Secret Blackwater Tape Discovered

Blackwater founder Erik Prince is no fan of the press—in fact, when he speaks at the May 5 “Tulip Time Festival” in his hometown of Holland, Michigan, he’ll do so only under the condition that the press not attend. However, Blackwater watchdog Jeremy Scahill has obtained a recording of a recent private speech by the reclusive and powerful Prince. In the speech, Prince suggests his contractors are more effective than some of America’s NATO allies, who he says should “should just pack it in and go home.” He brags that Blackwater once “call[ed] in multiple airstrikes” during a raid on a narcotrafficking facility. And at one point, he seems to say that Blackwater is working in Pakistan—something that Blackwater and both the U.S. and Pakistani governments have denied. Characterizing America’s enemies, Prince says “they crawled out of the sewer and they have a 1200 AD mentality. They’re barbarians.”