60 Minutes Tonight: Lara Logan Interviews Blackwater Founder Erik Prince

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/13/60minutes/main3364195.shtml

Blackwater Chief Welcomes Extra Oversight
Lara Logan Interviews Blackwater Founder Erik Prince

Oct. 13, 2007


(CBS) The founder of embattled private security firm Blackwater USA welcomes any additional oversight the U.S. government would impose on his armed guards stemming from the shooting incident in Baghdad last month in which 17 Iraqis died.

Erik Prince tells correspondent Lara Logan that he also supports the prosecution of his men should any of them be found to have acted badly when they opened fire on a Baghdad street after the explosion of a car bomb.

The interview, his first for television since his appearance before Congress, will be broadcast on 60 Minutes, Sunday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. PT.

"We absolutely want more oversight. We welcome the accountability. We want a good name for this industry," Prince says, acknowledging that his and other private security companies operating in Iraq have acquired bad reputations. "I'm glad the FBI's investigating. I'm glad they can be a neutral party. And if there's further investigation or prosecution even needed, if someone really did wrong and meant badly, I'm all supportive," he tells Logan in the interview conducted Friday at his North Carolina headquarters.

In the incident last month, Blackwater employees guarding a convoy of U.S. State Department officials opened fire after the explosion of a car bomb. In addition to the 17 Iraqi deaths, at least 24 others were wounded. A U.S. military report has concluded the Blackwater team was not fired upon. Prince vigorously defended the training of his men and believes they acted according to the rules of engagement under which the U.S. military operates.

He says he has evidence they were fired upon. "And the fact is three of our vehicles had pockmarks in them from incident reports that I saw. So, clearly, our guys were not shooting at each other," says Prince. One of the Blackwater vehicles had its radiator damaged from bullets and had to be towed away, Prince says.

"Sure, you know, mistakes can be made. I'm not saying anyone, our guys, no one's perfect," Prince tells Logan. "But bad things don't generally happen by themselves. And, you know, this whole incident started with a very large car bomb blew up right outside a venue where one of our teams was there with an American," he says.

Any odds on how many puff piece questions he'll get?

We're not talking Katie Couric here. Lara has a good rep for telling the stories no one else covers. We'll see.

get to be promoted on the white male media machine.

As soon as I know which segment is theirs I'll jump over.

Let's see how she does, and then you can attack her and CBS all you want...

giving this mongrel a platform and you say give her a chance, why don't they give us a chance, a chance for them to be fair.




:patriot:

You could just tell he was lying his ass off.

wrong. this is about crimes and war crimes, not to mention corruption of the highest magnitude....

excellent reporting from Iraq and most times her stories directly contradicted the Pr Flakkery from the US side.

"I'm an American working for America"

did you here how much those fuckers gets paid a month $20,000, now thats absurd, extremely absurd.

:mad:

He is fighting to keep the Dollars rolling.

something decent, same ol, same ol, she was giving him a platform and they both did a treble job, 60 minutes better get rid of her quick.

i will not be used for their bullshit propaganda!..i would rather put cartoons on!

what a frweaking disgrace.

i will not watch 60 minutes ever again!

again i will not be part or parcel of their propaganda!

filthy pigs they are!

fly

I didn't think that this was a puffball piece by Lara Logan. She actually brought up the major criticisms about Blackwater to Erik Prince's face: a) the reputation as overly aggressive trigger-happy Rambos, b) Iraq wanting them out, c) the USA military REFUTING Blackwater's accounts...this is FUCKING huge and d) 60 minutes indicating that they could not independently verify Blackwater's account...INSTEAD of buying it hook, line and sinker. You could see Erik Prince stammering at places, especially when confronted with the USA military's dispute of his POV.

Sure it wasn't a comprehensive damnation of Blackwater that PBS's Frontline and CBC's The Fifth Estate would do...but no way was it a sell-out interview that Katie Couric would do.

what Prince said. It wasn't a pass by any means.