In Darfur, Mia Farrow Says Blackwater Can Help Where Governments Have Failed

From a refugee camp in Darfur, actress Mia Farrow calls on Blackwater to help resolve the terrible humanitarian crisis in Sudan. Farrow (pictured in a file photo) says she's already been in touch with the company's chairman to talk about solutions.

ABC News reports, "Two unlikely allies met for breakfast last month in New York to discuss a possible collaboration: Mia Farrow, actress and passionate activist for Darfur refugees, and Erik Prince, founder and CEO of the government contractor, Blackwater Worldwide.

"Farrow told ABC News that Blackwater, despite its controversial history and allegations of murdering civilians in Iraq, might be able to help the 'hopelessly under-equipped' African Union forces deployed in Darfur with logistics and training.

"'Blackwater has a much better idea of what an effective peace-keeping mission would look like than western governments,' Farrow told ABC News from a refugee camp in near the Darfur border. Farrow said those governments have been unsuccessful in standing up to the Sudanese government and bringing peace to the region."

The rest of the article consists of commentary pooh-poohing the idea and trashing Blackwater. But Farrow is an important advocate given her cultural status and her leadership in the pro-Darfur movement.

Prince told the Wall Street Journal last month that he would provide the expertise, training and logistics to support a duly constituted African force in Darfur, and that he would do it at-cost, that is, as a charitable action.

New Republic Supports Blackwater in Darfur

The liberal New Republic, a sometime critic of Blackwater, has come out calling for the private security contractor to assume a role in ending the Darfur genocide.

"The best way to end the massacres of Africans," Marty Peretz writes, "is for a sizable (but not enormous) and armed soldiery with airplanes to take on the mission, not so much of rescue from this atrocity here and that atrocity there but of systematic interposition between the murderers and their designated victims." This is precisely the sort of logistics-intensive work at which Blackwater excels.

Which is why Mia Farrow, "one of the real heroes of the 'Save Darfur' movement" according to the New Republic, "has actually asked Blackwater to help. Some of you may smirk. But private security is better than no security at all for the Darfurians."

The real question now is whether the politicians care enough about the people of Darfur to get over their ideological hang-ups and allow someone to actually do something about the crisis there.

Activists Turn to Blackwater for Darfur Security

Talk of a role for Blackwater in Darfur has gotten considerably more serious, appearing in the sober-minded Financial Times. The British newspaper reports that actress and activist Mia Farrow, "frustrated by the stalled deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force," has approached Blackwater's Erik Prince "to discuss whether a military role was either feasible or desirable."

“Ms Farrow, who represents Dream for Darfur, a human rights group, and other lobbyists this week lambasted the UN Security Council for its 'shameful' failure to halt killings in the Sudanese province.” Many critics of UN deployment to Sudan - not least the Chinese government, which has a guns-for-resources relationship with the regime which has backed the genocide - have expressed concern that the Sudanese government might not like to have peacekeepers in its backyard, be they UN, Blackwater or otherwise. “Did Adolf Hitler get to choose which troops should be deployed to end his genocide?” Ms. Farrow shot back at the Security Council. “How long will you continue to allow the government of Sudan to manipulate this body?”

As this blog has previously noted, Blackwater's greatest contribution would not be in supplying boots on the ground; African nations are willing and able to provide that. Where Blackwater could make a real difference is in organization, logistics, training and communications. Blackwater's extensive experience with both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, in some of the world's most inhospitable environments, would be a major force multiplier for any African-lead peacekeeping effort.

Blackwater: Part of the Darfur Solution?

Benny Avni of the New York Sun has written a fascinating letter to Alain Le Roi, the new head of peacekeeping at the United Nations:

For help, you'd be wise to contact two people who come from two extreme ends of America's finest traditions. You probably remember Mia Farrow from the movies. Erik Prince's excellent corporation, Blackwater USA, is often vilified in your circles, so you've probably heard of him, as well. I spoke to both of them recently. She's very dot-org. He's all dot-com. She's a bleeding heart, an effective and fierce fighter against injustice. He's a successful businessman, whose business is peacemaking. I'm no matchmaker, but if opposites really do attract, this, for the suffering people of Darfur, would be a match made in heaven.

Mr. Avni goes on to explain that Erik Prince has previously mentioned his willingness to lend a hand in Darfur, should he be called upon to do so. Moreover, he notes that Blackwater need not be employed as trigger-pullers to change the situation on the ground. Simply by doing logistics and communications, "Blackwater can organize [the 9,000 African troops already deployed there] into a force to be reckoned with." Why? Because peacekeeping is about more than just toting guns. It requires high levels of technical competency.

You'll also need highly trained people on the ground. Mr. Prince's men are some of the best in the business. Your predecessor has traveled the world nonstop, begging donors for a few helicopters, which are necessary in the vast deserts of Darfur; Blackwater has helicopters. Blackwater, in short, can cut your costs and the loss of life.

Mr. Avni is quite aware that Blackwater has been in the news, and not always favorably. But he has few qualms about recommending them to the UN, noting that Blackwater "contracts are heavily regulated by the American government." His conclusion: "Go to [Mr. Prince and Ms. Farrow], secretly or in public, just for advice or to sign contracts, together or separately. Nongovernment types like Ms. Farrow, and organizations like Mr. Prince's have an interest in Darfur. They are your best bet there, and thus everywhere."