Meet murderous Iraq-profiteer and parvenu, Blackwater CEO: ERIK PRINCE

[Bluebear]

Born: 1970
Birthplace: Holland, MI

Gender: Male
Religion: Born-Again Christian
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Business, Military
Party Affiliation: Republican

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Blackwater USA mercenary firm

Military service: Navy SEAL Team Officer (1993-96, Bosnia, Haiti)

Erik Prince is a multi-millionaire right-wing fundamentalist Christian from a powerful Michigan Republican family. His wealth came from his father, Edgar Prince, who headed Prince Automotive, an auto parts and machinery manufacturer.

A major Republican campaign contributor, he interned in the White House of President George H.W. Bush and campaigned for Pat Buchanan in 1992, finding time to intern for conservative congressman Dana Rohrabacher as well. Prince founded the mercenary firm Blackwater USA in 1997 with Gary Jackson, another former Navy SEAL.

Prince's sister Betsy DeVos is a powerful conservative in her own right. Married to the son of Richard DeVos (Republican bankroller and co-founder of Amway), she served as chair of Michigan Republican Party in the 1990s.

Father: Edgar Prince (d. 1995, billionaire, started Family Research Council with Gary Bauer)
Mother: Elsa Prince Broekhuizen (Republican Party funder, remarried)
Sister: Betsy DeVos (former chair, Michigan Republican Party, m. Dick DeVos, Amway scion)
Sister: Emilie Prince
Sister: Eileen Prince
Wife: Joan (four children, d. 2003, cancer)
Daughter: Sophia

High School: Holland Christian High School, Holland, MI
University: Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, MI

Blackwater USA Co-Founder and CEO (1997)
Family Research Council College intern
DeVos Family by sister's marriage

http://www.nndb.com/people/926/000117575/

[MrScorpio]

1. Why am I not surpirsed?

A fascist poster boy, if I ever saw one

[knitter4democracy]

2. Yeah, many of us in Michigan can't stand that family.

Betsy's nuts, and Erik, from what I hear, isn't much better. Good thing DeVos went down in the last election, but the way things are looking, we could be in trouble next one.

[Wheezy]

13. I went to high school with him.

He was a year behind me.

If memory serves, it seems to me Erik went to West Point initially after high school, and I heard (could have been a rumor) that he fell out of his bunk and broke his arm. I don't think he stayed there. It doesn't appear that he includes it in his bio, at any rate.

Prince Corp (auto parts manufacturer, source of MANY jobs in West Michigan) sold out to Johnson Controls, Inc. after Erik's father died. JCI sent almost all the jobs to Mexico. The middle and lower classes of West Michigan, as well as the real estate market, are in VERY poor shape and have been for 4-5 years--much longer of a real estate bust than many US communities (I was a Realtor there until I moved to AZ in 2004). Tons of people lost their jobs and there are many vacant houses still today.

(I'm not trying to pin the blame for this on Erik, just to be clear. I just wanted to give a little history on the Prince family. Please feel free to draw your own conclusions.)

[knitter4democracy]

44. That sounds about right.

We have low housing prices, and, boy, is it hard to sell a house here.

[rodeodance]

3. Religion: Born-Again Christian

[Initech]

16. Yeah, that didn't surprise me at all.

[patrice]

4. Thanks for this Damned War, Mr. Prince.

[Disturbed]

7. Waxman is holding a Hearing on Blackwater.

Will this Prince of Death be Subpoened?

[Bluebear]

9. "Iraq: Blackwater guards fired unprovoked" - on videotape!

BAGHDAD - Iraqi investigators have a videotape that shows Blackwater USA guards opened fire against civilians without provocation in an incident last week in which 11 people died, a senior Iraqi official said Saturday. He said the case was referred to the Iraqi judiciary.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070922/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Blackwater thugs and their CEO must be held accountable to justice!

[patrice]

10. There are very serious questions about how much Blackwater

has interfered with "our" Military missions.

[grasswire]

5. thank you thank you -- that's more than frightening

Through the DeVos family connection, there's a link to Charles Colson, too. They are in big-time league with him. These people are nuts and need to be exposed.

[rodeodance]

6. Maybe a leap, but looks like his education was limited:

High School: Holland Christian High School, Holland, MI
University: Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, MI

[patrice]

8. Wouldn't you just love to chat with him about History, Literature,

Art, Philosophy, Psychology . . . Human stuff like that.

[tridim]

15. If the conversation doesn't revolve around killing people,

he's probably not interested.

Guns and God are all psychos like that care about. Oh, and money of course.

[patrice]

23. May also have a severly limited spectrum of Human experiences

from which to draw and the limited mind that goes along with that. It's interesting to think of people like that, living in their insulated, in-bred, enclaves, thinking that their lives are proof of their own righteous nobility and authority over others. It's such a regressive mind-set, a factor in a very real threat to the survival of the species. Oh but then, they don't believe in Evolution, so they're completely unaware of the effects of regressive traits.

[cascadiance]

46. Hillsdale College is a REAL wingnut college...

Former congress critter "Count Chocula" Chris Chocola (who I used to be nextdoor neighbors to when he was in middle school in Michigan) also went there in addition to a few other well known wingnuts. So did Mr. "Istanbul is Baghdad" Howard Kaloogian. And there was a nice nasty sex scandal surrounding their president too recently in good "Republican hypocrite" style.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Solly Mack]

11. a little about his father

http://www.nndb.com/org/700/000051547 /
http://www.nndb.com/people/472/000130082 /

[Bluebear]

12. "Council for National Policy" - what a revolting & dangerous membership list!

And first member alphabetically? Jack Abramoff.

[Solly Mack]

14. He also gave Bauer the start up for the Family Research Council

and was co-founder

Thick as thieves(Abramoff)...so to speak

It's incestuous....it really is




please recommend...

[Initech]

18. Yikes! There are some scary individuals on that list.

[Solly Mack]

20. who's who of the sick and twisted right

[Cha]

17. That's a mighty ugly

family tree..of course, he would be a mercenary for death.

[laststeamtrain]

19. Mental/Emotional Health Status: Nut n/t

[xchrom]

21. born again {not} christian.

the people he associates speaks volumes.

and should be shoved in the face of any one who doesn't believe there is a right wing conspiracy in this country trying to force it's will on the people.

tapeworms -- every one of them.

[patrice]

25. Right!

Born again of Blood and the Whole-ly Contrary. A Servant to the Anti-Christ masquerading as Pro-Life beatifying a Choice that pays the mortgage on the McMansion by means of Death and Destruction.

War IS Social Abortion.

[xchrom]

28. indeed! -- ok you're better with words than i am.

[patrice]

29. Maybe . . . but you're the one who set me off on that theme.

You said Prince is "born again" and that got me to thinking.

[xchrom]

32. lol -- oh that's right blame me!!! -- damn that was funny. n/t

[PA Democrat]

22. So that's what a murderous PIG looks like.

He should be shunned by society as the piece of filth that he is.

[Bitwit1234]

24. See this is what we see about these so call christians

If these people were real Christians, they would not condone, war, killing and the submission and subjugating of Americans.

[Gregorian]

26. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

Or so we can only hope.

There are very few people whom I genuinely cannot like in any way shape or form. Cheney is one.

[JanMichael]

39. I agree.

There are few humans that I utterly abhor and this is one. They inherit a fortune then use it to kill. I hope that type of life is responded to doubly horrible.

[spanone]

27. yikes! Father: Edgar Prince (d. 1995, billionaire, started Family Research Council with Gary Bauer)

jesus generals...psychopaths

born again christian is not a religion last time i checked

[MagickMuffin]

30. I've been doing some research on the Prince of Death myself and here's what I discovered

From Wikipedia:

Erik Prince (born June 6, 1969 in Holland, Michigan) is the founder and owner of the military support contractor Blackwater USA. A millionaire and former US Navy SEAL, after high school he briefly attended the United States Naval Academy before attending and graduating from Hillsdale College. After college, he earned a commission in the United States Navy after joining in 1992, and served as a Navy SEAL officer on deployments to Haiti, the Middle East and the Mediterranean, including Bosnia. When his father Edgar Prince unexpectedly died in 1995, he ended his Navy service prematurely. After Erik's mother, Elsa Prince, sold the family's automobile parts company, Prince Corporation, for $1.3 billion to Johnson Controls, Inc., Erik moved to Virginia Beach and personally financed the formation of Blackwater USA at the age of 27.

Prince is the brother of Betsy DeVos, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Michigan and wife of former Alticor (Amway) president and Gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos.

Prince's first wife, Joan Nicole Prince, died of cancer in 2003, and he has since remarried and has six children. He now runs Prince Group, Blackwater's parent company, from an office in McLean, Virginia and also serves as a board member of Christian Freedom International, a nonprofit group with a mission of helping "Christians who are persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ".


From Newsmeat:

$230,250*............... Republican
$5,000.................... Green
$1,000.....................Reform
$20,500...................special interest
total:....................... $256,750

Notice how he gave money to the Green Party. I think the Green Party needs to do some SOUL searching here. Taking money from this POS is inexcusable, IMHO.


From Fed Spending:

*Note: FY 2007 only includes up through second and part of third quarter.

Total transactions for fiscal year 2007: 96

Total funding (within this search) for the year: $193,309,283


Total transactions for fiscal year 2006: 236

Total funding (within this search) for the year: $598,544,990


Total transactions for fiscal year 2005: 205

Total funding (within this search) for the year: $201,662,587


Total transactions for fiscal year 2004: 78

Total funding (within this search) for the year: $48,699,906


Total transactions for fiscal year 2003: 100

Total funding (within this search) for the year: $25,485,769


Total transactions for fiscal year 2002: 58

Total funding (within this search) for the year: $4,156,775


Total transactions for fiscal year 2001: 15

Total funding (within this search) for the year: $1,048,711


Total transactions for fiscal year 2000: 8

Total funding (within this search) for the year: $380,429

TOTAL AMOUNT FROM 2000-2007

$1,073,288,450

Please keep in mind this is the Money that SHOULD be going to the TROOPS, yes???

We should start asking Congress why they support mercenaries and NOT the troops....
Don't ya think???

[davekriss]

37. The best ever reason for a heft estate tax!

"After Erik's mother, Elsa Prince, sold the family's automobile parts company, Prince Corporation, for $1.3 billion to Johnson Controls, Inc., Erik moved to Virginia Beach and personally financed the formation of Blackwater USA at the age of 27."

[MagickMuffin]

42. A little more dirt:

http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?Person...


Erik Prince CEO of Blackwater USA
...
The founder and CEO of Blackwater is Erik Prince, son of Edgar Prince, the now deceased businessman from Holland, Michigan.
...
Unlike his family, which is part of the Christian Reformed Church, Erik Prince is a Catholic. He most likely became Catholic when he married his first wife, who died of cancer shortly after they were married. Interestingly enough, most of the leadership at Blackwater is also Catholic, albeit a conservative wing of the church that is quite reactionary. Erik Prince is personally connected to conservative Catholic groups like Catholic Answer, Crisis magazine, and a Grand Rapids-based group, the Acton Institute. But Prince has not abandoned his Protestant/Evangelical roots and is a close friend of Watergate criminal turned believer Chuck Colson.
...
According to Scahill, Prince is aligning himself with a new Catholic/Evangelical alliance called "Evangelicals and Catholics Together."
...
Prince himself writes about this relationship and it's importance, particularly with the mission of Blackwater. Prince says "Everybody carries guns, just like the Prophet Jeremiah rebuilding the temple in Israel - a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other."

The bulk of the book, however, is devoted to an understanding of Prince's creation known as Blackwater. Prince was a Navy Seal himself during the 1990s and felt that security issues were paramount for the future of the US. Blackwater was created in 1997, but its growth was influenced by several events in the years following.
...
Not surprising, Bremer is also Catholic and has maintained an intimate relationship with Prince and Blackwater even after his reign in Iraq.
...
Behrends was on the board of Christian Freedom International (CFI) with Prince for years.
...
Again Prince turned to his past connections. He was stationed for a period of time in Chile while in the US military. It was here that he tapped into another military source. Jose Miguel Pizarro was an ex-military man in Chile that Prince knew.
...
Schmitz is also part of the inner circle of Theocons with Prince.
...
Erik Prince and the other Blackwater leadership, like Joseph Schmitz, think they are following in that tradition.


On the Board of Directors:
http://www.specialops.org/board.asp


www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38379 -
Published on: 6/30/2007 Last Visited: 6/30/2007

OAKLAND, Jun 29 (IPS) - Ten years ago, Erik Prince, the son of a conservative multi-millionaire, founded the security consulting firm Blackwater USA.
...
Erik Prince's Blackwater USA was no longer under the radar.

For the past three years, the families of the dead contractors have been trying to find out what really happened that March day in Fallujah. And for three years, they say they've been stonewalled by Prince.
...
In addition to Prince, "A number of Blackwater executives are deeply conservative Christians, including corruption-smeared former Pentagon Inspector General Joseph Schmitz, who is also a member of the Sovereign Order of Malta, which Scahill describes as 'a Christian militia formed in the eleventh century territories that the Crusaders had conquered from the Moslems,'" Chris Barsanti wote in a review of the book for In These Times.
...
Blackwater USA is the brainchild of Erik Prince -- a former Navy SEAL and son of Edgar Prince, a wealthy Michigan auto-parts supplier -- described by Scahill as a "radical right wing Christian mega-millionaire" who is a strong financial backer of President George W. Bush, as well as a donor to a host of conservative Christian political causes.

this link has links to articles on the Prince of Death
http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/ReferencesView.aspx?Pers...

I betcha he is also a merchant of selling arms on the Black Market......

[mitchum]

31. Another "self made" republican who pulled himself up by his jackbootstraps

Fascist prick

[JanMichael]

38. Another recipient of cash laden sperm.

Blech.

[Bluebear]

47. you said it.

[BlooInBloo]

33. And meet the VICE-Chair: Mitt Romney's advisor.

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/22/romney-blackwater/

[patrice]

34. That almost makes me hope Romney is the Repuglic nominee, so

we can talk about Blackwater 24/7, but that's a hard choice, because if it's Guiliani, we get to talk about 9/11 24/7.

[davekriss]

35. What a horrible brain resides in that head. (nt)

[JanMichael]

36. Miserable fucking trustafarian piece of shit.

I can't stand this bastard neo-fascist christian dickhead repuke fuckhead.

[goodgd_yall]

40. NPR did a good expose of this company months ago

It delved quite a bit into Prince's family. Very creepy. Oh, but, wait a minute, we're not supposed to criticize the military, and he WAS a Navy Seal.

[tabasco]

41. Made his money the old fashioned way.

Inherited it from daddy. Probably considers himself a self-made man who pulled himself up by his bootstraps.

[Disturbed]

43. The Mercenary Revolution

The Mercenary Revolution

By JEREMY SCAHILL

http://www.counterpunch.org/scahill08132007.html

Blackwater is one of many Merc groups.

[EVDebs]

45. Joseph E Schmitz, Mary Kay LeTourneau's bro, is CEO of Blackwater

http://www.nndb.com/people/466/000104154 /

also a Knight of Malta

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12592

[cascadiance]

48. So did Prince donate to the Green Party?

Now everything here looks like one would expect from a wingnut like this bum, but on the fifth line down he donated $5k to the Green Party in July of 06 in the primary of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. What was with that? That begs an investigation...

http://www.newsmeat.com/ceo_political_donations/Erik_Pr...

[cascadiance]

49. Ah... This explains it!

Still a rotten scumbag to the core with NO decent morals!

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001257.php

http://www.attytood.com/archives/003603.html

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001831.php

This is a CLEAR example why Dems need to run REAL progressives and not continue to funnel through "DLC centrists" that open us up to such a vote split strategy by the Rethuglicans!

[Faux pas]

50. Why do I hear 'Dueling Banjos' playing in my head?