Moving On

Blackwater Founder Moves to Abu Dhabi

Erik Prince needs "a break from America."

Well good: America could also probably use a break from Erik Prince. The Blackwater Worldwide founder has moved to Abu Dhabi, court records show, as the private contractor’s former high-level managers face criminal charges. Prince has left the U.S. after Blackwater—renamed Xe Services after the company’s name became tainted—has been the subject of criminal and Congressional investigations as well as civil lawsuits. A colleague of Prince’s said he needed “a break from America” after years of heavy criticism. The former Navy Seal wants to provide security services for African and Middle Eastern governments. Prince himself faces no criminal charges, but many former employees do: Five ex-Blackwater executives have been indicted on federal conspiracy, weapons, and obstruction charges. Two guards for a Blackwater-affiliated company have been charged with murder after an Afghanistan shooting in 2009. And the Justice Department is trying to restart its prosecution of five former guards involved in an incident in Baghdad in which 17 Iraqi civilians were shot to death.