by Magnifico
Tue Jun 8th, 2010 at 02:53:05 PM EST
Reuters and other news outlets are reporting that the company formerly known as Blackwater is pursing a sale of the company.
Xe Services announced its decision in a brief statement that gave few details, the agency said.
Owner and founder Erik Prince said in a statement that selling the company is a difficult decision, but constant criticism of Xe helped him make up his mind, according to the agency.
I think it isn't so much that Prince couldn't stand the constant criticism, but rather after Blackwater mercenaries massacred 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisoor Square in Baghdad on the September 16, 2007, he couldn't shake public attention to his once-fly-below-the-radar operation.
Blackwater failed to pull off a successful corporate name change. Prince tried to change Blackwater's name to Xe, but nearly every media report linked Xe to its former name of Blackwater. That problem was twofold: first Xe was still linked to Blackwater, but second and worse for Prince, Xe was still constantly in the news.
Add to that reports of Prince's performance anxiety.
Owner and founder Erik Prince said selling the company is a difficult decision, but constant criticism of Xe helped him make up his mind.
"Performance doesn't matter in Washington, just politics," Prince said in a further statement.
So, either Prince is readying himself for politics or maybe a buyer has made an offer he cannot refuse. Who could be this buyer? Why not BP? This could be BP's solution to their Gulf of Mexico "problem". Plus the mercenaries' old name would still work, after all BP knows a thing or two about oily black water.
The Guardian is reporting that Barack Obama finding out 'whose ass to kick' over oil spill:
"I was down there a month ago before most of these talking heads were even paying attention to the Gulf," Obama said, adding he has talked to a variety of "experts" on the oil spill, as well as the fishermen.
"I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar, we talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick," the president said.
On the other hand, Jeremy Scahill at The Nation writes:
I have heard from Congressional sources that the Obama administration is not enthusiastic about its ongoing relationship with Blackwater, but that the company provides services and personnel the White House has determined it cannot live without--particularly in Afghanistan. In that way, the sale of Blackwater would benefit the Obama administration.
Probably not though if BP was the buyer. If the Obama administration truly cannot live without Blackwater's "services and personnel", then the U.S. federal government should purchase Xe. This is an opportunity to reverse the privatization of America's national security infrastructure.
