If you didn’t see any of Blackwater CEO Erik Prince’s testimony before the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee yesterday, you owe it to yourself to check it out (it’s available on C-SPAN here). He did a masterful job of politely yet firmly wiping the floor with the Democrats accusing Blackwater of all sorts of crap. His crisp, decisive poise and solid rebuttals were in stark contrast to the spectacle of slow-mouthed Democrats trying to read stilted staff-written questions.
Here’s some quotes from an interview Prince did last year:
We see ourselves assisting in the transformation of the DoD into a faster more nimble organization…. Blackwater considers itself a partner to the DoD and all government agencies, and we stand ready to provide surge capacity, training, security and operational services in various areas at their request. We are honored to contribute in some small way….
Blackwater and the private sector are able rapidly to tailor a custom solution to solve the customer’s problem. Our ability to quickly react with a right-sized solution whose entire cost is only associated with the duration of the contract is cost-effective because there are no subsequent carrying costs like salary, medical care, retirement, etc.
My family’s business was automotive supply, one of the most efficient and globally competitive in the world. You wake up in the morning having to drive efficiency throughout the organization or you will be driven under. We strive for that level efficiency in what we do today.
–Erik Prince, head of Blackwater, interviewed in The Virginian-Pilot, June 24, 2006
Gah… it is in real media format. I refuse to put that on my computer. it is like a virus and next to impossible to get off…
Hopefully some choice excerpts will pop up on YouTube in the near future. Nothing yet that I could find, unfortunately.
Don’t take too much comfort in Prince’s (D)ummocrat-pounding. Prince (and Blackwater) is only there because of Rumsfeld, who did more to fuck up this war than anyone. The job that Blackwater is doing should be done by MP battalions, if a proper occupation of Iraq was in progress, but thanks to Rummy, it never was and isn’t now.
When the (D)ummocrats gain total gummint power, they can use the likes of Blackwater against us, bro, and probably will.
The Blackwater pro shop-
http://proshop.blackwaterusa.com/
I just want to get the t-shirt to walk by the weekly peace protest in my town by the courthouse and see their mouths foam.