Blackwater Chief Welcomes Extra Oversight

Blackwater USA has been called the largest private army in the world but little is known about how it operates. The company has a thousand highly trained and well armed security specialists on the ground in Iraq alone, hired by the U.S. government to protect American officials.

But some of those men are now under investigation for the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad last month. It's not the first time the company has been accused of reckless Rambo-like behavior.

The man who founded Blackwater, former Navy SEAL Erik Prince, doesn't like talking to the press but with his company under attack, he agreed to do an interview with 60 Minutes' Lara Logan this past Friday to defend his men and reject charges that they are arrogant guns for hire, mercenaries, accountable to no one.

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"I'm an American working for America. Anything we do is to support U.S. policy. You know the definition of a mercenary is a professional soldier that works in the pay of a foreign army. I'm an American working for America," Prince says.

60 Minutes met Prince at his sprawling headquarters, 7,000 acres carved out of swampland in a remote part of North Carolina. This is the staging ground for Blackwater operations in Iraq. The company has a manufacturing plant which makes its own brand of armored personnel carriers. There's also an aircraft hangar where brand-new helicopters are being tuned up to transport and defend State Department personnel in Iraq, which is Blackwater's main mission in the war. The contract is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The company's security contractors, who earn as much as $20,000 a month, have developed a reputation of shooting first and asking questions later.

"Some of the words that are commonly used to describe your guys, at the risk of making you angry, 'blond guerrillas,' 'cowboy attitude,' 'reckless,' 'arrogant,' 'aggressive,' 'excessively aggressive,'" Logan remarks.

"That's not an accurate allegation," Prince says. "Our guys, most of them are decorated military veterans from either Iraq or Afghanistan already."

Asked why he thinks this perception about Blackwater exists, Prince tells Logan, "General misunderstanding because we've not been able to communicate what we do and what we don't do these last few years."

In our interview, Prince was eager to communicate Blackwater's version of what happened when 17 civilians were killed in Baghdad last month. He says it all started with a massive car bomb that exploded outside a building where Blackwater was providing security for an American government official.

What happened next is in dispute. Iraqi survivors and witnesses say a Blackwater convoy opened fire without provocation, shooting and killing unarmed civilians. Erik Prince disagrees.

"Bad things usually don't happen by themselves in Iraq," Prince tells Logan. "Our guys get shot at on an almost daily basis. They don't even record all the times they take fire."

Based on what he knows at this time, Prince doesn't believe that anybody did anything egregiously wrong. "I've not seen…any evidence to support any kind of egregious, malicious, intentional wrong behavior," he tells Logan.

"So, when you hear the Iraqi government complete an investigation in record time, I think, a matter of days and pronounce you 100 percent guilty, what's your reaction?" Logan asks.

"I take it all with a grain of salt because three of our full armored State Department trucks had bullet pockmarks in them. And one of them was even disabled from the enemy small arms fire," Prince says.

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[s8junkie]

First Katie Couric and now this bimbo. She''s a disaster. How about getting Barney The Dinosaur? What''s happened to 60 Minutes?

[liamjd20]

Watching Lara Logan conduct an interview is like nails going down a blackboard...Please save us all and get rid of her.I wanted to watch the interview but could not get through the first 5 minutes.

[nicelittle]

Shame on you Ms. Logan, for helping Mr. Prince score the PR points I''m sure he was aiming for with this venue. This was a softball, patsy interview on par with Russert''s interview of Bush.

Why not ask Prince to comment on any of the other Blackwater incidents (besides the most recent) that have been detailed in various places? Shouldn''t he answer for the obvious PATTERN of ruthless and random violence from his employees demonstrated by these incidents? Can''t he comment on why outsourcing security to Blackwater has been so much more expensive, and why so much of his work has been no-bid. Why not mention in the segment the deep political ties that Prince and Blackwater have to the administration? Clearly this is a key explanation of what''s going on here, but you choose to ignore it, perhaps to maintain some misguided sense of balance and fairness.

The interview makes me question 60 minutes credibility - one of the few shows that I''ve always respected for their journalism. I''ve read Prince and Blackwater have hired on some high-powered PR firms to help calm the waters, and this interview makes me wonder whether any of that money influenced your journalism. I wonder whether he would agree to be interviewed by the BBC - where journalists do their job and ask hard questions. I suspect not - he had a sweet deal going with Ms. Logan and CBS News, so why spoil it?

[pixelslinger]

How carefully we choose how to define what a mercenary is - if we choose the second definition of the word, yes, that matches what Prince says... but the primary definition for mercenary?

"1. working or acting merely for money or other reward; venal."

mmmmm.... selectivism in presentation is such a weasles exit. Removing oneself from the regular service of the country, so that your skills can be put on a higher bracket, and without the rules governing engagement and aggression that you were bound by doing actual service -

Yes. That makes you a mercenary.

[mnandame]

I can%u2019t really remember a time when %u201C60 Minutes%u201D wasn%u2019t on the air... or when I have been disappointed by the quality of your investigative journalism... UNTIL last Sunday%u2019s mediocre report about Blackwater, which clocked in at barely 8 minutes and yet took 3 producers to create.

The use of private security forces in our war against Iraq is unprecedented in American history. The amount of money we%u2019re spending on private contractors in this war is mind-boggling, while the lack of legal accountability is shocking, destabilizing to the region, and shameful. Your piece explored none of this. Instead you basically gave Mr. Prince quality air-time to deliver unchallenged PR friendly sound-bites that promoted his company. Where was the other side of the story? Where were the critics of Blackwater? The evidence of their crimes or exonerations if indeed they exist? Where were the eyewitnesses? Where was an interview with Jeremy Scahill who has written an entire book on Blackwater? Where was the questioning about behavior in New Orleans after Katrina? I could go on and on...

Usually %u201C60 Minutes%u201D explores many permutations of a story, interviews critics, and delves deep. This piece was lacking on all fronts. I never thought I%u2019d see such a shoddy piece of journalism from your show. Ever. I can%u2019t believe anyone on your staff thought this piece met your usually high standards and was permitted to go to air. I am extremely disappointed.

[mnandame]

I can%u2019t really remember a time when %u201C60 Minutes%u201D wasn%u2019t on the air... or when I have been disappointed by the quality of your investigative journalism... UNTIL last Sunday%u2019s mediocre report about Blackwater, which clocked in at barely 8 minutes and yet took 3 producers to create.

The use of private security forces in Iraq is unprecedented in our history. The amount of money we%u2019re spending on private contractors in this war is mind-boggling, while the lack of legal accountability is shocking, destabilizing to the region, and shameful. Your piece explored none of this. Instead you gave Mr. Prince quality air-time to deliver unchallenged PR friendly sound-bites that promoted his company. Where was the other side of the story? Where were the critics of Blackwater? The evidence of their crimes or exonerations if indeed they exist? Where were the eyewitnesses? Where was an interview with Jeremy Scahill who has written an entire book on Blackwater? Where were the questions about Blackwater''s behavior in New Orleans after Katrina? I could go on and on...

Usually %u201C60 Minutes%u201D explores many permutations of a story, interviews critics, and delves deep. This piece was lacking on all fronts. I never thought I%u2019d see such a shoddy piece of journalism from your show. I am extremely disappointed.

[hausermtn]

What about the other side of the story ? Erik Prince gets to do a Public relations smooth over piece in Suport of his war proffiteering, tax dollar burning, Blackwater. No privatizing of our military. Why are we giving money to this rich recluse? "Support the troops," pay them as much as Blackwater hired guns. What about that angle 60 minutes? What about the families of those Blackwater guys killed in FAllejah? What about telling their story, and how Blackwater treated them? Where is the investigative reporting? Where is your Outrage? They do not not need your Public relation pitty platform they need to be booted from Iraq and tried for war profitteering. We do not want them in San Diego.

[hausermtn]

What about the other side of the story ? Erik Prince gets to do a Public relations smooth over piece in Suport of his war proffiteering, tax dollar burning, Blackwater. No privatizing of our military. Why are we giving money to this rich recluse? "Support the troops," pay them as much as Blackwater hired guns. What about that angle 60 minutes? What about the families of those Blackwater guys killed in FAllejah? What about telling their story, and how Blackwater treated them? Where is the investigative reporting? Where is your Outrage? They do not not need your Public relation pitty platform they need to be booted from Iraq and tried for war profitteering. We do not want them in San Diego.

[hausermtn]

What about the other side of the story ? Erik Prince gets to do a Public relations smooth over piece in Suport of his war proffiteering, tax dollar burning, Blackwater. No privatizing of our military. Why are we giving money to this rich recluse? "Support the troops," pay them as much as Blackwater hired guns. What about that angle 60 minutes? What about the families of those Blackwater guys killed in FAllejah? What about telling their story, and how Blackwater treated them? Where is the investigative reporting? Where is your Outrage? They do not not need your Public relation pitty platform they need to be booted from Iraq and tried for war profitteering. We do not want them in San Diego.

[hausermtn]

What about the other side of the story ? Erik Prince gets to do a Public relations smooth over piece in Suport of his war proffiteering, tax dollar burning, Blackwater. No privatizing of our military. Why are we giving money to this rich recluse? "Support the troops," pay them as much as Blackwater hired guns. What about that angle 60 minutes? What about the families of those Blackwater guys killed in FAllejah? What about telling their story, and how Blackwater treated them? Where is the investigative reporting? Where is your Outrage? They do not not need your Public relation pitty platform they need to be booted from Iraq and tried for war profitteering. We do not want them in San Diego.