Xe (Blackwater) accused of kidnapping and child prostitution

The latest charges, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, bring to more than 60 the number of Iraqis allegedly killed or wounded since 2005 by armed Blackwater contractors guarding U.S. diplomatic personnel in Iraq.

The Moyock, N.C.-based security company, since renamed Xe, earned more than $1 billion under that contract before the State Department, under pressure from the Iraqi government, let it lapse in May.

One of the new plaintiffs is the estate of Akram Khalid Sa'ed Jasim, 9, who died when Blackwater shooters allegedly opened fire on a minivan returning from the Baghdad airport on July 1, 2007. The boy was traveling with his extended family, who had gone to the airport to apply for passports.

The Blackwater guards also shot the boy's mother in the back as she bent over trying to shield her 3-month-old daughter, who nevertheless was shot in the face, according to the lawsuit. The boy's father, uncle and cousin also were wounded.

This is what we get when we hire mercenaries. An army operating outside of law and the constitution. And worse, a rotten bunch of fish and we know it and they know it - that's why they changed their name.

I'm glad to see that they're being held accountable, but I'm also dismayed to see that they're still out there in the world, working.

So I am, honestly, glad to see these charges surface:

The racketeering count added to the suit this week accuses Prince's companies of engaging in murder, weapons smuggling, money laundering, tax evasion, kidnapping, child prostitution, illegal drug use and destruction of evidence.

The child prostitution charge involves young Iraqi girls allegedly being brought to the Blackwater compound in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, identified in the lawsuit as the "Blackwater Man Camp," to provide oral sex to contractors for $1.

for it exposes them for the scum that they are.

Well, actually, I'm not glad to see the charges, nor to see that these are the sorts of things going on. But if they are, I'm glad to see them exposed.

Civil Complaint document here:

www.docstoc.com...

An interesting note, in the complaint it talks about how hiring Xe is illegal anyhow, re: the Anti-Pinkerton Act.

Im not surprised this sort of thing goes on at all..war is hell. Always has been always will be.

I realize I'm resurrecting an old thread here--one I found using a search for "Blackwater"--but the fact Blackwater has rebranded and has gone relatively unscathed since before the previous post in 2009 seems to indicate Academi (as they're calling themselves this week) is apparently immune to full prosecution. At least, that's how it appears at first blush.

Academi is now part of Constellis, a conglomerate of companies providing a wide array of services to their clients. To date I have found four major companies within Constellis: Academi, AMK9, Centerra Group, and Omniplex. My search for a list of Constellis companies remains ongoing. It would seem Constellis has a great deal of influence to protect Academi from its sordid past, but perhaps the corruption only seemed to be pervasive and was truly limited in scope to a select group of bad actors who have since been separated from the organization.

I have my doubts, only because Constellis is so widespread. It's statistically unlikely the whole of their operations remains aboveboard, ethically. Given the nature of their work, it is almost a certainty the whole of their work does not remain aboveboard legally.

And these same contractors were used to nab people off the streets of Portland during the riots as part of Operation Diligent Valor. They also were in unmarked vehicles and wore no badges. They did not arrest people at the protest, but took them to unknown locations to take photos and seize phones for Intel.

Funded to the tune of $1.5 billion, the Federal Protective Service (FPS) is comprised of thousands of security officers drawn from private contractors such as Triple Canopy, a firm merged in 2014 with another contractor called Academi, previously known as Blackwater. Its staff notoriously included elite warfighters recruited from among the Navy SEALS, the Army Rangers, and the Marines expeditionary force MARSOC.

Reports began surfacing, meanwhile, of protesters being abducted near demonstrations by men jumping out of unmarked vans in military fatigues. After widely circulated footage confirmed the accounts, DHS acknowledged the abductions, as well as the fact that agents had taken intentional steps to ensure their identities remained secret.

Yahoo News

An excellent find, frogs453, with a link to an investigative report: www.wyden.senate.gov...&A%20and%20OGC%20Portland%20Reports.pdf

While I don't currently have facts to back it up, it's hardly a stretch to imagine Blackwater and others who have performed military functions abroad are doing so domestically. I suspect Constellis employed operatives during the Portland protests and in other situations--possibly J6 as well. I will continue digging as I have time and report back anything I find.

I may have to start from the beginning of Blackwater's legal troubles and follow the trail down the rabbit hole to see what--if anything--changed about Blackwater in substance and practice, not just aesthetics and marketing.

EDITED TO ADD:

I do wonder how a private military contractor inspires allegiance among its employees in the face of such egregious criminal acts. As stated in the thread title, here we had organized child trafficking and abuse. Is morality so easily bought and paid for? Did the masterminds employ threats of violence (or actual violence) against would-be whistleblowers? Or was (is) there something within the culture of private military contractors that inspires a cult-like allegiance to some sort of brotherhood?

a reply to: Factis

I'm not sure, but there certainly is a sick contigent among mercenaries I'd bet. I certainly don't like the idea that the Government allows them to operate on U.S. soil against U.S. citizens either.

a reply to: Factis

Such 'work' would attract those who have no moral values, love violence, can feel justified in egregiousness.

Attractive pay and benefits package.

Adding this to the pile of documentation:

www.justice.gov...

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
v.
PAUL ALVIN SLOUGH,
NICHOLAS ABEAM SLATTEN,
EVAN SHAWN LIBERTY,
DUSTIN LAURENT HEARD,
DONALD WAYNE BALL,
Defendants.

VIOLATIONS:
18 U.S.C. §§ 3261(a)(1); 1112
(Voluntary Manslaughter) (Counts
One through Fourteen)
18 U.S.C. §§ 3261(a)(1); 1113
(Attempt to Commit
Manslaughter) (Counts Fifteen
through Thirty-Four)
18 U.S.C. §§ 3261(a)(1); 924(c)
(Using and Discharging a Firearm
During and in Relation to a Crime
of Violence) (Count Thirty-Five)
18 U.S.C. § 2
(Aiding and Abetting and Causing
an Act to be Done)

Here we have five employees of Blackwater Worldwide indicted on 35 separate charges. I will be adding other documentation as I find it and will attempt to create a "timeline" of Blackwater to Academi, though more than likely that will happen in a separate thread.

Looking at these reported incidents, I hypothesize there was likely something culturally wrong at Blackwater. That it rebranded itself to Xe and then again so quickly to Academi suggests other incidents (like the ones mentioned in the OP), and more than those that have been discovered. It is reasonable to presume (but not yet conclude) Academi follows similar practices as those of Blackwater and Xe, and they may have simply gotten better at covering their tracks.