Posted on 05/14/2011 9:59:04 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, has a new project.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Late one night last November, a plane carrying dozens of Colombian men touched down in this glittering seaside capital. Whisked through customs by an Emirati intelligence officer, the group boarded an unmarked bus and drove roughly 20 miles to a windswept military complex in the desert sand.
The Colombians had entered the United Arab Emirates posing as construction workers. In fact, they were soldiers for a secret American-led mercenary army being built by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of Blackwater Worldwide, with $529 million from the oil-soaked sheikdom.
Mr. Prince, who resettled here last year after his security business faced mounting legal problems in the United States, was hired by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi to put together an 800-member battalion of foreign troops for the U.A.E., according to former employees on the project, American officials and corporate documents obtained by The New York Times.
The force is intended to conduct special operations missions inside and outside the country, defend oil pipelines and skyscrapers from terrorist attacks and put down internal revolts, the documents show. Such troops could be deployed if the Emirates faced unrest or were challenged by pro-democracy demonstrations in its crowded labor camps or democracy protests like those sweeping the Arab world this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi hired Erik Prince to build a fighting force.
This guy Erik Prince deserves to be a billionaire.
Good for him.
(( ping ))
Best part is, the US government can’t touch his money anymore.
Halliburton, Xe, etc.
The Emirates wanted the troops to be ready to deploy just weeks after stepping off the plane, but it quickly became clear that the Colombians’ military skills fell far below expectations. “Some of these kids couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn,” said a former employee. Other recruits admitted to never having fired a weapon.
Hillsdale College grad, hates fags, loves free capitalism, hates govt interference in daily life, ex-Seal. A true American.
NY Slimes B.S. Alert!
IAC, it's not just Columbians...
Amen! God bless Erik Prince !
His country abandoned him.
Various African campaigns by Executive Outcomes proved how well a private military contractor force can operate. I still wouldn’t mind hooking with Xe (Blackwater) for a job.
Erik Prince could end up being king of the UAE.
Several hit pieces on the Columbians the past week or so. The Bammy administration must be gearing up to screw them over.
“Best part is, the US government can’t touch his money anymore.”
WRONG on the money part, the IRS has jurisdiction even on Mars.
Two, the US will probably forget that they agreed to and supported this as soon as those people kill someone. I hope he has it all on tape.
Good for him.
Is that why the NYT headline outs any ‘secret’ efforts led by him? I didn’t read much past the headline...
Doing the jobs Americans won’t do?
Mr Phelps, is that you?
shades of Executive Outcome's 
Prince likely decided that avoiding the Obama/Holder “Justice” Department was the best course of action. I don't blame him.
Erik Prince will never return to America.
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