Article: Jeremy Scahill on Erik Prince's Private Army of "Christian Crusaders" (video)

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From the Wednesday, May 18 production of Democracy Now:

Jeremy Scahill on Blackwater Founder Erik Prince's Private Army of "Christian Crusaders" in the UAE

Amy Goodman interviews longtime Blackwater/Eric Prince investigator Jeremy Scahill about Prince's latest enterprise, organizing a private army for the monarchy of the United Arab Emirates:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Continuing from Democracy Now, whose rush transcripts are available for public use:

The United Arab Emirates has confirmed hiring a company headed by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of the military firm Blackwater. According to the New York Times, the UAE secretly signed a $529 million contract with Prince's new company, Reflex Responses, to put together an 800-member battalion of foreign mercenaries. The troops could be deployed if foreign guest workers stage revolts in labor camps, or if the UAE regime were challenged by pro-democracy protests like those sweeping the Arab world. Prince has one rule about the new force: no Muslims. We speak to investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill and Samer Muscati of Human Rights Watch. [includes rush transcript]

Guests:

Jeremy Scahill, award-winning investigative journalist and author of the bestselling book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. He is the national security correspondent at The Nation magazine and a Democracy Now! correspondent. His most recent blog entry is titled 'Erik Prince, You're No Indiana Jones'

Samer Muscati, Iraq and United Arab Emirates researcher at Human Rights Watch

Rush Transcript

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AMY GOODMAN: The United Arab Emirates has confirmed hiring a company headed by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of Blackwater. According to the New York Times, the UAE secretly signed a $529 million contract with Prince's new company, Reflex Responses, or R2, to put together an 800-member battalion of mercenaries.

Documents show the force is intended to conduct special operations missions inside and outside the country, defend oil pipelines and skyscrapers from attacks, and put down internal revolts. The troops could be deployed if foreign guest workers stage revolts in labor camps, or if the UAE regime were challenged by pro-democracy protests like those sweeping the Arab world. One contract document describes, quote, "crowd-control operations" where the crowd "is not armed with firearms but does pose a risk using improvised weapons (clubs and stones)."

The UAE is a close ally with the United States, and it appears the deal has received the Obama administration's support. One U.S. official told the Times, quote, "The gulf countries, and the U.A.E. in particular, don't have a lot of military experience. It would make sense if they looked outside their borders for help. They might want to show that they are not to be messed with."

News of the deal also comes just weeks after the UAE's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, visited President Barack Obama at the White House late last month. A White House statement said Obama and the Crown Prince would discuss, quote, "the strong ties between the United States and the U.A.E. and our common strategic interests in the region."

A number of U.S. citizens, including former Blackwater employees, have occupied senior positions in the operation. Legal experts have questioned whether those involved might be breaking federal laws prohibiting U.S. citizens from training foreign troops if they did not secure a license from the U.S. Department of State. The force is reportedly made up of Colombians, South Africans and other foreign troops. Prince reportedly has a strict rule against hiring any Muslims because he's worried they could not be counted on to kill fellow Muslims.

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