NPR

4 Insights About Blackwater Founder Erik Prince

In a recent series of television interviews and op-eds, Prince has waged an active public campaign for his plan to reshape the war in Afghanistan.
Erik Prince, then-chairman of the Prince Group, LLC and Blackwater USA, holds up a picture showing the effect of a car bomb while testifying during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in 2007. / Mark Wilson / Getty Images

Erik Prince has bounced around the American news universe for more than a decade. He first rose to prominence with his security firm Blackwater, which helped guard U.S. officials and government facilities overseas, most notably in Iraq. After selling the company in 2010, Prince fell off the U.S. radar for several years during which he helped establish a mercenary army for the United Arab Emirates. But in recent weeks and months, he has made a string of public appearances and statements in the U.S., including Wednesday in the in which he lobbies for

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