War Criminal News; Blackwater Edition

Xx, formerly Blackwater Worldwide (and soon to be the Sunny Day Security Corp.) has agreed to pay a $42 million dollar penalty in order to stave off criminal charges, and to keep their current Federal contracts.

In June, the State Department awarded Blackwater a $120 million contract to provide security at its regional offices in Afghanistan, while the C.I.A. renewed the firm’s $100 million security contract for its station in Kabul. At the time, the C.I.A. director, Leon E. Panetta, defended the decision, saying that the company had offered the lowest bid and had “cleaned up its act.”

Ah, horseshit.

I think it's a very telling point that ol' patriotic Erik Prince fled the country to Dubai, most likely to avoid prosecution.