Matt Ortega

In the week following the Fallujah massacre, Behrends organized two secret meetings. The first was between Erik and four GOP heavyweights in the House: DeLay, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-California), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (and now former CIA Director) Rep. Porter Goss (R-Florida) and Rep. Bill Young (R-Florida), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

The second meeting involved GOP senators (and the fearsome foursome): Ted “Totally Tubular” Stevens (R-Alaska) of the Appropriations Committee (chairman), chairman of the Armed Services Committee John Warner (R-Virginia), George “Duke of Hazard” Allen (R-Virginia) and Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum (R-Pennsylvania).

In late 2005, The News & Observer reported, as part of the Bridge Series:

Neither Prince nor the politicians would discuss the meetings. Blackwater spokesman Chris Bertelli, who attended, described the meetings as “serious but collegial, not uncomfortable.”

In June 2004, Senators Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) offered amendments to the National Defense Authoritzation Act for FY2005 to curb profiteering. Both amendments were defeated (vote tallies: Dodd, Leahy).

From the June 17, 2004 edition of the New York Times (subscription required):

Senator John W. Warner, Republican of Virginia and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he feared the proposal to allow jail terms of up to 20 years for those found to have ”materially overvalued” goods and services could deter companies from seeking work in Iraq. He said such a step required more consideration .”I think the Congress should deliberate very carefully a criminal penalty of up to 20 years for these thousands upon thousands of companies that are currently engaged,” he said.

But Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, said current prohibitions did not seem to deter companies from charging excessive prices.

”We constantly pick up the paper about a number of these companies that are obviously overcharging and nothing is happening to them,” he said. ”I am one frustrated American and would like them to stop.”

Five days later, Vice President Dick Cheney had his infamous run-in with Senator Leahy when Cheney told him to go “f— yourself.” I think Leahy declined.

Later that summer, in August, Blackwater joined the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA), which sounds just as logical as “When we’re talking about war, we’re really talking about peace.” The IPOA website states:

IPOA was founded in April 2001, shortly after Mr. Brooks returned to Washington, DC from Africa. Supported by the Peace and Stability industry’s leading companies in the Peace and Stability Industry, IPOA has grown in size, capability and influence. Through academic and field research, media outreach, opinion editorials, policy papers, presentations, public testimonies, roundtables, sponsored conferences, and white papers, IPOA has become the most ethical, transparent, and effective voice of the Peace and Stability Industry in the world.Our member companies currently work in every peace operation in the world, doing everything from demining to logistics to air lift to armed security. Every day they prove that the private sector can provide the services critical to successful peace and stability operations, both cost effectively and ethically.

It appears to be a conflict of interest, if you ask me. PMCs thrive on death and destruction. In mid-November 2004, just two weeks after the election, Blackwater reported 600 percent growth. Without conflict, without chaos, without mortal danger, Blackwater seizes to exist. Blackwater’s participation in such a group should be chalked up to what it really is: theater and a public relations ploy.

Cofer Black, the former director of the Counterterrorism Center (CTC) from December 2002 until November 2004, was hired as vice chairman of Blackwater in February 2005.

Months later, in November, the Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization was created by the State Department to oversee Iraqi reconstruction; taking over for the Pentagon. The IPOA pushed for its creation. That same month, the IPOA hired ASG to lobby Washington, D.C., from Intelligence Online (subscription required; scroll to bottom-right):

Last month IPOA contracted the lobbying concern Alexander Strategy Group, which has strong Republican connections, to see to its public relations in Washington.

Later that month, Senator Byron Dorgan’s (D-North Dakota) amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to establish a special committee to investigate contracts was voted down, 44-53. The House proposed H.R. 4351 “to require the Secretary of Defense to review all defense contracts relating to reconstruction or troop support in Iraq involving any contractors, subcontractors, or Federal officers or employees that have been indicted or convicted for contracting improprieties” but it died without a vote. Other attempts by Congress failed to reign in war profiteers.

The GAO released a study in 2005 that showed the disparities of pay between the U.S. armed forces and hired contractors in Iraq. Bill Sizemore of the Virginian-Pilot reported July 25, 2006:

Private military contractors can earn substantially more money than members of the armed services.A Government Accountability Office study last year found that contractors were earning $12,000 to $13,000 a month working on security convoys in Iraq and as much as $33,000 a month guarding high-ranking government officials.

That compares to $4,670 in monthly base pay and housing allowance earned by a typical Navy SEAL with 10 years of experience – the sort of person private military companies like to hire.

[...]

The GAO study found that attrition in military jobs preferred by security outfits rose in 2004 after declining for two years, but was no higher than in 2001. [emphasis added]

In August 2003, the governing body set up by the U.S. — the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) — awarded Blackwater a $21 million contract to provide security for CPA head, Paul Bremer, and other CPA officials in Iraq. (According to the linked UPI report, Blackwater USA has received “$505 million in contracts since 2000, primarily with the State Department.”)

On March 31, 2004 in Fallujah, four contractors were killed, and in the aftermath, the company hired the Alexander Strategy Group (ASG) to conduct damage control and improve its image. ASG is notorious for its involvement in the K-Street Project in Washington, D.C. Alexander Strategy spokesman Chris Bertinelli was quoted by the Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill, saying, “They did not go out looking for the publicity and did not ask for everything that happened to them. We want to do everything we can to educate [the media and Congress] about what Blackwater does.”

It was founded by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s (R-Texas) chief of staff, Ed Buckham and Tony Rudy, former DeLay staffer and lobbyist with Abramoff who recently pleaded guilty to conspiracy in March 2006. Other GOP players were DeLay’s wife, Christine, who worked for ASG for four years, from 1998 until 2002. Paul Behrends, a personal friend of Erik, was the chief lobbyist at ASG and he worked as the former national security advisor to Rep. Rohrabacher while Prince was a defense advisor.

From the announcement of his hiring:

Washington, D.C. ” March 27, 2006: Government relations firm C&M Capitolink LLC, a subsidiary of the international law firm Crowell & Moring LLP, is pleased to announce the addition of new partners Patrick J. Donnelly, Ph.D. and Paul D. Behrends. Donnelly joins from his position as executive vice president and chief operating officer of CropLife America , the largest trade association for the pesticide industry, and previous leadership positions in the chemical industry. Behrends, a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, brings 15 years of senior public policy expertise from experience on Capitol Hill and in the private sector as a government relations professional. These additions signal continued strategic growth at Capitolink, which has nearly doubled in size in the last two years.[...]

Behrends has served both on Capitol Hill and in the private sector as a government relations professional, focusing on international policy and security matters. His government work has included serving as senior advisor for International Relations and National Security Affairs for Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). [emphasis added]

Among the Alexander Strategy clientele, prior to formally shutting down in January 2006, were AT&T, Enron, Fannie Mae and R.J. Reynolds, among others. In 2004, ASG reported $8.8 million in lobbying income for the year, and $16,894,500 from 1998 through 2004.

In 1997, Erik Prince founded Blackwater USA, expanding the family’s Christian conservative empire into private security and war for hire. Erik is a former U.S. Navy SEAL and son of the late billionaire automotive parts supplier, Edgar. (In a Q&A published by the Virginian-Pilot on July 24, Erik noted some of his father’s less successful ideas, including a sock drawer light and an automated ham de-boning device.)

The elder Prince was widely known for his close association with anti-choice crusader Gary Bauer. Bauer was a domestic policy advisor in the Reagan White House before succeeding Jerry Regier (a former Reagan official, as well) for the leadership role of the Family Research Council (FRC) in 1988. With Edgar’s help, Bauer put the FRC on the map. (When Edgar died in 1995, the company was sold for $1.4 billion.)

Erik’s sister Elizabeth, commonly referred to as Betsy, was the head of the Michigan Republican Party until early 2005. She is also the former finance chairwoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). She married Dick DeVos, the son of billionaire Amway co-founder (now under the name Alticor), Richard DeVos. Forbes ranked DeVos as the 121st richest person in the world in 2003 with an estimated net worth of $1.7 billion.

Under DeVos’ tutelage, Amway has donated roughly $7.5 million to Republican candidates since 1990. The contribution-tracking website, NewsMeat, lists personal campaign donations from DeVos; since February 1979, he has donated over $650,000 to Republicans, over $2 million to “special interests” and one lone contribution to a Democrat, Joe Torsella, in 2003.

Richard and his wife Helen operate the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation and are known to have associations or donated to right-wing groups such as Focus on the Family, the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation.

Dick and Betsy DeVos donate huge sums of money to Republican candidates and causes. In the 2004 cycle, the couple ranked fifth among the highest political donors with $981,846 to Republicans. In fact, from 1990 through 2006, the couple donated $2,491,270 to Republicans with only $1,000 going to Democrats back in 1992.

The Grand Rapids Press reported July 9:

Since 1999, DeVos, his wife, Betsy, and their immediate family have poured at least $7 million into expanding school choice — vouchers, tuition tax credits and charter schools — and promoting candidates who back those causes.

In 2000, the family headed the campaign to legalize school vouchers in Michigan, raising big money and donating plenty as well. The initiative failed to pass.

This election cycle, the family is back at it again. But this time, Dick is running for the Republican Party’s nomination for Michigan Governor. His campaign chairman is David Brandon, chief executive of Domino’s Pizza and major Republican donor. Brandon has given over $100,000 to GOP candidates since 1987. (Side note: The founder of Domino’s Pizza, Thomas Monaghan, broke ground on the Ave Maria, Florida township, complete with its own university and strict Catholic-based laws.)

As for Erik, he started in Republican politics early, making his first donation — $15,000 — to the GOP at the age of nineteen. (At 19, I was $10,000 in financial aid debt and eating Ramen quite frequently.) Since 1989, Prince has donated over $151,250 to Republicans.

According to The News & Observer, Prince was among the first interns at the Family Research Council and interned for President George H.W. Bush for six months. (It is reasonable to suggest that, through his father’s Reagan-era connections, he was able to get the position.) He campaign for Patrick Buchanan’s Republican primary challenge to Bush in 1992, possibly because he “saw a lot of things I didn’t agree with — homosexual groups being invited in, the budget agreement, the Clean Air Act, those kind of bills. I think the administration has been indifferent to a lot of conservative concerns,” he told the Grand Rapids Press in early 1992.

That far-left lefty leftist Bush really showed his true colors, didn’t he? Actually talking with gays in the White House? Heavens to Betsy!

It should also be noted that Erik served as a defense analyst for tainted Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-California). Rohrabacher was a special assistant to Reagan before being elected to Congress in 1988, and has a chronicled involvement in the scandal of disgraced Republican lobbyist, Jack Abramoff.

Erik was a volunteer firefighter and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1992, joining the elite SEALs and operating with the SEAL Team 8 in Norfolk, Virginia. Due to personal reasons, his military career was cut short, bowing out in 1996. At the age of twenty-seven, he founded Blackwater USA.

He is a board member of the Christian Freedom International, “a nonprofit group dedicated to helping persecuted Christians around the world,” reported the Virginian-Pilot on July 24, 2006. As of April 2005, among the list of “directors” for CFI is Robert Reilly, the former director of the Voice of America (VOA), who was criticized for being “too ideological.” (The New York Times reported on the ideological bent in October 2001. Subscription required.) After Reilly resigned “abruptly” from the VOA, the April 21, 2003 edition of the Christian Science Monitor, it was reported that he now heads the Pentagon’s broadcasting efforts in Iraq.

Prince is associated with a number of other companies. In addition to Blackwater, he is affiliated with Bering Truck Distribution, Phase One Ltd., the Prince Group (who hired the former Defense Department Inspector General, Joseph E. Schmitz) and Prince Household L.L.C. He has associations with the Christian Solidarity International (CSI) and Institute of World Politics, a national security organization that teaches graduate diplomats and offers two Masters degree programs. He is also listed among the forty Board of Trustees for the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum with Senator John McCain.

Presidential Airways, whose parent company Presidential Airways, Inc. and its sister company, Aviation Worldwide Services (AWS), are owned by Blackwater, and based in Melbourne, Florida. It received a $2.43 million contract from the Department of Defense to provide “aircraft supports,” in February 2006. Late last year, Washington Post reporter Dana Priest revealed a network of secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe; she received a Pulitzer Prize for her work. It turns out, according to independent media sources, AWS and Presidential were both involved in the chartered flights.

Erik and his politically-active extended family are enablers of the Republican political elite and are reaping the benefits in return. Specifically, Erik is a war profiteer through his private security company’s paid warriors. Beholden to nobody but the almighty dollar, these mercenaries are increasingly tasked with operations that were formerly conducted by uniformed U.S. military personnel.

Which do you trust?