Blackwater's "Indiana Jones" May Soldier For
Right-Wing Christianity In Africa
When
I was a kid, my father tried to translate the family name - Vojir - to
me (from Czech): "It means a kind of paid soldier. A Hessian. A soldier
of fortune." Ah, "soldier of fortune" was great way to put it, I
thought. I didn't press any further. I was satisfied. Glamorous.
Mysterious. Sophisticated. It was only when I was in college that I
realized that the meaning was closely related to the term "mercenary."
Somehow, "mercenary" isn't as glamorous.
So I sit here a "mercenary," writing about Erik Prince, today's undisputed king of mercenaries. Of Blackwater infamy. A man whose "soldiers" are feared more in Iraq and Afghanistan than any U.S. military force. A man with extremely close ties to Family Research Council and Focus on the Family. OK, I'll stop channeling Rachel Maddow, but you get my drift.
And the makings for a conspiracy just might be in this bit of news:
Sources close to Blackwater and its secretive owner Erik Prince claim that the embattled head of the world's most infamous mercenary firm is planning to move to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Middle Eastern nation, a major hub for the US war industry, has no extradition treaty with the United States. In April, five of Prince's top deputies were hit with a fifteen-count indictment by a federal grand jury on conspiracy, weapons and obstruction of justice charges. Among those indicted were Prince's longtime number-two man, former Blackwater president Gary Jackson, former vice presidents William Matthews and Ana Bundy and Prince's former legal counsel Andrew Howell.
Prince's move is like a Midwest tornado watch: the conditions are ripe for something to happen. Could it be a conscious conspiracy or just a re-grouping?
Most
of the media have translated the move as a protection against
prosecution for crimes, including the alleged murder of an informant
inside Blackwater. This could very well be. But is it the only reason?
Let's look at Erik's closest relations, friends and allies:
For starters, Erik Prince's father, Edgar Prince, used a great
deal of his auto parts fortune to fund both Focus on the Family and The
Family Research Council.
Elsa Prince Broekhuizen - Erik's mother - gave a whopping $450,000 to California's Prop 8 campaign. After the death of Edgar Prince, she married her pastor, Ren Broehuizen. She was also a member of the secretive Council on National Policy.* The CNP was founded by author Tim LaHaye (the Left Behind series). Elsa Prince is also a major contributor and board member of The Family Research Council. Of course, because of major contributions, the FRC runs its mass printing facility out of Holland, MI. (Prince's home).
Betsy DeVos - sister of Erik - was chairman of the Republican Party for the State of Michigan. Her husband, Jim DeVos is heir to the Amway fortune and attempted a run for Governor of Michigan. Betsy is also chairman of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty. The Institute's mission is to "promote a free and virtuous society characterized by individual liberty and sustained by religious principles." Some of its members are, like Marvin Orlasky, dedicated to demonizing the beliefs of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.
Joseph E. Schmitz was special assistant to Attorney General Edwin Meese, then Inspector General of the Department of Defense under George H.W. Bush. Before his resignation, he recused himself from the investigation of Blackwater Worldwide in order to take a position for the Prince Group (holding company of Blackwater). Non-related tidbit: Schmitz's sister is the (in)famous Mary Kay Letourneau who was convicted of having sexual relations with a minor (then a 12-year-old boy whom she later married).
