Sunday, May 15, 2011

Foreign Legion 2.0

Erik Prince, former SEAL and founder of Blackwater, has reemerged in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. He is there assembling a mercenary group, Reflex Responses, of 600 or more foreign soldiers to serve the interests of the UAE government.

If it works, Prince hopes to use it as the nucleus for a much larger force available to do what foreign legions have always done: deal violently with problems in the third world. Reflex Responses is already finding dealing with le cafard an issue.

This New York Times article is long and quite detailed. Reading it, you get the feeling the reporters don't approve of Prince's activities.