Xe Services LLC

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Introduction

<youtube size="medium" align="right" caption=" Video 1: Erik Prince is cagey about ambitions to build a fast-response peace keeping force - interview with Charlie Rose">-GULPEzJJ6c</youtube> Xe Services LLC (pronounced 'Zee') is a private military contractor (PMC) based in Moyock, North Carolina. The company is controlled by the Prince group, owned by Erik Prince. as well as providing 'mercenaries'[1] to governments and organisations around the globe The company boasts 'the most comprehensive, self-contained private tactical training facility in the United States' [2]. The company has seen many controversies but continually escapes relatively unscathed [3]. Xe is very well connected to the US Government through the Prince family's generous and continued support for the Republican Party [4]. There are also a number of high profile ex CIA and Pentagon officials on Xe's staff [5].

History

Xe Services LLC [6] (Xe)was formed in February 2009 as a re-branding of Blackwater Worldwide after the Blackwater brand came under scrutiny following reports that contractors of the company had orchestrated a bloody civillian cull in an Iraqi Square in 2007. Blackwater itself was founded in 1997 by former navy seal Erik Prince in Moyock, North Carolina. [7] There are now believed to be at least 30 front companies under the umbrella of mr Prince's Prince Group LLC [8].


People

Paul Behrends

Behrends has been lobbying on and off for Blackwater since 1998. In 1998 he was working with Rhoads Group where lobbied on behalf of Blackwater USA [9]. from 2006-2008 Behrends handled the Blackwater USA and Worldwide contract at lobbyists C&M Capitolink [10]. in 2009 he moved to Cromwell & Moring where he represented the Prince Group[11].

Cofer Black

Black is the ex head of Counter Terrorism at the CIA and is now the Vice Chairman of Blackwater and the head of Total Intelligence Solutions (another Prince Group subsidiary). He maintains strong links to the US Government, remaining counter-terrorism advisor to Republican politician Mitt Romney [12].

Stuart Eizenstat

According to federal lobbying records in the first quarter of 2010 Xe Services spent $530,000 to acquire the services of Stuart Eizenstat who is a well connected democrat lobbyist having served in both the Clinton and Carter administrations. [13]

Erik Prince

Prince is founder and former CEO of Xe Services, comes from a wealthy industrial and deeply republican background [14].

joseph Schmitz

Schmitz is the Chief Operating officer and General Counsel of the Prince Group LLC. He took up this post in 2005 after resigning from the US Defence Department amid allegations that he had witheld information in an investigation into his then boss and president George Bush Senior [15].

religious affiliations

Paul Behrends

Paul Behrends is on the board of directors for Christian Freedom International [16]


Erik Prince

Erik Prince's Father Edgar Prince was a devout calvinist [17] who gave large amounts of start-up money to, amongst other things, right-wing christian organisation the Family Research Council (FRC) where Erik Prince, now a Catholic, later interned [18]. In a letter from Gary Bauer, founder and past president of the FRC, following Edgar Prince's death in 1995 Bauer proclaims 'without hesitation that without Ed and Elsa and their wonderful children, there simply would not be a Family Research Council' [19]. The organisation claims to promote 'faith, family and freedom' [20]. On closer inspection of some of the FRC's website content it is clear that the organisation only promotes the sanitised and normalised freedoms of the christian faith, openly denigrating homosexuality and abortion [21] [22]. Gary Bauer, close friend of Prince and the Prince family, is also an executive board member of Christians United for Israel(CUFI) an anti islamic Christian Zionist lobbying organisation headed up by televangelist John Hagee[23]. Erik Prince also has connections to a controversial fundamentalist Christian organisation called Christian Freedom International (CFI) where he served on the board [24]. CFI have been described by Robert Weitzel of MWC News as "a crusading missionary organization operating in the overwhelmingly Islamic countries of Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq" [25].

Joseph Schmitz

Joseph Schmitz claims membership of the Sovereign Order of Malta[26], an ancient Catholic order which tasks itself with 'taking on the military defence of the sick, the pilgrims and the territories that the crusaders had conquered from the Moslems (emphasis added) [27]

Contracts

The U.S. Department of State, on September 29th 2010, allocated a chunk of its $10billion Worldwide Protective Services (WPS) programme contract to International Development Solutions LLC [28] . This company has apparent links to Blackwater and would appear to be the most recent in a long list of 'shell' or 'front' companies set up by Blackwater to win contracts in the face of controversy surrounding Blackwater agents’ conduct. [29] [30]


Lobbying Activity

According to OpenSecrets.org in 2010 Xe Services have so far spent $700,000 on Lobbying Firm Covington & Burling [31], who according to The Vault [32] are the second most prestigeous law firm in Washington DC based on a survey of 15,000 law associates in 2010. Covington & Burlings current clients also include the American Task Force Argentina, an alliance of organizations who work to reconcile the Argentine governments’ debt default and subsequent restructuring. Who according to their own website, “work with lawmakers, the media, and other interested parties to encourage the United States government to vigorously pursue a negotiated settlement with the Argentine government in the interests of American stakeholders.”(Afta.org).....??? a more subtle hegemony than Chile 1979???

lobbyists

Michael Barnes: A former congress member in the US House of Representatives between 1979 - 1987, and former US Marine core corporal. [33]

Stuart Eizenstat: Has worked within federal state government since 1977 [34], and is also a professor of Jewish history and culture. [35]

Martin Gold: A member for the united states commission for the preservation of Americas heritage abroad(hegemony?). Lobbys also for American Task Force Argentina.[36]

Brian Smith: Worked in the white house office as assistant to the special council between 1993 - 2001 under the Clinto administration[37]

Bill Wichterman: Worked as a special assistant to president Bush in the Whitehouse between 2001 - 2008 [38]

Affiliations/ Donations

IPOA (International Peace Operations Association) Until 2007 Blackwater worldwide were members of the IPOA (International Peace Operations Association) whose main function is to promote high operational and ethical standards for firms who are active in the peace and stability operations industry. Their conduct code denotes that “All member companies subscribe to the ISOA Code of Conduct, which represents a constructive effort towards better regulating private sector operations in conflict and post-conflict environments. It reflects our belief that high standards will both benefit the industry and serve the greater causes of peace, development, and human security”[39]. The Nisour square event in 2007 brought an end to any affiliation with the IPOA due to the bloody and unethical outcome of the event[40].

Controversies/Issues

Blackwater/Xe have been involved in, or are alleged to have been involved in, many controversies since their business flourished in the wake of 9/11 and George W Bushes 'War on Terror' [41]. They have been implicated in criminal activity ranging from the breaking of trade embargoes to more serious allegations of false flag terrorist attacks in Pakistan [42]. The company's religious connections, through members' affiliations and donations, have also been the subject of scrutiny. the fundamentalist Christian and Christian Zionist connection is particularly pertinent due to their overwhelming military involvement in Arab Muslim states. This, along with their relative unaccountability, gives rise to one of the most contraversial elements of the Blackwater story - their ability to continue recieveing state contracts in light of all this [43].


’Peace keeping’ force or religious crusade?

In June 2010 Blackwater narrowly escaped a crushing criminal charge of violating US export regulation in Sudan. In 2005 Blackwater Worldwide set in motion a series of business meetings with the Sudanese government. Sudan’s history of political and religious unrest was, it was decided by The board of Blackwater, a perfect example of a front in George W Bush’s ‘war on terror’ [44]. The predominantly Muslim North and Christian/Animist South presented a clear divide in the country which Blackwater claimed it could address by ‘boost[ing] African troops’ in the southern region [45]. This can be seen as a dangerous development in the growth of a PMC owned by a self proclaimed ‘Christian Crusader’ [46]. Along with their connections to high profile fundamentalist Christian and Christian Zionist organisations Blackwater’s ambition to provide a ‘small, nimble, brigade-size force’ [47] (see 'Video 1' above) available, at a price, for ‘peace keeping’ missions is worrying, particularly in countries such as Sudan with such clear religious tension.

Prince's attitude towards the Arab states

In a rare audio recording which emerged in May 2010, Prince addresses a friendly audience, unaware that his speech is being recorded. In the speech when asked by a member of the audience

"Aren’t you concerned that your folks aren’t covered under the Geneva Convention in dealing in the likes of Iraq or Afghanistan or Pakistan?" Price replied, "Absolutely not," because these people, they crawled out of the sewer, and they have a 1200 A.D. mentality. They’re barbarians. They don’t know that there’s—they don’t even know where Geneva is, let alone that there was a convention there. [48] This infers that Prince shows little regard for the Geneva convention which stipulaties the humanitarian treatment of all war victims [49] and also gives insight to his attitudes towards race.

Illegal weapon smuggling

statements given to the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia by two of Prince’s former employees states clearly that Prince is or was involved in illegal activity both abroad and on U.S. soil. One of the key accusations within the statement of John Doe #1 (JD1), so called for fear of reprisals, is outlined in point 21 where Prince is implicated in the illegal arms trade. The witness alleges that Prince has been involved in illegally supplying his operatives in Iraq with certain types of weaponry banned by the U.S. contracting authorities, perhaps somewhat ironically, on humanitarian grounds. These weapons were, it is alleged, flown into Iraq using one of Prince’s companies Presidential Airways Inc [50]. In a statement from another ex-operative of Blackwater the allegation of weapon smuggling re surfaces when the witness states that on opening bags of ‘dog food’ another Blackwater employee had pulled out a number of illegal weapons. According to both statements, the illegal weapons smuggled into Iraq have been used by Blackwater operatives in the exercise of ‘excessive and unnecessary force’[51] in many cases wounding or killing innocent civilians. John Doe #2 (JD2) also states that a number of these incidents, witnessed by JD2, went uncontested by Blackwater and were never reported to the State Department as stipulated in their contract. JD2 also states that there was no attempt to ascertain whether the civilians involved were in need of medical attention or, indeed, whether they were dead. [52]

Lawsuits

10th September 2010

In September 2010, an American businessman claimed that Blackwater paid him to provide them the company with weapons and drugs. Between 2003 and 2009, Howard Lowry was based in Iraq and made the allegations at a lawsuit brought against Blackwater by two former employees, Brad and Melan Davis. The lawsuit was filed to expose the actions of Blackwater in Afghanistan and contained allegations of fraud against Erik Prince. Lowry also spoke of his experiences of drug use and violence at parties among Blackwater employees. He claimed, “Drug use was rampant” and that Blackwater personnel would use their weapons to “spray the building next door, which housed Iraqi civilians”. Lowry also described these parties as “beyond out of control”. [53]

Quotes

Erik Prince has been witnessed by former employees as stating that he "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe". [54]



Notes

  1. ↑ Scahill, J. 2008. Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. Serpent's Tail, London
  2. ↑ Xe Services Xe Training Last Updated 2010, Accessed 4th Nov 2010
  3. ↑ Peter Beaumont CIA terror link puts rebranded Blackwater under fire again The Guardian Online, 20th Aug 2009, Accessed 4th Nov 2010
  4. ↑ Right Web Erik Prince Accessed 4th Nov 2010
  5. ↑ Sourcewatch Xe 10th June 2010, Accessed 4th Nov 2010
  6. ↑ Xe Services LLC
  7. ↑ Associated Press, "US security firm mired in Iraq controversy changes its name", Guardian.co.uk, 13th Feb 2009, accessed 12th Oct 2010
  8. ↑ Public Intelligence Blackwater/Xe Front Companies Chart 6th Sept 2010, accessed 2nd Nov 2010
  9. ↑ Open Secrets Paul Behrends: Lobbyist profile, summary 1998 accessed 3rd Nov
  10. ↑ Open Secrets Paul Behrends: Lobbyist profile, summary 2008 accessed 3rd Nov 2010
  11. ↑ Open Secrets Paul Behrends: Lobbyist Profile, Summary 2009 accessed 3rd Nov 2010
  12. ↑ Scahill, J. What is Blackwater’s Role in the 2008 Presidential Race? Democracy Now!, 10th December 2007, Accessed 4th Nov 2010
  13. ↑ Jeremy Scahill Bipartisan Mercs?: Blackwater Hires Powerful Democratic Lobbyist The Nation Online, 14th May 2010, accessed 30th Oct 2010
  14. ↑ Right Web Erik Prince 2nd aug 2010, accessed 2nd Nov 2010
  15. ↑ Corpwatch US: Pentagon's Top Watchdog Resigned Amid Claims of Stonewalling Inquiries 3rd Sept 2005, accessed 2nd Nov 2010
  16. ↑ CFI CFI Board of Directors Accessed 3rd Nov 2010
  17. ↑ Pelton, 2007. Licenced to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror. Three Rivers Press, New York
  18. ↑ Scahill, J. 2008. Blackwater: The Rise Of The Worlds Most Powerful Mercenary Army. Serpent's Tail London p72
  19. ↑ Bauer G Letter from Family Research Council President Gary Bauer 13th April 1995, accessed 3rd Nov 2010
  20. ↑ FRC About FRC accessed 2nd Nov 2010
  21. ↑ Sprigg, P. 2010 The Top Ten Myths About HomosexualityFRC, accessed 2nd Nov 2010
  22. ↑ FRC Human Life and Bioethics: Abortionaccessed 2010
  23. ↑ CUFI Executive board Accessed 5th Nov 2010
  24. ↑ Rightweb Erik Prince 2nd Aug 2010, accessed 3rd Nov 2010
  25. ↑ Weitzel, R U.S. Military's Middle East Crusade for Christ 14th June 2008, accessed 3rd Nov 2010
  26. ↑ Scahill, J. 2008. Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. Serpent's Tail, London p361
  27. ↑ Order of Malta 960 years of history accessed 3rd Nov 2010
  28. ↑ US Department of State "The Worldwide Protective Services (WPS) program provides comprehensive protective security services to support U.S. Department of State operations around the world" Federal Business Opportunities, 29th Sept 2010, accessed 16th Oct 2010
  29. ↑ Parvaz, D “’Blackwater’ gets new US contract” Aljazeera 2nd Oct 2010 accessed on 16th Oct 2010
  30. ↑ Public Intelligence “Blackwater Used More Than 30 Front Companies to Obtain Government Contracts” Public Intelligence Online, 6th Sept 2010, accessed on 16th Oct 2010
  31. ↑ Opensecrets.org 2010 Influence & Lobbying, Xe Services November 2010, accessed 09th November 2010
  32. ↑ The Vault 2010 [ http://www.vault.com/wps/portal/usa/rankings/individual?rankingId1=2&rankingId2=2&rankings=1&regionId=0 Law Firm Rankings 2011] November 2010, accessed 09th November 2010
  33. ↑ Opensecrets.org 2010 Influence & Lobbying, Michael D Barnes November 2010, accessed 09thNovember 2010
  34. ↑ Opensecrets.org 2010 Influence & Lobbying, Stuart E Eizenstat November 2010, accessed 09thNovember 2010
  35. ↑ Holocaust era assets Conference 2009 Stuart E. Eizenstat will head the US delegation at the Holocaust Era 2009, accessed 08thNovember 2010
  36. ↑ Opensecrets.org 2010 Influence & Lobbying, Martin B Gold November 2010, accessed 09th November 2010
  37. ↑ Opensecrets.org 2010 Influence & Lobbying, Brian Smith November 2010, accessed 09th November 2010
  38. ↑ Opensecrets.org 2010 Influence & Lobbying, Bill Wichterman November 2010, accessed 09th November 2010
  39. ↑ Ipoa 2010 about Isoa1st September 2010, accessed 20thOctober 2010
  40. ↑ Asia Times2010 Contracters stirred by sexy tales18th February 2010, accessed 19th October 2010
  41. ↑ George W Bush Full Text: President Bush Declares "War on Terror" 20th Sept 2001, Accessed 9th Nov 2010
  42. ↑ Brinkley, J. Murderous tactics are fueling terrorist propaganda 5th Nov 2010, Accessed 9th Nov 2010
  43. ↑ Scahill, J. Blackwater's New Sugar Daddy: The Obama Administration 28th June 2010, Accessed 9th Nov 2010
  44. ↑ Mcclatchy 2010 Feds won’t charge Blackwater in Sudan sanctions case 27th June 2010, accessed 16thOctober 2010
  45. ↑ Sudan Tribune US Security firm proposes peacekeeping troops for Darfur 2nd April 2006, Accessed 5th Nov 2010
  46. ↑ Scahill, Jeremy "the blackwater plot deepens" Guardian.co.uk, nov 11th 2009, accessed October 16th 2010
  47. ↑ Sudan Tribune US Security firm proposes peacekeeping troops for Darfur 2nd April 2006, Accessed 5th Nov 2010
  48. ↑ Democracy Now, Exclusive: Secret recordings of Erik Prince reveals Previously undisclosed Blackwater ops Democracy Now Online, 4th May 2010, accessed 18th Oct 2010
  49. ↑ International Commitee of the Red Cross, The Geneva Conventions of 1949 International Committee for the Red Cross Online, 3rd Sept 2009, accessed 18th Oct 2010
  50. ↑ The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Declaration of John Doe #1 27th July 2009, Accessed 4th Nov 2010
  51. ↑ The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia "The Nation Online" Cited in scahill, 2009, accessed October 24th 2010
  52. ↑ The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Declaration of John Doe #2 Cited in scahill, 2009, accessed October 24th 2010
  53. ↑ Lowry in Scahill US Businessman: Blackwater Paid Me to Buy Steroids and Weapons on Black Market for its ShootersThe Nation Online, 23rd Sept 2010, accessed 26th Oct 2010
  54. ↑ Scahill, Jeremy "the blackwater plot deepens" Guardian.co.uk, nov 11th 2009, accessed October 16th 2010
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