Erik Prince, the millionaire ex-Navy SEAL who owns Blackwater USA, is due to testify this morning before the House Government Reform Committee. You can read his prepared statement here. And here's the committee report.
Prince plans to point out to lawmakers that 30 of his employees have been killed in combat, but "no person protected by Blackwater has ever been killed or seriously injured." This is notable given that the Pentagon says the death toll among U.S. military personnel has reached 3,800.
Despite recent reports about trigger-happy guards, Prince says his employees have discharged their weapons in only 56 of the 1,873 missions they conducted while protecting American diplomats.
"Blackwater does not engage in offensive or military missions, but performs only defensive security functions," he plans to say.
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