Rule number one for all security companies doing business in the Middle East: don't publicly embrace Erik Prince. A company building a battalion of mercs for the United Arab Emirates is sticking to that code, even though a host of ex-employees have fingered the infamous Blackwater founder as a driving force behind it.
Prince is "not an officer, director, shareholder, or even an employee" of Reflex Responses, swears its president, Michael Roumi. Reflex Responses, also known as R2, has a $529 million contract to provide 800 mercenaries to keep the UAE safe from internal unrest or Iranian terrorism. Indeed, Prince's name can't be found on official company documents.
Yet five former company employees told the *New York Times *that Prince was "deeply involved" in R2, having "overseen the hiring of American military and law enforcement veterans for the project, as well as European and South African contractors." A Blackwater veteran, Ricky Chambers, is reportedly involved in R2 as well. According to the Times' sources, Prince goes by the codename "Kingfish" within the company to conceal his involvement.
Roumi's disavowal of Prince came in a letter to the Obama administration and Congress obtained by the New York Times. And for good reason. If Prince or any other American is involved in R2, it could violate U.S. laws barring citizens from transferring military technology or expertise to foreign countries without a license. The State Department isn't sure it's given R2 any such permission.
Alternatively, denying involvement with Prince might just be good business and PR sense. Under Prince's stewardship, Blackwater became a dirty word after its security guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007. More recently, he's been the subject of widespread rumors in the Middle East tying him to an anti-pirate Somali militia. If you were a confederation of Arab sheikhs hiring Christian security guards to potentially suppress Arab revolts, would you want it known that you went to Erik Prince for the job?
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