Matters Blackwater (Merged thread)

[CrowBat]

...and another one by Arnaud: Erik Prince’s Mercenaries Are Bombing#Libya

On Jan. 11, 2017, Intelligence Online — a professional journal covering the world’s intelligence services — revealed that the pilots of Air Tractor attack planes flying from Al Khadim air base in Libya are private contractors working for Erik Prince, the founder of the company formerly known as Blackwater.

War Is Boring’s own sources in Libya confirmed the assertion. Our sources said that the pilots flying the United Arab Emirates Air Force IOMAX AT-802 Air Tractors — converted crop-dusters — are mercenaries and aren’t Arabs. Most of the for-profit aviators are American, according to IOL.
...

[AdamG]

The conversion of crop dusters into light attack aircraft had long been part of Prince’s vision for defeating terrorists and insurgencies in Africa and the Middle East. In Prince’s view, these single-engine fixed-wing planes, retrofitted for war zones, would revolutionize the way small wars were fought. They would also turn a substantial profit. The Thrush in Airborne’s hangar, one of two crop dusters he intended to weaponize, was Prince’s initial step in achieving what one colleague called his “obsession” with building his own private air force.

https://theintercept.com/2016/04/11/...ate-air-force/

[AdamG]

Somewhat breathless update.

Blackwater’s Dark Prince Returns
A DECADE AFTER BLACKWATER’S RETREAT AMID SCANDAL AND A MASSACRE, ITS FOUNDER ERIK PRINCE WANTS TO PRIVATIZE AND SHRINK THE CONFLICT IN AFGHANISTAN. RECENT WHITE HOUSE TURNOVER HAS GIVEN HIS PLAN A FIGHTING SHOT
https://www.forbes.com/return-of-eri.../#3bc6587a50aa