Trump’s Mercenary Back-Channel to Russia

Nine days before Donald Trump’s inauguration, the United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting between Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a contact close to Russian President Vladi­mir Putin, according to the Washington Post. The January 11th meetup, an attempt to open a back-channel line of communication between Putin and Trump, took place in the Seychelles islands. Erik Prince, who donated $250,000 to the Trump election effort, is still in the army-for-hire business, providing private security services for the UAE, and lives part-time in Abu Dhabi. His sister, Betsy DeVos, is currently Secretary of Education.

More:

“Blackwater founder held secret Seychelles meeting to establish Trump-Putin back channel,” Adam Entous, Greg Miller, Kevin Sieff and Karen DeYoung, Washington Post

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U.S. Mercenary Killers Sent to Prison

Four Americans convicted of killing 17 innocent civilians while employed as private security contractors by the United States Government have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Nicholas A. Slatten, who fired the first shots during the 2007 mass shooting in Baghdad, was sentenced to life imprisonment; Paul A. Slough, Evan S. Liberty, and Dustin L. Heard were each sentenced to 30 year terms. Blackwater, the private security firm these men worked for, has changed its name several times, and heavily armed private mercenaries are still employed by the U.S. Government.

More:

“Why four Blackwater contractors were just now convicted of killing 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007,” Dara Lind, Vox

“A Blackwater World Order,” Kelley Vlahos, American Conservative

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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Blackwater Contract Killers Finally Convicted. After a Fashion.

Four former Blackwater Worldwide “security contractors” were finally convicted for killing 14 innocent civilians and wounding 17 more in 2007 when they indiscriminately opened fire at a busy intersection at Baghdad’s Nisour Square. One of the victims was nine years old. Only one of the private army “contractors,” sniper Nicholas A. Slatten, was convicted of murder; the other three — Dustin L. Heard, Evan S. Liberty and Paul A. Slough — were convicted of voluntary manslaughter and the use of machine guns in a violent crime. The sentences for the machine gun convictions may actually be longer than those for taking innocent human lives.

Bible-Quoting GOP Hypocrite

Republican Congressman Stephen Fincher (R, TN-8) wants to cut $4 billion from the SNAP food subsidy program for the poor. He says God wants the poor to go hungry too, and backs that up by quoting 2 Thessalonians 3:10:  “For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.”

This Tennessee congressman from the Gospel-singing family knows all about taking money you haven’t worked for. He’s one of the largest recipients of USDA farm subsidies in Tennessee history, grabbing $3.48 million in taxpayer cash from 1999 to 2012. The average SNAP recipient in Mr. Fincher’s home state gets $132.20 in food aid a month.

Salahi Blackwater Polo Cup?

Is a Polo match produced by famed security-breachers Tareq and Michaele Salahi sponsored by security contractor Blackwater? That’s what the website for the 2010 America’s Cup Polo event claims.

There are reasons to believe this may not be so, since Blackwater has changed its name to U.S. Training, Xe Services, and perhaps other pseudonyms. Blackwater (U.S. Training) has not responded to our inquiry about the polo match. We have heard from several other “sponsors” claimed by the event, and they echo this email:

I am writing in response to your question about the America’s Cup Polo Event. The U.S. Embassy is not a sponsor of this event. We will contact the organizers to correct their website.

Thanks,
Elizabeth Fitzsimmons
Spokesperson
Embassy New Delhi

[Update: The embassy was removed from the “”Partner/Sponsor” page today; not so other known non-sponsors like the Old Town Crier and Washington Flyer Magazine].