Two anonymous affidavits filed this past Monday by persons going under the names “John Doe 1 and 2″ claim that the private security firm Xe, formerly known as Blackwater, have committed several crimes against the Iraqi people, including murder, gun running, and use of child prostitutes.
Furthermore, one of the claimants says of former Blackwater president Erik Prince that he described himself as “a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe.” Company spokespersons have denied the claims.
So, here’s the thing: It’s going to be really tricky for Xe to pull itself out of this continuing series of allegations. Whether or not there’s any truth to these claims, as in any such case, sometimes making the allegation is enough to cause an avalanche of suspicion and distrust to bury the defendant in question, to the point where the end is nearly inevitable.
Considering what these guys do for a living, it’s an easy leap in many people’s minds from legitimate security concern to power-corrupted lapsed morality. There is a deliberate stance that these outfits must take merely to be able to do their job well. Public perception of these figures is no doubt fueled by the sensationalist media, including military action movies. Civilians simply don’t trust firms like these to be completely above-board with their activities, and it’s hard to make the case that they ought to do otherwise. I wouldn’t be surprised if this marks the beginning of the end of Xe.
Comments
Adam
August 5th, 2009 - 4:05:54 PM
The Blackwater allegations have been around for quite some time now. I first heard about them when they unnecessarily killed innocent Iraqi citizens at point blank range, without any reason (apparently an Iraqi vehicle was in the intersection and the Blackwater vehicle didn't want to wait to move). They were spared a trial, however, as they were technically mercenaries, and thus, above the law. US legislators have since changed the law on that, but it was too late to get them for that offense. Meanwhile, Blackwater defended their soldiers' actions and hid evidence from the US. Whatever the case, it's no doubt that this organization is super shady.