The incident sparked at least five investigations, including one from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. North Carolina, U. Academi is an American private military company founded in by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince as Blackwater , renamed as Xe Services in and known as Academi since after the company was acquired by a group of private investors.
In addition, at least Iraqi private contractors have been killed for a total of 1, contractors dead. They still do business as Academi. Today , the North Carolina training center operates as United States Training Center, or USTC, and carries out tactics and weapons training for military, government, and law enforcement. Reports surfaced this week that 42 mercenaries working for the US security firm Blackwater had been killed in Yemen.
The news came just one week after 15 fighters working for the same company were said to have been killed in clashes in the war-torn country. Does the US hire mercenaries? The US draws the line at combat; it does not hire mercenaries to carry out attacks or engage directly in warfare. But that line can get blurry. Private firms provide heavily armed security details to protect diplomats in war zones or intelligence officers in the field.
How do you join Blackwater? That, in turn, means big profits for the remaining heavyweights, including those that own what had once been Blackwater. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all.
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By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Why four Blackwater contractors were just now convicted of killing 17 Iraqi civilians in Share this story Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter Share All sharing options Share All sharing options for: Why four Blackwater contractors were just now convicted of killing 17 Iraqi civilians in Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email.
Witnesses look into a car after Blackwater agents killed 17 Iraqis in Nisour Square in Here's what happened, from the Nisour Square shooting to the federal convictions. What was Blackwater doing in Iraq? What happened in Nisour Square on September 16, ? What did the State Department do? How did the federal government investigate the massacre? How did the trial go? What happens to the guards now? What happened to Blackwater itself? As Foreign Policy wrote: With fewer contracts coming from Iraq and Afghanistan, consolidation across the security business means that the State Department -- which remains heavily dependent on private-sector guards for its embassies and consulates -- has a smaller and smaller number of companies from which to choose.
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Why Biden has disappointed on immigration By German Lopez. Hating work is having a moment By Rani Molla. Animals need infrastructure, too By Ben Goldfarb. In , four employees were charged and convicted in a US court after 17 Iraqi civilians were killed while the company was escorting an embassy convoy in Baghdad.
The billionaire founder of the company, Erik Prince, sold it in and reportedly moved to the UAE. It is believed he relocated there due to legal issues back in the US, but there were also rumors that he was overseeing an effort to form a private army of mercenaries.
In , The New York Times obtained documents detailing how an member battalion of foreign fighters was being trained in the UAE with the help of Prince for defensive security operations. Many of these mercenaries were Colombian.
A burnt car at the site where Blackwater guards opened fire on a crowd in Baghdad, Iraq, in Donald Trump has pardoned the four contractors jailed over the killing of 14 civilians.
Trump pardons ex-campaign aide and disgraced Republican lawmakers. Read more.
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