Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Democracy Now: Jeremy Scahill and Samer Muscati on Blackwater Founder Erik Prince’s Private Army of “Christian Crusaders” in the United Arab Emirates

Jeremy Scahill on Blackwater Founder Erik Prince’s Private Army of “Christian Crusaders” in the UAE
Democracy Now

The United Arab Emirates has confirmed hiring a company headed by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of the military firm Blackwater. According to the New York Times, the UAE secretly signed a $529 million contract with Prince’s new company, Reflex Responses, to put together an 800-member battalion of foreign mercenaries. The troops could be deployed if foreign guest workers stage revolts in labor camps, or if the UAE regime were challenged by pro-democracy protests like those sweeping the Arab world. Prince has one rule about the new force: no Muslims. We speak to investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill and Samer Muscati of Human Rights Watch.

To Watch/Listen/Read

Guests:
Jeremy Scahill, award-winning investigative journalist and author of the bestselling book Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army. He is the national security correspondent at The Nation magazine and a Democracy Now! correspondent. His most recent blog entry is titled 'Erik Prince, You're No Indiana Jones’

Samer Muscati, Iraq and United Arab Emirates researcher at Human Rights Watch

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