'It's open season on security contractors'

IraqSlogger.com has a great review of the Human Rights First report on private security contractors.

Written by Robert Y. Pelton, the commentary says, "the report doesn' t really cover new ground but it makes the same points made by many others that a) there are more contractors now than at any other time in recent military conflict, b) they are being protected by official and unofficial methods to avoid prosecution or liability, and c) security contractors have joined the ranks of baby seal bashers, Salvation Army bucket thieves, celebrity paparazzi and Nigerian 401 spammers as the profession most hated by the media."

All in all a fine and funny critique, with comments on the larger issues at hand. "While the media and the Left focus on pointing out the obvious, that security contractors were designed to be a 'use once and throw away when done' solution to GWOT, they have become a critical part of both military and humanitarian operations," Pelton writes.

Looking beyond the State Department?

A longtime local critic of Blackwater, reporter Bill Sizemore of the Virginian-Pilot in the Norfolk area, seems wowed by how CEO Erik Prince has handled the unprecedented national media attention.

Reading the tea leaves, Sizemore and fellow critic Robert Young Pelton speculate that Prince has decided to go on without the State Department as a client. What follows is from Sizemore's October 19 article headlined "Blackwater, Prince looking ahead after media blitz":

"'I think he’s given up on the State business,' Pelton said. 'I think he got told, "You’re outta here," and he said, "OK, I want to tell my side of the story." And that’s when you saw him on TV. …

"'I could be terribly wrong, but the way he’s burned his bridges, there’s been some huge rift between Blackwater and the State Department. … If he keeps that business it’ll be a miracle.'

"The Associated Press has quoted unnamed US officials as saying they do not expect Blackwater to continue its diplomatic security work in Iraq after its current contract expires next May.

"In an interview with The Washington Times, Prince took an unusual swipe at the State Department, expressing disappointment that it has not come to the company’s defense."

New York Times unusually positive about Blackwater owner

Not all New York Times coverage of the Blackwater controversy has been hopelessly skewed. In a profile of Blackwater CEO Erik Prince, James Risen strikes a rather balanced tone that has been atypical of the Times' general reporting on the company. Here's how Risen begins in his piece published October 8:

"Erik D. Prince, the crew-cut, square-jawed founder of Blackwater USA, the security contractor now at the center of a political storm in both Washington and Baghdad, is a man seemingly born to play a leading role in the private sector side of the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"He is both a former member of the Navy Seals and the scion of a fabulously wealthy, deeply religious family that is enmeshed in Republican Party politics. As a result, the 38-year-old Mr. Prince stands at the nexus between American Special Operations, which has played such a critical role in the war operations, and the nation’s political and business elite, who have won enormous government contracts as war operations have increasingly been outsourced. . . .

"Unlike many other young men who inherit great wealth, Mr. Prince also struck out on his own and joined the Navy Seals at a time when few other men of his economic class were willing to serve in the military. After his father died and left him a fortune, Mr. Prince’s experience in Special Operations led him to found Blackwater, and he has made a point of hiring other former members of the Navy Seals, including some who now play prominent management roles.

"But now that Blackwater is under scrutiny for its involvement in the Sept. 16 shootings of as many as 17 Iraqis in downtown Baghdad, some critics are questioning whether Mr. Prince’s political connections have propelled the company’s sudden
rise." (Risen then quotes from a Blackwater critic from The Nation, who praises Prince for his military vision but faults him for his politics.)

"Yet supporters say the image of Mr. Prince as a Republican carpetbagger and war profiteer is nothing more than an inaccurate cartoon. 'Republican connections have nothing to do with Blackwater,' said Chris Taylor, a former Blackwater vice president.

"'In the senior positions at Blackwater, there are Democrats,' he added. 'If Erik is a conservative, I never heard anybody say that you have to be a conservative to be here. People need to know just how exceptional a guy he is. He’s very generous, and greatly respected in the company.'"

Robert Young Pelton, a Blackwater critic who is one of the few to have interviewed Prince at length, says "it would be wrong to assume that Mr. Prince’s political
connections account for his success," in Risen's words.

"'It is a mistake to characterize him as his father, or by the right-wing groups his father supported,' Mr. Pelton said. 'Politically, I think he is more of a libertarian. He hates government sloth, even as his company gets most of its business from the government.'"