http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4132Blackwater in Trouble?
by: Richard Allen Smith
Has the constant, and justified, barrage of criticism of the mercenary corporation Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater, forced the company to rethink it's future? It appears as such.
After changing it's name in an effort to escape the corporation's reputation as hired guns who often act outside of their mandate of providing personal security, owner and Chairman Erick Prince relinquished day-to-day control and has now put the business up for sale:
The Moyock, N.C.-based company now called Xe Services announced its decision in a brief statement that gave few details.
"Xe's new management team has made significant changes and improvements to the company over the last 15 months, which have enabled the company to better serve the U.S. government and other customers, and will deliver additional value to a purchaser," the statement said.
Xe has also opened merchandise shops, curiously under the tainted Blackwater name, in an apparent attempt to raise capital for a company which must be struggling with the loss of the bulk of it's contracts over the last several years.
The only question is, if Blackwater does find a purchaser, will the new ownership transition the company into something respectable, or continue to operate in the same unethical manner for which the mercenary corporation has become known.
Personally, I hope Blackwater and all like corporations cease to exist entirely. They are paid exponentially more than American troops to do a troop's job. They have no accountability and their pay scale hinders military retention. Let's pay service members better, and let them do their own work.