Blackwater Founder Linked to Investigators' Murders

Two former Blackwater employees accused company founder and CEO Erik Prince of murder in statements filed in federal court this week, the Nation reports. The former guards, including an ex-Marine, say Prince may have either killed or facilitated the killing of operatives probing the security contractor's Iraq operations. The investigators were working on behalf of the federal government, according to the workers. They also accuse Prince of smuggling illegal weapons into Iraq and condoning the killing of civilians.

Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe," and deployed others with the same outlook to Iraq, one of the men testified. The sworn statements came as part of a civil lawsuit filed against Prince on behalf of Iraqis who say their relatives were unlawfully killed by Blackwater guards. A statement from Blackwater accused the men of slandering Prince, who recently stepped down from the company.
(More Blackwater stories.)