Matters Blackwater (Merged thread)

[bourbon]

Feds won't charge Blackwater in Sudan sanctions case, by Warren P. Strobel, Jonathan S. Landay and Joseph Neff. McClatchy, 27 June 2010.

WASHINGTON — The security contractor Blackwater Worldwide tried for two years to secure lucrative defense business in Southern Sudan while the country was under U.S. economic sanctions, according to current and former U.S. officials and hundreds of pages of documents reviewed by McClatchy.

The effort to drum up new business in East Africa by Blackwater owner Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL who had close ties with top officials in the George W. Bush White House and the CIA, became a major element in a continuing four-year federal investigation into allegations of sanctions violations, illegal exports and bribery.

After negotiating a $2 million draft contract to train Kiir's personal security detail, Blackwater in early 2007 drafted a detailed second proposal, valued at more than $100 million, to equip and train the south's army. Because the south lacked ready cash, Blackwater sought 50 percent of the south's untapped mineral wealth, a former senior U.S. official said.

In addition to its well-known oil and natural gas reserves, Southern Sudan has vast untapped reserves of gold, iron and diamonds.

I thought Jesus was against predatory lending?

[davidbfpo]

A NYT expose of a new PMC enterprise in the UAE (Persian Gulf), pre-dating recent events:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/wo...ewanted=1&_r=1

Hat tip to:http://www.enduringamerica.com

Moderator at Work

Today I have merged nine threads on Blackwater into one and so changed the thread title.(Ends)