrrrrl Mar 2016 #45
if Kissinger's too old/busy he'd make a great SoS! MisterP Mar 2016 #28
I just posted this on Facebook dixiegrrrrl Mar 2016 #29
Thanks - eta added JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 #30
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Mar 2016 #31
And remember the TARP bailout? forest444 Mar 2016 #32
Never heard that before! Octafish Mar 2016 #64
You're welcome, Octafish. forest444 Mar 2016 #67
Damn!! Duppers Mar 2016 #71
The trick is finding a "mainstream" source - and we've got one. forest444 Mar 2016 #72
Thank you, forest444! Duppers Mar 2016 #73
Sure thing, Duppers. forest444 Mar 2016 #74
Is it possible? I hope they have him. mountain grammy Mar 2016 #35
Ah yes Blackwater - from the "Where are they now?" file. Initech Mar 2016 #36
Wonderful. Duval Mar 2016 #37
Couldn't happen to a more deserving annabanana Mar 2016 #39
Can't they nail this guy for treason or some other equally punishable offense? Paper Roses Mar 2016 #40
Hope it sticks this time. Dont call me Shirley Mar 2016 #41
I remember them and would love to see babylonsister Mar 2016 #42
The Black Prince himself: he put the "war criminal" in... Raster Mar 2016 #47
K&R Thanks for posting felix_numinous Mar 2016 #48
Great news malaise Mar 2016 #49
DU pointed out Erik Prince - CIA connections way before MSM bought a clue. Octafish Mar 2016 #66
I was here malaise Mar 2016 #76
Posted to for later 1StrongBlackMan Mar 2016 #51
Thank you for the heads-up, JustAnotherGen! Octafish Mar 2016 #53
I remember when he was setting up his private army. suffragette Mar 2016 #100
Funny to see the intercept callling out someone for links to Chinese intelligence Blue_Tires Mar 2016 #56
I have a very hard time believing Aerows Mar 2016 #57
Pleasepleaseplease let him end up in prison! Rex Mar 2016 #60
seconded! n/t wildbilln864 Mar 2016 #65
Oh, no! if we can't trust mercenaries, who CAN we trust? tclambert Mar 2016 #68
This is serious. He should be convicted of Treason and EXECUTED, promptly nikto Mar 2016 #70
reagan set the bar pretty high by selling arms to iran out of the white house spanone Mar 2016 #75
Not to mention chemical weapons materials sold to Iraq. Ford_Prefect Mar 2016 #80
Prince Corp. heiress swindled out of $16 million MinM Mar 2016 #78
Do you know about the connections between HRC and Prince? grasswire Mar 2016 #83
He made some riveting remarks about Clinton which were pubished by Breitbart Samantha Mar 2016 #87
I'm talking about arms deals made while Hillary was SoS grasswire Mar 2016 #88
What do you know about Colombine? JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 #89
The massacre... SoapBox Mar 2016 #86
K&R ReRe Mar 2016 #91
K&R! MrMickeysMom Mar 2016 #94
k&r...n/t BlueCollar Mar 2016 #95
Dare we hope that Obama's DoJ is on the side of justice? lostnfound Mar 2016 #96
A ton of good info. Rec, thanks, nt. Mc Mike Mar 2016 #98

JustAnotherGen

(31,683 posts)
1. Just Emailed to my Team
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 12:42 PM
Mar 2016

Told them to be prepared in their one on ones next week to tell me five things he did wrong and why!

JustAnotherGen

(31,683 posts)
21. Oh I've been talking and typing at the same time
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 01:43 PM
Mar 2016

"JAG - I get fired if I even THINK about doing the first step in any of these right?"

Me: Adventure yes young skywalker. Excitement. An exporter craves not these things.


I talk 'yoda' sometimes. It amuses them.

leveymg

(36,418 posts)
54. I have a long bio on the Prince and his parallels with UBL as a CIA contractor, here:
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 04:12 PM
Mar 2016

Looks like I'll have to so some updating.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/4/810764/-

Erik Prince: American Bin Laden - CIA Asset, Money & Gunmen
By leveymg
Friday Dec 04, 2009 ·39


Erik Prince is the American Osama Bin Laden: a CIA asset with a lot of money and gunmen working for him.

The parallels extend further than recent reports that Prince was a paid CIA agent. See, http://www.theatlanticwire.com/...

The top people at Blackwater were CIA managers who ran a number of double-agents within al-Qaeda as Agency assets until 9/11. Before he headed a Blackwater subsidiary, Cofer Black was CIA Chief of Station in Khartoum in the mid-1990s at the time that bin Laden, Ali Mohamed, KSM and many other major terrorist figures were running CIA-assisted paramilitary operations against the Serbs and Russians from bases in Sudan. Al-Qaeda continued to operate against the Russians until 9/11, and at least thirteen of the 19 hijackers were originally recruited and trained to fight in Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya.(1) Erik Prince also got his start as a Special Forces Operator in Bosnia.

But, that's just the beginning of the strange network that binds together a group of CIA alumni, Blackwater, and al-Qaeda. MORE, below . . .

1991 - 2001: The CIA-al Qaeda Relationship From Afghanistan to 9/11

Introduction

The U.S. has never officially acknowledged its role in covert operations that occurred inside the breakaway Muslim areas of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia during the 1990s. Aside from the open U.S. military intervention that followed the November 1995 Dayton Peace Accord that ostensibly ended major hostilities in Bosnia, U.S. intelligence operations in the region remain classified. It is an open secret, however, that in the civil wars that followed in Bosnia, Kosovo, Dagestan, and Chechnya, the Central Intelligence Agency worked with several Islamic states, including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, and Iran, and had a cooperative role in arming, financing, and training their paramilitaries and allied mercenary groups and various Jihadist organizations, including what we know today as al-Qaeda.

. . .

leveymg

(36,418 posts)
55. Here's the kicker: HRC's State Dept. granted new contracts to Prince while he was being prosecuted
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 04:58 PM
Mar 2016

for Blackwater's violations in Iraq and was under active investigation for violations of State Department International Traffic in Arms Restrictions (ITAR) laws. As you read the following, bear in mind that the initial emails on Hillary's servers that came to light in 2013 were emails with Sid Blumenthal concerned activities by Bluementhal and other unnamed American "businessmen" to provide arms to the post-Ghaddafi Libyan regime and various contesting militias. This is exactly what Prince endeavored to do at that time:

“You push the buttons on the company, but the main bad guy gets away and does it again,” said an official who tried to prosecute Prince.
Prince has run up against ITAR in the past. In 2010, Prince sold most of his equity in the companies that fell under the Blackwater umbrella. Claiming that left-wing activists, Democratic politicians, and lawsuits had destroyed his companies, he left the United States and became a resident of Abu Dhabi. The remnant of his network was renamed Academi LLC. Federal prosecutors eventually attempted to prosecute Prince’s former companies, culminating in a 2012 deferred prosecution agreement to settle a lengthy list of U.S. legal and regulatory violations committed from 2005 through 2008 when Prince was in charge, including ITAR violations.
(NOTE: HRC’S STATE DEPT WAS THE FOLLOW-ON CONTRACTOR TO CIA CONTRACTS WITH BLACKWATER)
A senior official involved with the Blackwater-related litigation, who has since left the government, told The Intercept that the Obama administration’s continued willingness to award contracts to former Blackwater entities while the case was active was a fatal impediment to a successful prosecution. The official, comparing the former Blackwater empire to a drug syndicate, added that prosecutors could not get anyone under Prince to testify against him personally. “This is very much the concern,” the former official told The Intercept. “You push the buttons on the company, but the main bad guy gets away and does it again.”
No criminal charges were filed against Prince.
In federal court filings, Prince’s former companies admitted to providing — on numerous occasions during Prince’s tenure — defense goods and services to foreign governments without the required State Department licensing. In some cases, they admitted to providing services even after failing to obtain a license from the State Department.
As part of their settlement with the government, Prince’s companies ultimately agreed to pay nearly $50 million in fines and other penalties and to implement compliance procedures to ensure such illegal activities did not continue. In September 2015, the deferred charges were dismissed after the U.S. government certified that the companies had “fully complied” with all of its conditions.
At that point, Prince was already deep into creating new companies registered outside of the United States and appeared poised to return to the conduct that had marked his time at the helm of Blackwater.

MrMickeysMom

(20,453 posts)
92. If Wall Street can fake promise "compliance", then I suppose the MIC can, too, eh?
Fri Mar 25, 2016, 06:48 AM
Mar 2016

This disgusting PoS "businessman" gets a nod-wink all the way up the State Department (I must read this...)

Bookmarking!!!

K&R

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
63. You deserve a Pulitzer, leveymg.
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 06:27 PM
Mar 2016

I am not joking. You have spoken truth to the most powerful and wealthy individuals on the planet.

In addition to your journalism award, you deserve a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

blm

(112,920 posts)
79. Blackwater was hardwired into Defense policy infrastructure - like Halliburton and KBR.
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 08:52 PM
Mar 2016

It would take a generation to reverse the privatization policies that opened that door back in 1991 under Cheney's command.

Ditto on the salute to Mark.

cprise

(8,445 posts)
97. I wonder: Was Robert Kagan hard-wired into the State Dept.?
Fri Mar 25, 2016, 11:14 AM
Mar 2016

How about his wife?

Clinton took him on as an advisor at State and promoted his wife, Victoria.

Robert Kagan was a co-author of PNAC's call to topple a list of middle eastern regimes, and associated fake charges about WMD in Iraq.

elljay

(1,178 posts)
23. Obviously
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 01:45 PM
Mar 2016

the first one is not making enough "donations" to the politicians and agencies who would have protected him from prosecution.

 

Scuba

(53,475 posts)
2. You mean this Blackwater?
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 12:44 PM
Mar 2016
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/10/blackwater-state-department-contracts_n_5572355.html

State Department Awarded Blackwater More Than $1 Billion After Threat On Investigator’s Life
07/10/2014 03:15 pm ET | Updated Aug 20, 2014


The State Department awarded more than a billion dollars in funding to the security firm Blackwater and its later incarnations even after one of the company’s top officials allegedly threatened a government investigator’s life, a review by The Huffington Post has shown.

The New York Times revealed last week that the State Department’s chief investigator reported being threatened by a Blackwater official in Iraq in August 2007. The investigator said project manager Daniel Carroll told him “that he could kill me at that very moment and no one could or would do anything about it as we were in Iraq.”

Officials at the American embassy in Baghdad later asked the investigators conducting the Blackwater probe to leave. A few weeks later, in September, Blackwater guards shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians. A criminal trial for four of the guards is currently underway.

And yet, the threat did little to stop the spigot of contract money that headed Blackwater’s way. Between the date it was reportedly made, Aug. 21, and the end of September, the State Department designated over $269 million in funding for the firm, records show. In return, Blackwater provided training and protective services for the department in Iraq, Afghanistan, China and the United States. Some of the largest of those expenditures were approved after the shooting but were tied to contracts that had been signed previously.



Whoever was Secretary of State when this was going on should be kicked out of American government forever.

JustAnotherGen

(31,683 posts)
4. Yep Scuba - and if you read the article
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 12:50 PM
Mar 2016

You'll see where Scahill points out one of two reasons it was hard to prosecute -

He was still getting contracts from State Department.

His compadres refused to turn on him.


I'll give a third - and that's his third wife. Stacey Capace Deluke (Prince). She was his 'spokesperson'. Tell me that wasn't a smart marriage for him.

This is not about Clinton - as you are probably aware I won't be voting in the June Primary against my own interests. I'll let you and your arch enemies Clinton supporters duke it out on another thread if you want to start one showing how Clinton put Prince up to this . . .

This is about Erik Prince - a BILLIONAIRE ( literally getting away with ten kinds of murder) - doing the same shit for the Chinese now -

And now he's gonna geeeeeeeeeet iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!

Duppers

(28,094 posts)
58. Holyshit!! From Condie to Hillary!
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 06:02 PM
Mar 2016

Threaten some people and get paid +$1 Billion.

As per OP's request, I'll say no more.

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
62. Wouldn't that be premeditated murder?
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 06:21 PM
Mar 2016

Seeing how the boss threatened the Fed and his underlings later killed 17 people we know about.



There are videotapes taken from inside Blackwater cars, with the drivers laughing and carrying on as they run over, shoot at passing motorists and civilians, and generally mass murder.

bulloney

(4,113 posts)
3. Yeah, and Prince and the family he married into are supposed to be so super-Christian.
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 12:47 PM
Mar 2016

It's all about money and the end justifies the means for these hypocrites.

There must be some part of the Bible where Jesus supports killing and lust for money. I just haven't found it.

JustAnotherGen

(31,683 posts)
5. Stacey Capace Deluke - his third wife?
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 12:52 PM
Mar 2016

The first one - the one who died of cancer - she was a Roman Catholic.

He had an affair with the nanny and she showed up pregnant (basically as his date) to his first wife's funeral.

The third wife - used to be his spokesperson. HER ex husband was an attorney for Blackwater/Academi.

safeinOhio

(32,531 posts)
38. West Michigan and the DeVoss Family.
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 02:22 PM
Mar 2016

Kind of like the Koch Brothers of Michigan. Big $ for the likes of "Clean Water" Snyder.

JustAnotherGen

(31,683 posts)
7. Roman Catholic
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 01:05 PM
Mar 2016

Try and get his book from the library. He gives a song and dance at the beginning about being enamored with it thanks to the a friends influence. I think we need someone from Michigan to weigh in here. His family (mama is the anti Prop 8 Elsa) and sister (Betsy Devos married to Rick Devos - yeah THAT Rick Devos) are a religion many who descend from Dutch Immigrants to Western Michigan adhere to.

longship

(40,416 posts)
77. West Michigan, the home of the Dutch Reformed church.
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 08:28 PM
Mar 2016

A bunch of Calvinists -- predestinationalists, no good deeds will save your sorry ass from an eternity in Hell. So why not roll the dice and be evil incarnate? The DeVoss family and their followers on are just that. Half the city of Grand Rapids is named DeVoss. On Sundays they roll in the sidewalks in that town. They started AmWay, by the way. Then there's Calvin College, a supposedly academic institution.

A more evil, wretched family one could never find if one tried.



Atman

(31,464 posts)
9. Just another friend of W's...
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 01:14 PM
Mar 2016

...who caught on quickly that there was big money to be made in the Terror business.

JustAnotherGen

(31,683 posts)
16. His relationship with Fed gov started in 1998
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 01:33 PM
Mar 2016

Scahill wrote a book a few years back on Blackwater and Prince confirmed in his book - they started as a response to the Colombine shooting - training what to do in a situation like that.

Not sure if this will work - it's a letter to the editor link on google - Anne Tyrell wrote this years ago as an offical at Blackwater
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1120&dat=20070104&id=HfgyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4BAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=953,1811148&hl=en


They started as a training company.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
33. Prince sold Blackwater to.....Monsanto!
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 02:02 PM
Mar 2016

Scahill reported on that in The Nation, in 2010.

It is time for Monsanto to come crumbling down...I will go and stick a pin its doll.

progressoid

(49,825 posts)
85. And Disney and Barclays and  Deutsche Bank and the Canadian military etc.
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 10:45 PM
Mar 2016

It's a dirty world out there.

chervilant

(8,267 posts)
99. There should be a word or two added
Fri Mar 25, 2016, 11:52 AM
Mar 2016

to that letter. It should read:

Since then, Blackwater has trained more than 100,000 local police officers, SWAT team members, homeland security professionals, military personnel and others to help prepare them to serve and protect UBER WEALTHY U.S. citizens at home and abroad.


I'm sure others can think of more words...

Go BERNIE!!!

#NotMeUs

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
11. I could just hug you for finding this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 01:17 PM
Mar 2016

Jeremy Scahill has been on Prince for years now, and is such a wonderful journalist.
I remember seeing him on Democracy Now back when he was breaking the Blackwater story, and had been in the Middle East for quite some time.
He looked shell shocked, totally worn out, haunted eyes. I felt so sorry for him.

Off to read the story. So glad the Intercept is around too,

altho, I DO have to add:

Maybe the US just does not like competition.
We gave almost $700 million contract to an arms manufacturer to make cluster bombs ( which have been banned around the world)
and which are now turning up in Syria and Libya. ( VICE tv show just did a report on it)

and we send millions to Israel so they can buy weapons...it is called foreign aid, it is actually a subsidy to arms makers,
and we have supported the Saudis with re-fueling, logistics, etc at they bomb the hell out of civilian targets in Yemen,
otherwise known as war crimes.


I can understand where Prince got the idea he had a free ticket.

JustAnotherGen

(31,683 posts)
12. Re Competition - it could be
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 01:23 PM
Mar 2016

It (ITAR) was enacted in 1976 during the Cold War. Since we've been in a perpetual state of war and conflict since the 1980's - transferring our conflicts with the USSR to the Middle East and North Africa - makes sense it is still around.

You can get fined/imprisoned not only for engaging in the activity but in exporting (goods/money/money laundering) to those who engage in it. And the Chinese intelligence guy he met with - that's the money shot. MOST of those folks are on the BIS List. Even if you are an American citizen living abroad and doing business with foreign nationals - you cannot engage in this activity.

You cannot.

At the end - it was that little boy in Iraq his team murdered - it was his own freaking greed that did him in - not to mention his ego and sense of invincibility.

I believe every single word that Scahill and his cohort have written here. Every single word of it. This is a text book case of what not to do when engaging in financial transactions abroad as an American citizen.

JustAnotherGen

(31,683 posts)
14. Oh there's some juice about that
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 01:28 PM
Mar 2016

At Blackwater. Seriously (their old N.C. Facility) - and his employees in Iraq. I just don't have any deets around that.

 

KamaAina

(78,249 posts)
19. No wonder Prince changed his name to that glyph for a while!
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 01:37 PM
Mar 2016
Multiple sources, including two people with business ties to Prince, told The Intercept that current government and intelligence personnel informed them of this surveillance. Those with business ties were cautioned to sever their dealings with Prince.

Among the concerns of government investigators is that Prince’s attempts to provide defense-related services to Libya and other countries violate U.S. defense export regulations.


That's gotta hurt!

rurallib

(62,346 posts)
25. maybe in my lifetime i will see at least one of these SOBs rot in jail
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 01:48 PM
Mar 2016

I don't ask much, just a bit of justice every now and then, please?

gratuitous

(82,849 posts)
26. Prince's attorney says he's totally innocent
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 01:50 PM
Mar 2016

And who is that, you may ask? None other than Victoria Toensing.

gratuitous

(82,849 posts)
46. Victoria Toensing . . .
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 03:42 PM
Mar 2016

Google the name, and prepare to have your eyes roll right through the back of your head.

She's one of the go-to mouthpieces for Republicans in trouble and Republicans trying to start trouble. A brief compendium from Media Matters nearly two years ago:

http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/04/30/who-are-the-right-wing-medias-benghazi-lawyers/193842

 

lastone

(588 posts)
27. I can't wait to (fking hope) see him locked up
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 01:51 PM
Mar 2016

“He’s a rogue chairman,” said one of Prince’s close associates, who has monitored his attempts to sell mercenary forces in Africa.

That source, who has extensive knowledge of Prince’s activities and travel schedule, said that Prince was operating a “secret skunkworks program” while parading around war and crisis zones as FSG’s founder and chairman. “Erik wants to be a real, no-shit mercenary,” said the source. “He’s off the rails exposing many U.S. citizens to criminal liabilities. Erik hides in the shadows … and uses FSG for legitimacy.”

Little Erik trying to be a tough guy, fuck this asshole and all who are like him.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
45. If we are very good and eat all our vegeatables
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 03:33 PM
Mar 2016

we might find out he is linked to Trump, and get a 2-fer.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
29. I just posted this on Facebook
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 01:56 PM
Mar 2016

cause your additional info in the comments section is valuable.

Now we gotta track the story to make sure that the Prince who is really a toad does not get off scot free.

JustAnotherGen

(31,683 posts)
30. Thanks - eta added
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 01:58 PM
Mar 2016

The more people that know - the better.

These 'thugs' don't always get away with it.


Check out Scahill's book from 2007 - just the facts maam!
http://www.amazon.com/Blackwater-Rise-Worlds-Powerful-Mercenary-ebook/dp/B0097CYTYA

forest444

(5,902 posts)
32. And remember the TARP bailout?
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 02:00 PM
Mar 2016

After it failed to pass the first time, Bush famously sent Cheney to Congress in order to "persuade" them to do so.

And did he ever! It was said at the time (and later confirmed by a number of Congressmen) that Cheney literally threatened Congress with imposing martial law, and showed them proof that several Hercules aircraft full of shock troops were on their way from Iraq for the very purpose.

The shock troops were Blackwater.

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
64. Never heard that before!
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 06:31 PM
Mar 2016

Thank you, forest444. Couple that with what the NSA is capable of vacuuming and just about every single last one of them in the Cloak Room is in blackmail up to their elbows.

forest444

(5,902 posts)
67. You're welcome, Octafish.
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 06:39 PM
Mar 2016

I believe it was California Congressman Brad Sherman that first revealed that (frankly, I'm surprised he didn't suffer the same fate as the late great Sen. Paul Wellstone).

And thanks for always doing that most thankless of jobs: keeping them honest.

Duppers

(28,094 posts)
71. Damn!!
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 06:54 PM
Mar 2016

I totally believe you but do you have any links? I want to send this information to a frickin rethug whom I engage for s & g's.

Thanks.

forest444

(5,902 posts)
72. The trick is finding a "mainstream" source - and we've got one.
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 07:05 PM
Mar 2016

I remember first hearing about this on KPFK (Los Angeles) at the time; but because KPFK - also known as Pacifica Radio - is very much on the progressive side, it's easy for any Republican to dismiss it an "unreliable" (never mind that KPFK was taking about 'cost-plus' and other Iraq War corruption in 2005, the looming derivatives crash in 2006, NSA snooping in 2007, the trillions in off-the-books Fed loans to banks in 2008, the Birch Society's Tea Party project in 2009, and so many other things that are today common knowledge).

So here's the article from that time on CNN: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-150837

It's sad that we must rely on CNN to back up mentioning what should be obvious to anyone. Qué será.

Kudos to you, Duppers!

Duppers

(28,094 posts)
73. Thank you, forest444!
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 07:17 PM
Mar 2016

Bigger kudos to you!

Most of my info is dismissed, of course, but I've seen a crack in the wall at times.



Initech

(99,915 posts)
36. Ah yes Blackwater - from the "Where are they now?" file.
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 02:14 PM
Mar 2016

Where are they now? Under indictment! Hey o!!!!

Paper Roses

(7,468 posts)
40. Can't they nail this guy for treason or some other equally punishable offense?
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 03:18 PM
Mar 2016

Will the sins of GWB and company ever end?

babylonsister

(170,963 posts)
42. I remember them and would love to see
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 03:23 PM
Mar 2016

this asshat rot in jail for all the damage he did and money he made off the blood of others.

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
53. Thank you for the heads-up, JustAnotherGen!
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 04:07 PM
Mar 2016

Mebbe the guy's true loyalty is to the almighty dollar.

From the OP:



But behind the back of corporate leadership at FSG, Prince was living a double life.

Working with a small cadre of loyalists — including a former South African commando, a former Australian air force pilot, and a lawyer with dual citizenship in the U.S. and Israel — Prince sought to secretly rebuild his private CIA and special operations enterprise by setting up foreign shell companies and offering paramilitary services, according to documents reviewed by The Intercept and interviews with several people familiar with Prince’s business proposals.

Several of the proposals for private security services in African nations examined by The Intercept contained metadata in the digital files showing Prince and his inner circle editing and revising various drafts.

Since 2014, Prince has traveled to at least half a dozen countries to offer various versions of a private military force, secretly meeting with a string of African officials. Among the countries where Prince pitched a plan to deploy paramilitary assets is Libya, which is currently subject to an array of U.S. and United Nations financial and defense restrictions.

-- https://theintercept.com/2016/03/24/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-under-federal-investigation/



Seems like just the other day, young Erik was giving President Obama advice on who to kill by drone.

Blackwater managed CIA Predator drone assassination program



Ah, (FONDLY) they grow out of office and favor so fast!

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
56. Funny to see the intercept callling out someone for links to Chinese intelligence
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 05:27 PM
Mar 2016

but good news regardless...

 

Aerows

(39,961 posts)
57. I have a very hard time believing
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 05:35 PM
Mar 2016

that anyone in such an office, even tangentially, would post such a thing.

If so, I highly suggest you read your handbook and be a bit more cautious.

In other words, this is either horseshit, or somebody is leaking like a sieve (for the purpose of who knows what) and neither of those things are very promising for arriving at the truth.

tclambert

(11,080 posts)
68. Oh, no! if we can't trust mercenaries, who CAN we trust?
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 06:40 PM
Mar 2016

Who could have ever suspected that soldiers for hire might do something dishonorable?

 

nikto

(3,284 posts)
70. This is serious. He should be convicted of Treason and EXECUTED, promptly
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 06:51 PM
Mar 2016
It's the only way to be sure.



MinM

(2,650 posts)
78. Prince Corp. heiress swindled out of $16 million
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 08:42 PM
Mar 2016

Probably unrelated but this Erik Prince story brought to mind this odd one from a few weeks back about his mom getting swindled...


GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. (WZZM) - A Holland financial advisor is being charged with bilking Elsa D. Prince-Broekhuizen out of more than $16 million, according to felony information filed today in federal court.

The widow of billionaire industrialist Edgar D. Prince and mother of former Michigan GOP chair Betsy DeVos was swindled over the span of 16 years, according to the six-page felony information filed in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

Robert Allen Haveman is charged with wire fraud and money laundering. Court documents say he obtained more than $16.2 million through wire fraud.

The money was siphoned from Prince-Broekhuizen and the Elsa S. Prince Living Trust, according to court documents...

Starting in Jan. 1999, Haveman transferred money into his own personal account, using it for personal expenses and investments, the federal information states. The government accuses him of cooking company books to hide the fraud.

More than $500,000 was also transferred from a private energy company in Billings, Montana into Haveman’s personal account at Huntington National Bank, court records show.

Prince-Broekhuizen was married to Prince Corp. founder Edgar Prince, who died in 1995. The couple had four children, including Betsy DeVos and former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince. Elsa Prince remarried in 2000.

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/local/holland-zeeland/prince-corp-heiress-swindled-out-of-16-million/67963478

Samantha

(9,314 posts)
87. He made some riveting remarks about Clinton which were pubished by Breitbart
Fri Mar 25, 2016, 03:11 AM
Mar 2016

The information in his statement is riveting. I know this is not a source DU is fond of, so I am wary of quoting it. However, Prince gave an exclusive to the reporter Patrick Howley and it is published there. Several paragraphs are hair-raising. Just Google Eric Prince Hillary Clinton and you will see the article. He mentions her server (be sure to read that paragraph) and said she should not be allowed a security clearance for use of that private server, a buy-back attempt to purchase American-made weapons from Libyan rebels to be routed to Syria through the Benghazi embassy (OMG), some of which weapons probably ended up with ISIS. Just Google Erik Prince Hillary Clinton, and you will see the link.

Sam

JustAnotherGen

(31,683 posts)
89. What do you know about Colombine?
Fri Mar 25, 2016, 04:28 AM
Mar 2016

Let's go back to the 90's. However we'd have to also look at the connections between the family, Rushdooney, the Religious right, Erik going against his sister Betsy Devos and supporting Pat Buchanan's run, blanket training, prop 8, anti abortion initiatives, wife swapping, Condi Rice, Colin Powell, Bush the 2nd and the 1st, the Schmitz Family, Hurricane Katrina -

And a whole bunch of current and former members of the House of Representatives and Senate.

I'm not new. I have a dog eared copy of Republican Gommorah - only book more worn is The Family.

Up above was my short list. And people wonder why I'm thinking I'm just going to write in O'Malley on June 6th.

SoapBox

(18,791 posts)
86. The massacre...
Fri Mar 25, 2016, 01:03 AM
Mar 2016

Went to the other OP and the link about the sentencing of the 4 creeps that massacred all those people. I remember that...it was horrid.

This Prince scum really needs to rot in a cell like his murderous cronies.

ReRe

(10,597 posts)
91. K&R
Fri Mar 25, 2016, 05:24 AM
Mar 2016

Yup... I remember. Holier-than-thou. Born again Christian.

If someone approaches me now and says he/she is a business person or a Christian, I get the effing hell out of there, pronto.

Hope to hell this guy and his cohorts up and down the line get what's coming to them.

lostnfound

(16,138 posts)
96. Dare we hope that Obama's DoJ is on the side of justice?
Fri Mar 25, 2016, 08:20 AM
Mar 2016

No sacred cows.
I remember Erik prince also for a Wall Street journal article about his insanely expensive birthday party for his child who was a young teen.
Blood money

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Remember Blackwater? Erik...