THE BLACK PRINCE: Edward, Prince of Wales (15 June 1308 June 1376) was called - Edward of Woodstock in his early life, after his birthplace, and has, more recently, been popularly known as The Black Prince. He was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, and father to King Richard II of England. Edward, an exceptional military leader and popular during his life, died one year before his father and thus never ruled as king (becoming the first English Prince of Wales to suffer that fate). The throne passed instead to his son Richard, a minor, upon the death of Edward III.

THE BLACKWATER PRINCE: Erick Prince (born in '69) is the son of the deceased billionaire Edgar Prince. who co-founded the Family Research Council with Gary Bauer.[12] Prince is the brother of Betsy DeVos, a former chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party and wife of former Alticor (Amway) president and Gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos[10], son of Richard DeVos, Sr. (listed by Forbes in 2007 as one of the world's richest men, with a net worth of $2.4 billion).[13]

Naturally our Prince is tutored in a Christian school, graduates in '86 and enters the US Naval Academy.  But Erik is out of there by the end of '87.  Three semesters and he's gone. He shows up again on our radar in '92 graduating from Hillsdale College. That is five years to get a undergraduate degree with three semesters under his belt at the start.  A couple of years missing there.

While he is 'studying' at college he interns at the White House. Now that is what I call a summer job. Imagine a background like his could land your ass in a conservative repub WH. The Blackwater Prince does not like his internship however:

...(he) subsequently criticized that administration's policies to the Grand Rapids Press, saying: "I saw a lot of things I didn't agree with--homosexual groups being invited in, the budget agreement, the Clean Air Act, those kinds of bills."[5] He also served as an intern to California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. While at Hillsdale, Prince campaigned for presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, and interned at Gary Bauer's Family Research Council.[5]

He ends up entering OCS after school and becomes a Navy SEAL, involved with:

"...deployments to Haiti, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean, including Bosnia. When his father, Edgar, unexpectedly died in 1995, Prince ended his Navy service prematurely. Prince's mother, Elsa, sold the Prince Corporation for $1.3 billion to Johnson Controls, Inc. Prince moved to Virginia Beach and personally financed the formation of Blackwater Worldwide in 1997.[7][10] He bought 6,000 acres (24 km2) of the Great Dismal Swamp of North Carolina and set up a school for special operations operators.[11] The name "Blackwater" comes from the peat-colored bogs in which the school is located.

So he's a fully trained warrior by '95, he is worth, I would guess, a hundred million dollars if not more, he is all of 26 years old  and he is a right wing C-Street kind of nut. And he gets into the business of training terrorists.  Oh I'm so sorry, training anti-terrorists.

An article in 2004 states Blackwater was formed in 1996 by two former Navy SEALs. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-04-01-security-usat_x.htm

I cite this  because it is a good article and there is much confusion as to dates and origins with regard to Blackwater.

Like the Dark Prince of the 14th century, he is busy building his own army at a very early age.

By the time of the Iraq war, Blackwater is a subcontractor for Halliburton:

ROUGH DRAFT: From the time four men were killed in streets of Fallujah on March 31, 2004 until yesterday, the U.S. Army couldn't determine if, in fact, Halliburton/KBR had broken its multi-billion-dollar contract agreement by allowing a private security company to guard a subcontractor's convoyHalliburton/KBR had violated the sweeping contract to provide support services to the Army in Iraq, we learned at the hearing. According to the LogCAP contract -- now clocking about $16 billion in receipts -- Halliburton/KBR agreed to always use military support for its security unless otherwise approved by the combatant commander. Halliburton had no approval. http://mountainrunner.us/2007/02/update_on_halliburtonkbrblackw.html

See, not only was the Black Prince's Army a subcontractor to the Vice President's company, it was an illegal one as well. Isn't that just ducky?  And watch how its contracts increased over a period of six years:

While the Bush Administration calls for the immediate disbanding of what it has labeled "private" and "illegal" militias in Lebanon and Iraq, it is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into its own global private mercenary army tasked with protecting US officials and institutions overseas. The secretive program, which spans at least twenty-seven countries, has been an incredible jackpot for one heavily Republican-connected firm in particular: Blackwater USA. Government records recently obtained by The Nation reveal that the Bush Administration has paid Blackwater more than $320 million since June 2004 to provide "diplomatic security" services globally. The massive contract is the largest known to have been awarded to Blackwater to date and reveals how the Administration has elevated a once-fledgling security firm into a major profiteer in the "war on terrorBlackwater's highly lucrative "diplomatic security" contract was officially awarded under the State Department's little-known Worldwide Personal Protective Service (WPPS) program, described in State Department documents as a government initiative to protect US officials as well as "certain foreign government high level officials whenever the need arises."

The WPPS contract awarded in 2004 was divided among a handful of companies, among them DynCorp and Triple Canopy. Blackwater was originally slated to be paid $229.5 million for five years, according to a State Department contract list. Yet as of June 30, just two years into the program, it had been paid a total of $321,715,794. When confronted with this apparent $100 million discrepancy, the State Department could not readily explain it. Blackwater's two years of WPPS earnings exceed many estimates of the company's total government contracts, which the Virginian-Pilot recently put at $290 million combined since 2000. Six years ago the government paid Blackwater less than $250,000.   http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060828/scahill

And you might have heard of some  further legal problems with regard to the Blackwater Prince's Christian Army besides short changing the American Taxpayers over one hundred million dollars:

...the distressing story of Jamie Leigh Jones, 20, who was reportedly raped by co-workers in 2005; to date, nothing has happened to the men involved. Even worse, the Army rape kit -- which contained semen from "multiple uknown men" -- was lost "after Army investigators turned it over to KBR officials." Justice Seekers adds more: the Halliburton/KBR human resources officer said that "Halliburton/KBR permitted or encouraged a 'sexually lawless environment' and uses arbitration as a means to 'circle the wagons' to protect their financial interests, rather than fairly treat their employees." This is the latest Iraqi contractor indicident involving employee actions which would be criminal had they happened on US soil. http://uspolitics.about.com/b/2007/12/19/first-blackwater-now-halliburton.htm

So even in the Prince's Christian Army a woman might find some employment problems.

At least 14 of the civilians killed by Blackwater contractors in September were unjustified shootings that "violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq, according to civilian and military officials briefed on the case." An earlier military review panel found all 17 deaths unjustified. But in the vague legal climate created by our government-written contracts -- and our government's wordsmithing of Iraqi law -- these men will probably never face a jury.

But times have changed since this article was published over two years ago. TPM has been hot on Blackwater this week and for a Christian Soldier, the Blackwater Prince is facing some interesting criticism of late:

Some of the most serious of the new allegations, in more detail:

• The murder charge: The former Blackwater employee, identified only as "John Doe Number 2," claims that, "based on information provided to me by former colleagues, it appears that Mr. Prince and his employees murdered, or had murdered, one or more persons who have provided information, or who were planning to provide information, to the federal authorities about the ongoing criminal conduct." John Doe 2 adds that "on several occasions after my departure from Mr. Prince's employ, Mr. Prince's management has personally threatened me with death and violence." The former Marine, identified as "John Doe Number 1," refers to "suspicious circumstances" under which informants have been killed.

• The destruction of evidence charge: John Doe 2 claims:

On more than one occasion, Mr. Prince and his top managers gave orders to destroy emails and other documents. Many incriminating videotapes, documents and emails have been shredded and destroyed.

• The religious charge: John Doe 2 claims that Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe," and that Prince "intentionally deployed to Iraq certain men who shared his vision of Christian supremacy, knowing and wanting these men to take every available opportunity to murder Iraqis  http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08/the_blackwater_charges_whats_being_alleged.php?ref=fpb

I especially like this paragraph that appears to cover it all:

A series of shocking and lurid charges have been made against Erik Prince and Blackwater, the defense contracting behemoth he founded, in sworn statements filed in federal court Monday. Prince and or his company are variously accused of being motivated by an apocalyptic Christian worldview which glorified killing Muslims; of "encourag[ing] and reward[ing] the destruction of Iraqi life;" of illegally smuggling weapons into Iraq; of destroying incriminating evidence; of using child prostitutes; and even of murdering government informants.

SUMMARY

I come away with many questions and many conclusions.

First, we know that Cheney had some plans to establish an assassination squad that supposedly were never implemented. BULLSHIT. What the hell do you think Blackwater was?

Second, there is a right wing Christian conspiracy in this country that has funding and power that I never dreamed of. Hell, they have their own army.

Third, the rules of C-Street are in full force throughout the history of the Blackwater prince's development. Hypocracy of the highest order. Murder, prostitution, covering up one's sins, hatred for one's brothers--in other words NONE of Jesus' teachings apply to the powerful. None.

I leave you with this line:

Prince was unfaithful to his first wife, Joan Nicole Prince, cheating on her with their nanny, Joanna Houck. When Joan Prince died of cancer in 2003, Houck attended the funeral while pregnant with Prince's child. Prince and Houck were married a year later.

Prince has six children.[14]