Who is Blackwater and how did they get government contracts?
Ken SilversteinPUBLISHED
September 12, 2006Blackwater USA, the private security contractor that has operated in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and New Orleans, has been booming the past few years. Founded in December of 1996, the company spent its early years ?paying staff with an executive's credit card and begging for customers,? according to the
Virginian-Pilot. But today, Blackwater reportedly has revenues of about $100 million annually, almost all of it from government contracts, and maintains ?a compound half the size of Manhattan and 450 permanent employees,? according to the newspaper.
How did Blackwater rise so high, so fast? The ?war on terrorism? got the ball rolling for the firm, but one suspects that political connections played a big part as well. Erik Prince, Blackwater's founder, is a former SEAL who is deeply involved in Republican Party politics. Since 1998, he has funneled roughly $200,000 to GOP committees and candidates, including President Bush. In 2004, Blackwater retained the Alexander Strategy Group, the
PR and lobbying firm that closed down earlier this year due to its embarrassing
ties to Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay.
"Revolving Door to Blackwater Causes Alarm at CIA" by Ken Silverstein (Harper's Magazine)