US war in Afghanistan: Blackwater in action

WASHINGTON - The founder of the private military company known as 

Blackwater has hired a lobbyist to sell his plan to privatize the Afghan war that will turn much of the Afghan war over to private security contractors, a news report said on Wednesday. Eric Prince, a former Navy SEAL and the brother of US Education Secretary Betsy Devos, had been trying to convince the government to privatize counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan , but his proposal was rejected by the administration of President Trump last year, who instead dispatched more American troops to the war-ravaged country. The refusal has done little to dent the aspirations of Prince, who visited Kabul last month to again float his proposal to the government in Afghanistan , which is struggling to contain the Taliban-led violence with the help of the international forces. Prince has made a controversial career out of providing security for hire to the United States and others. He cut his ties to Blackwater, the company he founded and that was accused of heavy-handed practices in Iraq, and now runs a Hong-Kong-based company called Frontier Services. Prince has now hired Ron Phillips of Gavel Resources, a former House Armed Services Committee staffer, who has started representing him and reported lobbying Congress and the Defense Department on his behalf in a disclosure filing, the report by online news portal POLITICO. Phillips said in an interview that he has set up meetings for Prince with members of Congress and administration officials to discuss his proposal of contracting anti-terrorism operations to private security contractors. “There is no ask other than he’s providing information.” According to the report, Bill Jarrell, a former aide to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and a Gravel partner is also engaged in the effort. In an op-ed, he wrote for The New York Times last year, Prince said that his proposal is for a “sustainable footprint of 2,000 American Special Operations and support personnel, as well as a contractor force of less than 6,000, much less than the strength of 26,000 troops now in the country. After making his case to Afghan leaders in Kabul, Prince is now said to have been focusing on winning support in Washington, notably President Trump. The report, quoted Prince saying that President Trump has discussed the proposal with Prince’s sister DeVos. A separate news reporter from Kabul said that during his stay in the capital, he met with influential political figures within and outside the administration of President Ashraf Ghani, who has reportedly opposed the idea as, saying under no circumstance that would be allowed. The head of the US Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel , told reporters recently that he did not agree with Prince’s contention that he could win the war more quickly and for less money with a few thousands hired guns. - APP