Summary of Blackwater's Erik Prince: Iraq, privatising wars, and Trump | Head to Head

00:00:00 - 00:45:00

Blackwater CEO Erik Prince is a controversial figure due to his involvement in the Iraq War and his advocacy for private military contractors to be used to confront Iran. In this head-to-head debate, Prince is challenged on his plans to privatize the war in Afghanistan, his support for President Trump, and his record of killing civilians. Prince claims that the US government asked Blackwater to do a job, and that the company complied without ever harming anyone. However, he also acknowledges that Blackwater guards killed civilians, and that his company was often the target of insurgent attacks.

• 00:00:00 Blackwater CEO Erik Prince is back in the news after proposing to replace US troops in Afghanistan with his own private security force. Prince has a controversial history, including being convicted of four counts of manslaughter for the 2007 shooting of Iraqi civilians. He also has a history of making inaccurate statements about Blackwater's actions. In this head-to-head debate, Prince is challenged on his plans to privatize the war in Afghanistan, his support for President Trump, and his record of killing civilians. Prince claims that the US government asked Blackwater to do a job, and that the company complied without ever harming anyone. However, he also acknowledges that Blackwater guards killed civilians, and that his company was often the target of insurgent attacks.
• 00:05:00 Blackwater founder Erik Prince discusses his company's role in privatizing wars, Trump's relationship with the company, and the US' failure in Afghanistan. Prince also discusses his book, "The Outsider," in which he refers to Iraqis as "chanting barbarians" and "terrorists."
• 00:10:00 Erik Prince, the founder and CEO of Blackwater Worldwide, suggests privatizing the US-led war in Afghanistan, replacing almost 50,000 NATO troops and private contractors with 2,000 US special operators and 6,000 contractors, and cutting spending there by 30 billion dollars a year. He believes that the afghan war is not going well and has been a bit of a failure, but given a hundred and forty thousand nato troops couldn't control that country or defeat the Taliban back in 2011, he thinks that a few thousand contractors are gonna do it now under his command. His proposal is met with strong opposition from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who says it's a non-starter. Other people interviewed disagree with him. If Erik Prince's privatization plan is not signed by the next president, Afghanistan is likely to experience a similar fate to that of Najibullah, who ruled Afghanistan for almost two decades after the Soviet withdrawal, until the US military intervened in 2001.
• 00:15:00 Blackwater is a private military company that has been in the news for its involvement in multiple conflicts, most notably in Iraq. The company has been criticized for its role in the Nisour square massacre, among other things. Erik Prince, the founder and CEO of Blackwater, has said that US generals have laughed at his plan for Afghanistan.
• 00:20:00 Eric Prince, founder and former CEO of Blackwater, is interviewed about his relationship with President Trump. Prince discusses Frontier Services Group's plans to open a training center for security guards in China, which has raised concerns among Muslims.
• 00:25:00 Colonel Tim Collins is the chairman of a private security consultancy, New Century, which has been criticized for being disloyal to national governments. Collins responds to critics by saying that he is only loyal to himself and his company's bottom lines, not to a national government.
• 00:30:00 Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, says international law doesn't hold governments accountable for their actions, and that mercenaries are a problem because they can shoot back at law enforcement. He didn't mention a meeting he attended with Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian oligarch, which is relevant to Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
• 00:35:00 Blackwater founder Erik Prince is a controversial figure due to his involvement in the Iraq War and his advocacy for private military contractors to be used to confront Iran. He has also raised funds for a wall along the US-Mexico border. In contrast, President Trump has repeatedly said that Mexico will pay for the wall.
• 00:40:00 The speaker discusses Blackwater's Erik Prince and his role in the Iraq War. Prince claims that the US should have pulled all troops out of South Korea and Afghanistan, and that he would have insisted on camera coverage for State Department missions. He also discusses the lessons he has learned from the deaths of 41 men.
• 00:45:00 In 2007, Erik Prince said that he sleeps "the sleep of the just," and has no regrets or guilt over the thousands of innocent lives taken by Blackwater employees. He believes that the company did what it was asked to do, and that it saved thousands of people. He also believes that the Afghan security forces will collapse within six weeks without the support of U.S. troops.