Jeremy Scahill reports:
The in-depth Vanity Fair profile of the infamous owner of Blackwater, Erik Prince, is remarkable on many levels--not least among them that Prince appeared to give the story's author, former CIA lawyer Adam Ciralsky, unprecedented access to information about sensitive, classified and lethal operations not only of Prince's forces, but Prince himself. In the article, Prince is revealed not just as owner of a company that covertly provided contractors to the CIA for drone bombings and targeted assassinations, but as an actual CIA asset himself. While the story appears to be simply a profile of Prince, it might actually be the world's most famous mercenary's insurance policy against future criminal prosecution. The term of art for what Prince appears to be doing in the VF interview is graymail: a legal tactic that has been used for years by intelligence operatives or assets who are facing prosecution or fear they soon will be. In short, these operatives or assets threaten to reveal details of sensitive or classified operations in order to ward off indictments or criminal charges, based on the belief that the government would not want these details revealed. "The only reason Prince would do this [interview] is that he feels he is in very serious jeopardy of criminal charges," says Scott Horton, a prominent national security and military law expert. "He absolutely would not do these things otherwise."If the trial of E.Prince vs. the U.S government ever reaches the Supreme Court, the whole foundation of the U.S system of justice will experience a jolt, and be put in jeopardy, so it is not very likely that will happen. And I highly doubt Mr. Prince is a Clyde Shelton figure. He is not a law abiding citizen. But neither is Leon Panetta. The trouble is, one of them has never pretended to be something he's not. Prince's selling pitch from day one has been, "I'm the lion that will eat sheep." And the US government has done everything, from giving him directions to looking the other way when things got complicated. There is no sole guilty party in this situation. Both camps are involved in wrongdoing, and have committed international war crimes in the American people's name.
Quite honestly, though, I'd side with Prince in this legal battle, and potential fight, because at least he is upfront about his murderous nature, while the CIA has cowardly kept secret about its list of crimes. There comes a time when playing the moral card no longer works. And in the jungle, the last battle does not come down to a battle of wits, cause propaganda can only take you so far, but a battle of ideas, and there are corners you must pass that are unfriendly to concealment, so those who are ashamed to ravage and murder will lose. That is the nature of the beast. War does not like nice guys. Sure, nice guys become war heroes, but who wants to be a dead hero?
If this War was real, I'd want Prince leading the charge, but the trouble is the War of Terror is a historical hoax, and a grave insult to the raw spirits of humanity. We have warriors among us, but our wars suck. That is why Obama can't deliver a Pericles-like speech. Glory is not within the reach of any of these men. The real glory is found in the resistance to men like Prince, Obama, and the higher-ups of the US establishment. And that glory is ours if we resist them. At least that's my bet.
I don't have any sympathies with either side, and I have a feeling that neither will the American people, once they learn all the ugly facts about the War of Terror. The relationship between Blackwater and the CIA is very much "you scratch my back, and I scratch yours." And I doubt either criminal group want the scratching to stop.
After all, both sides have guns.
And they also must know that the people coming for their guts also have guns. The question is: Who has the bigger guns?
And the larger question is: Will this War be won by guns or information? By peaceful means or savage means? Since I'm in this for the long hall, and not short-term profits, I think information and knowledge will create the greatest power, and finally end this brutal War of Terror peacefully, by bringing all sides together. That does not make me non-violent, that makes me wise.
