Blackwater Chief Welcomes Extra Oversight

Founder Erik Prince Says Blackwater Guards Came Under Fire In Controversial Shooting

(CBS)  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.

[narcddvr]

Overall it comes down to this: if Iraq kicks out our private security forces, pull all the contractors and diplomats protected by them, let Iraq rebuild on it''s own. It is clear the Iraqi''s can not handle the job of protecting the contractors responsible for rebuilding, and I for one would not even consider aiding the rebuilding efforts without private security protection. I have the utmost respect for our troops and what they are accomplishing but private security forces primary mission is to protect the specific people assigned to them, which is what they have DONE. Overall, if our private security forces are pulled, remove everybody they are responsible for protecting, clearly Iraq thinks they can do a better job.

[tnt1954]

i just read about denard, famous infamous, french
mercenary chief who staged coups with or without
french government consent all over africa and
the middle east and the comoros islands specifically.
we americans are so full of our own bull. others
have far more irons in the fire than us, and can
take down an eagle with one blow also. they can
also throw a bull market into a tailspin with
the flick of a switch. like ulysses s. grant,
we take food for granted. the deuxieme bureau
is no piece of cake, and neither is the french
foreign legion. pour quois? s''il vous plait?
merci? mercy.

[jaspannsa]

In regards to the earlier commentator Narc, why we should have ever been there is the biggest concern to begin with. BILLIONS of unaccounted dollars are wasted in hopes of gaining the natural resources from an Arab country, the fact that we are making this guy extremely wealthy and giving him access to high technology weapons freaks me out. There is something seriously wrong with this guy. His icy gaze says it all.

[jaspannsa]

In regards to the earlier commentator Narc, why we should have ever been there is the biggest concern to begin with. BILLIONS of unaccounted dollars are wasted in hopes of gaining the natural resources from an Arab country, the fact that we are making this guy extremely wealthy and giving him access to high technology weapons freaks me out. There is something seriously wrong with this guy. His icy gaze says it all.

[j11070]

What a slobbering *** kiss of Blackwater! Logan should be ashamed of that report. It was a blatant softball.

Why didn''t she give any face time to the victims or the Iraqi authorities or the U.S. military who investigated? Allowing that CEO to claim he''s just an American working for America without challenging him and in fact, trembling that she might "make him angry."


Unbelievable.

[wendywichay]

Lara Logan probably did a good interview, but it was hard to tell because many of her comments and questions were hard to understand.

[unakim]

That was quite possibly the worst 60 minutes interview I have ever seen. Was that anything more than a paid advertisement for Blackwater? The questions were soft and leading, and you couldn''t help but think she''s either sleeping with the guy or trying to. "The public wants to hear you say you wish innocent people hadn''t died." That''s a probing question? An interviewer shouldn''t be afraid of asking hard questions and she avoided them like the plague. 60 minutes should be embarrassed.

Mr Prince sincerely wishes that all this insurgency wasn''t so...oh come on... the insurgency in Iraq is how he makes his money. Big supporter of the Bush run for president did pay off after all.

[myrstad-2009]

The Blackwater interview was one of the worst I have ever seen on television. In fact it was more like an infomercial for Blackwater than a real news story. Where were the tough questions? Where were the serious people (from Congress, the US Armed Forces, the Iraqui Government) who dispute Blackwater''s take on reality.

Rather than fawning simishly over the president of Blackwater, why not do a real news show?

I''m irate!!!

[l_linnell4]

I''m embarrassed that Lara Logan would try so hard to make Blackwater look bad in this story. I''m tired of American''s and close allies digging into other American''s for their own gain. This story is a joke. She was asking questions that were un-necessary and were un-called for. I''ve never heard of blackwater before but after watching this story I have the utmost respect for their employees and what they do. I applaud all Blackwater employees and am proud to say I am their countryman. Thank you Blackwater. America is behind you. Loren Linnell

[rustrout]

What a pathetic effort! I thought 60 minutes was about investigative reporting, not a white wash! This was the most fawning, puff-peice about what could have been a much more incisive analysis of an organization that is clearly out of control. I''ve never seen Lara logan and I hope never to again if this is an example of her work.

[em84-2009]

what a garbage interview!

She basically just let Price skew the entire Blackwater operation into some kind of superhero BS.

Fmr. Blackwater guard Moonen is but one example.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/blackwater_fired_guard;_ylt=Askasx6l5MFKbUsOOQuUAmoDW7oF

Blackwater are akin to American terrorists in Iraq. Rather than seeking political objectives, Blackwater uses and will use reckless and malicious violence to ensure their profit margins.

[lisadean6]

What''s also unfortunate is that if you''re a blond, young, and beautiful woman, you want to try to dispel any notion that you got your job by sleeping with someone by being good at it. She failed to do that.

[rodjones101]

ARE YOU SERIOUS!!! That was the one of the worst ever 60 minute interviews I have ever seen. I''m sure Ed Bradley is turning in his grave! Get Lara Logan out of there!!!!!

[suzweise]

I''m appalled at this apologetic piece riddled with soft-balled questions attempting to not only justify, but to condone the outrageous actions of Blackwater. After this and other Fox News-like "reporting", I can only think of Ann Richards'' famous remark--stick a fork in [60 Minutes], it''s done.

[joefuchs1]

It sure is difficult to get through CBS''s hurdles to post a comment. Your interviewer of the Blackwater CEO sure did ask some ridiculous questions, not once, but twice, back to back ''...do you feel bad about Iraqi civilians being killed?'' C''mon. What kind of answer are you looking for? Your program used to be cutting edge, what happened?

[rudy654-2009]

I applaud all Blackwater employees and am proud to say I am their countryman. Thank you Blackwater. America is behind you. Loren Linnell
Posted by l_linnell4 at 08:18 PM

So you applaud Blackwater''s killing of innocent people, and the fact that they are not held liable for any injustices they do, and now suddenly all of America is behind them?? LOL! Who elected you the voice of the people? I don''t remember seeing your name in any polls. However, you know you are always free to literally get behind them yourself by enlisting and taking a trip to Iraq.

[mcaiazza1]

This was the worst interview I have ever seen in my years of watching 60 minutes. Laura Logan was measured and asked questions that there is no way she would get affirmative answers to. 60 Minutes should have sent a more seasoned person to interview Mr. Prince.

[superserg70]

I had to laugh when you reported the Iraq government wanted Black water out of their country because they are too violent. Who are they fooling; I never heard any Iraq leader investigated their own bombers, the ones who are killing our own service men and civilians. What a joke the Iraq government is%u2026 if they are so adamant for peace then they stop the bombings and their countrymen terrorist or they should get out of Iraq. Mr. Bush pull out of Iraq now and let that country go to hell.

[georgia431]

IF YOU WANT TO BLAME SOMEONE FOR BLACKWATER GO NO FARTHER THAN GEORGE BUSH AND *** CHENEY. WHO INVADED IRAQ WITH LIES ABOUT THE DANGER OF WMD''S? WHO SAID HUSSEIN WAS A THREAT TO AMERICANS? THE SAME PEOPLE IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WHO FED US ALL THE TRASH ABOUT IRAQ!!!

[leonidious]

Thank the Good Lord for people like Erik Prince. He is an entrepreneur working in a field that is more than challenging and many times it is impossible. Instead of 60 minutes trying to do a big picture of what his organization has contributed, challenges they''ve faced as well as the questions that have being raise we get a reporter who asked the question, people want to know if you feel bad people are dieing in this struggle. Wow talk about a liberal bias in the media. No one wants innocents to die. When will the media get out of the Vietnam mentality that the US and it Allies have to be wrong and it is really the enemy that is misunderstood/victims? Report the story and don%u2019t ask questions that are clearly a cheap shot for people%u2019s %u201Cfeelings%u201D, stick to facts.

[rgriffiths3]

That was a disgraceful piece of journalism, one of the worst I''ve seen. Where was the other side of the story? What was the deal with those softball questions? She was afraid of offending him by letting him know that people consider his staff "arrogant"?! Lara Logan made Larry King look tough! Bring back the heavyweights, please!

[mcaiazza1]

This was the worst interview I have ever seen in my years of watching 60 minutes. Laura Logan was measured and asked questions that there is no way she would get affirmative answers to. 60 Minutes should have sent a more seasoned person to interview Mr. Prince.

[samoh215]

Cannot believe the quality of 60 minutes%u2019 interview has gone so soft. It was like Ms. Logan was interviewing a boyfriend about missing candy%u2026
No wonder that people in Middle East believe that their life is treated worthless.
The killing was a very serious and should have treated such.

[tammara5]

I agree with many posters - Lara was not the reporter to do this interview! Softball questions with NO challenges and no follow-up questions!
60 minutes should have assigned this to a more seasoned reporter.

[citizenalert]

Give me a break!! Where did Blackwater hire that interviewer? She actually asked what "egregious" acts his commando squad committed. Since when in America is that the standard for improperly killing innocent parties? While I agree the companies that we have been forced by Bush to now rehab what he destroyed, need protection, the outrageous, overzealous Blackwater employees appear to be loose cannons. they are not protecting America, but the capitalist dollar of their employer. In this country, they would be prosecuted for varying degrees of murder/manslaughter.

[tammara5]

I agree with many posters - Lara was not the reporter to do this interview! Softball questions with NO challenges and no follow-up questions!
60 minutes should have assigned this to a more seasoned reporter.

[newsbuffs]

Lara is a terrible reporter and this was a totally BS story. At best this was a fluff piece, at worst a piece of propaganda and an ad for Blackwater. Prince has to pass off his company as good, and I have no interest if he says he wishes he could change what happened, every negligent CEO that gets caught says that. Where were the questions of how much money Blackwater has donated to Republicans? Where were the questions about his Christian militarism? Does he value Muslims lives? What of Blackwater suing the families of those men who died in Falluja because they were suing Blackwater for negligence? What does that *** memorial mean to those families? What of the all the former Blackwater employees suffering for PTSD and injuries who have no benefits? How can he say he''s not a mercenary and go unchallenged? Lara didn''t challenge him at all and in fact said *** like "I''m sure this will make you mad but..." What the hell kind of reporter is she? I am really shocked at how far down "60 minutes" has fallen. I was disgusted with the Clarence Thomas piece, that was totally unbalanced and allowed him to rewrite history unchallenged. Then the interview on "CBS Sunday Morning" with Lynn Cheney by the wife of her lawyer who negotiates her publishing deal. Where is your integrity or are you so scarred by the Bush administration you don''t know how to be watchdogs anymore?

[filmmaker6]

I am amazed and disappointed that 60 Minutes and Lara Logan, a program and a journalist I respect, broadcast today''s "report" on Blackwater. From allowing Prince to maintain his innocent schoolboy demeanor to lobbing softballs, you have done nothing but provide him with an million dollar PR opportunity. Since his company has been paid billions of taxpayers'' dollars, he should not get it for free. Shame on you!

[filmmaker6]

I am amazed and disappointed that 60 Minutes and Lara Logan, a program and a journalist I respect, broadcast today''s "report" on Blackwater. From allowing Prince to maintain his innocent schoolboy demeanor to lobbing softballs, you have done nothing but provide him with an million dollar PR opportunity. Since his company has been paid billions of taxpayers'' dollars, he should not get it for free. Shame on you!

[l_linnell4]

So you applaud Blackwater''''s killing of innocent people, and the fact that they are not held liable for any injustices they do, and now suddenly all of America is behind them?? LOL! Who elected you the voice of the people? Posted by rudy654

You''re dang right. What has it come to when we are all so quick to believe people that are our own neighbors are so eager to kill innocent people for fun. Do you really believe that Rudy?? I think that''s really sad. Don''t worry about how many or our soldiers and innocent american civilians die by suicide bombers.

[moonrunner3]

The one question the blonde "interviewer" failed to ask was why Americans should care more than the Iraqis do when Iraqi civilians become casualties. The plain fact of the matter is that the usual Iraqi terroristic tactic is to stand in a crowd of civilians (children if they can get them), fire their weapons and try to get the Americans to return fire. When the Americans do return fire, the Iraqis shout about American brutality. Their government is so corrupt that the government passes info on the whereabouts of American convoys to the terrorists, thus enabling all the bombings. So: how exactly is Blackwater supposed to do their job? The Iraqis are all enabling this to happen...

[mapnewyork]

I concurr with many of the posters that this is the worst 60 minutes piece since the Steve Croft valentine to Clarence Thomas a few weeks ago. Ms. Logan did not mention that the Blackwater CEO comes from a family that donate heavily to the GOP and thus would be in a position to reap the spoils of this awful war.

She also did not mention that Blackwater and other mercenaries are not covered by the Uniform Code of Military Justice (which covers American military personnel)or any Iraqi law (because the American occupation government made that determination in 2003.)

Ms. Logan should be doing human interest stories or maybe try out for "Access Hollywood" She''d be great
chasing down the latest Brittney sighthing.

[tamesq]

That is by far the WORST interview I have ever seen on 60 Minutes. Laura Logan should be fired, and now. The interview was a complete joke, for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the failure to reference Prince''s relationship with the ever- powerful(and extremly dangerous and tiresome) Bush family of war-mongering, money-hungry, ethically-challenged league of white collar crimimals. Time to STOP THE CLOCK, 60 Minutes, for now and ever more. From a recently reluctant, but never again faithful viewer. No more waiting for the football hour to end, thankfully!

[pendejoe]

I have been a huge fan but, if Laura Logan has any integrity at all, she will resign CBS. Her 60 Minutes interview of the Prince of Blackwater must be an embarassment. If not, she should go straight to Fox News.

[robteejr]

I''ve been watching 60 Minutes since the early 70''s and I can''t remember seeing an interview as poorly conducted as Laura Logan''s interview with Eric Prince. Puff questions, no opposing view etc. She was afraid to make him mad!!! After seeing Steve Kroft''s puff piece on Clarence Thomas and now this poor excuse for "investigative journalism, I realize its time to hit the off button. Sorry 60 Minutes. To think you used to be must watch television. robt

[robteejr]

I''ve been watching 60 Minutes since the early 70''s and I can''t remember seeing an interview as poorly conducted as Laura Logan''s interview with Eric Prince. Puff questions, no opposing view etc. She was afraid to make him mad!!! After seeing Steve Kroft''s puff piece on Clarence Thomas and now this poor excuse for "investigative journalism, I realize its time to hit the off button. Sorry 60 Minutes. To think you used to be must watch television. robt

[bconline]

I can''t believe CBS sold out to Bush again. First you fire Dan Rather and now you''re defending paid killers. How can you let Blackwater blather on unopposed? I have lost all faith in CBS News - it''s just another entertainment company like Fox.

Any fool can go on YouTube.com and see for themselves videos of BlackWater contractors killing people and shooting innocent civilians out of the back of a hummer. You people make me sick.

[virgal1]

Perhaps a real journalist would have spent some time investigating whether there is any truth to the story that the 4 Blackwater employees who were burned in Fallujah had unnecessarily entered an area that was known to be highly dangerous.Instead, the Blond British Bimbo, or perhaps her masters at CBS, chose to focus on the memorial garden at the Blackwater facility. The alleged reporter has probably never set foot in Iraq.

[walt1944-2009]

Dan Rather has said that investigative journalism is "DEAD" in America because there is no "PROFIT" in it for the heads of network news departments, mostly because those network news "uppers" are political hacks not wanting to tick off the government, or corporate big shots not wanting to tick off corporate America.

In listening to Lara Logan''s "nicey-nicey" interview with Prince, together with the following "report" on SuperMax (which turned out to be a warning to everyone that we all better be good, loyal children of the new USSA and the Great Emperor Bush II, or else!), I am totally convinced that Rather was right and investigative journalism is dead and buried, that no one came to the funeral, and it was killed off by Emperor George W Bush, the Republican party and corporate America.

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!

[tomw91]

Blackwater hired alot of underqualified people to do a job overseas. Some of these were mall security gaurds claiming to have been Special Forces qualified. But it is not only Blackwater the entire nation suddenly sprouted an abundance of "Counter Terrorist Experts" after 911. Not all Blackwater and other companies employees are in this category. In a counter insurgency you cannot win without support from the local populace. Blackwater and others have failed us there we cannot rebuild that which is lost. Regardless of what the Enemy is doing we hold ourselves to a higher standard. Blackwater needs to come home re group and re train and let the security gaurds go back to the mall.

[virgal1]

Perhaps a real journalist would have spent some time investigating whether there is any truth to the story that the 4 Blackwater employees who were burned in Fallujah had unnecessarily entered an area that was known to be highly dangerous.Instead, the Blond, or perhaps her bosses at CBS, chose to mournfully focus on the memorial garden at the Blackwater facility. How much did CBS get paid for this one-sided puff piece?

[rpscot55]

Hold On! 60 Minutes is going down the toilet in a hurry. Not sure where Lara Logan came from, but send her back. Isn''t anybody previewing the stories before they air? What idiot at CBS okayed this piece of ka ka? This story on Mr. Prince and Blackwater was the worst piece of propaganda I''ve ever experienced on TV. As for Blackwater...probably a necessary evil but, as a taxpayer, I was completely insulted by the story and the way this story (if you can call it that) was presented it was shameful. If 60 Minutes doesn''t get any better than this...I''m finding something else to occupy my hour of time on Sundays after many years of enjoyment. Too Bad.

[snackboy2]

I wonder what kind of pressure was applied to get 60 minutes to run this as the lead? More sad propaganda that fits neatly into the sanitized version of events for the clueless American public.

But hey, Dubai has a Ski hill! Wow, hard hitting stuff 60 minutes. Maybe someday, because of Blackwater and America, every country in the middle east will have a ski hill.

It''s all about the $$$.

[newsbuffs]

Eric Prince is not the American hero she made him to be, he is CEO of a company of mercenaries. He has profitted as his people have killed or been killed. He doesn''t care what his own employees do in Iraq because they face no consequences, they are exempt from the law there. You must follow up on this story with a real investigative piece about Blackwater and put a real reporter on it.

[researchdog]

At least you all got to see the entire piece. Our local CBS affiliate essentially censored the second half of the story. Just when the reporter was asking Prince about Iraqi views of Blackwater and therefore potentially getting into Blackwater''s dark side, the local station cut to five minutes of commercials and station promos and did not cut back to 60 Minutes until the start of the next story. So the central Virginia viewing audience basically only saw the Blackwater propaganda and canned video in the first half of the story. The station cannot use football game programming delays as an excuse for the commerical interruption. The timing of 60 Minutes is always off during football season; yet, a segment has never before been cut short.
Thank goodness I read the Washington Post and know the truth about Blackwater...most of which was not explored by the lame reporter for 60 Minutes.

[rpscot55]

Regarding Blackwater, Mr. Prince and Lara Logan... HOLD ON! 60 Minutes is going down the toilet, FAST! Lara Logan is possibly the worst reporter I''ve ever seen in my more than 50 years! Where ever CBS found her, they need to send her back. Doesn''t any body at CBS preview these stories and approve them before they hit the air waves?
This story (if you can call it that) on Mr. Prince and Blackwater was the worst piece of propaganda journalism I have ever witnessed on TV. Is Ms. Logan sleeping with Mr. Prince or what??? What a piece of Ka Ka.
As for Blackwater... I suppose it''s a necessary evil but, this story insulted me as a taxpayer and an American citizen.
It seems as of late that the hard hitters are gone and 60 Minutes has continued on a downhill slant for the last couple of years. If it doesn''t get better I''ll be finding different ways to spend an hour on Sunday nights after a good many, many years of being a faithful viewer. And, until I get the bad taste out of my mouth...I''d prefer NOT to see Lara Logan on the program for a while. Have her talk to and learn from some of our past heavy hitters and see if she can improve. This story was just plain BAD!

[kraftykraut]

Wow, that Lara Logan is hot. I wish she''d interview me on a ski hill in Dubai!

[rudy654-2009]

You''re dang right. What has it come to when we are all so quick to believe people that are our own neighbors are so eager to kill innocent people for fun. Do you really believe that Rudy?? I think that''s really sad. Don''t worry about how many or our soldiers and innocent american civilians die by suicide bombers. Posted by l_linnell4 at 08:35 PM

Uh...what innocent American civilians are getting killed by suicide bombers? How come I have not heard about this?

[gnchambers]

60 Minutes has lost all perspective on what is really happening....we still in a war with people that want to kill anyone that doesn''t believe in their beliefs...Scott Pelly''s story on the Supermax prison is a sad endorsement on what is important to this countries safety and everyone in the "free world".........shame on Lara and Scott........this is a sad day for 60 minutes.........