Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Defends His Company's Role In The War Against Terror

Image: Erik Prince has authored a new book defending Blackwater, the private security firm he created in 1997. Courtesy Image

Blackwater Founder Erik Prince: War on Terror Has Become Too Big -- Eli Lake, The Daily Beast

When the war on terror has lost the founder of Blackwater, counterterrorism efforts could be in real trouble. Why Erik Prince thinks the national security state has become too big.

Erik Prince is not the kind of man one expects to make the case for slashing U.S. intelligence and military budgets. After 9-11, his company, Blackwater, expanded exponentially, winning contracts to protect diplomats and politicians in Iraq and to train and work with CIA paramilitary teams hunting terrorists.

In an interview Monday, Prince said the national security state he once served has grown too large.

“America is way too quick to trade freedom for the illusion of security,” he told The Daily Beast. “Whether it’s allowing the NSA to go way too far in what it intercepts of our personal data, to our government monitoring of everything domestically and spending way more than we should. I don’t know if I want to live in a country where lone wolf and random terror attacks are impossible ‘cause that country would look more like North Korea than America.”

Read more ....

More News On Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Defending His Company's Role In The War Against Terror

Blackwater's Founder Blames U.S. for Its Troubles -- Wall Street Journal
Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Is Tired of Other People Telling His Secrets -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Blackwater Founder Erik Prince 'Regrets' Working for US State Dept. -- ABC News
Blackwater founder takes aim at his critics in memoir -- Pilot Online
Erik Prince is back with book defending Blackwater's role in war on terror -- mlive.com
Former Blackwater CEO: The NSA Is Turning America Into North Korea -- Business Insider