Photo via Lance Cpl. Nicholas Guevara/U.S. Central Command Public Affairs, Miller Center/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
August 25, 2021, 10:33 am
Reports coming out of Kabul, Afghanistan continue to be grim as U.S. forces work to evacuate as many as possible from the country following the Taliban takeover. Those on the ground have indicated that the August 31 deadline for withdrawing all American troops from the country will not give the military enough time to get everyone out who is under grave threat from the Taliban for working with the U.S. against them over the past 20 years.
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As a result, some have stepped up to use their own private planes to help with evacuation efforts. Others, like Blackwater founder and brother to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos (who hasn’t been fired yet for reasons explained by nobody) Erik Prince, have decided to exploit the situation for money. Prince is reportedly charging $6,500 per seat for spots on his private jet out of Kabul.
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He literally admitted to this scheme, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Erik Prince was already considered a controversial figure, to put it extremely mildly, particularly in connection to the war in Afghanistan. Blackwater is a private military company often contracted by the U.S. and was responsible for a number of the worst atrocities committed in Iraq, including the Nisour Square massacre. Prince’s company has also been accused of charging up to six times as much for one of his contracted mercenaries as it costs for the U.S. government to deploy a soldier.
Like his sister, Prince has been repeatedly accused of only doing anything he does for the sake of profit, no matter who or how many it might hurt. Charging refugees thousands of dollars to escape likely murder at the hands of the Taliban is not helping his reputation right now. The report from the WSJ indicated that he would charge even more than $6500 for people who needed help escaping their homes to get to the airport, but he also might not be helping at all.
“Mr. Prince, whose Blackwater guards were convicted of killing civilians in 2014 while providing security for Americans during the Iraq war, said he was charging each passenger $6,500 to get them safely into the airport and on a plane, and it would cost extra to get people who have been trapped in their homes to the airport. It remained unclear whether Mr. Prince had the wherewithal to carry out his plans.”
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Meanwhile, charities and other, better individuals have been working to get at-risk Afghanistan citizens likely to be left behind by the U.S. government out as quickly as they can. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has reportedly been working to get women and girls on flights out of the country free of charge, working with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
That’s probably why everyone on Twitter is trashing Erik Prince rather than her.
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Erik Prince sees a crisis for his fellow Americans and allies, and the billionaire uses it to charge $6,500 per person for a plane seat out. What a guy! https://t.co/4YaOeJVoZi
— Amy Siskind
(@Amy_Siskind) August 25, 2021
Grifter, foreign colluder, and Blackwater founder Erik Prince is price gouging, charging 6,500 per seat for flights out of Kabul. What a patriot. How much did citizens aiding the evacuation from Dunkirk charge? Nothing.
— Duty To Warn
(@duty2warn) August 25, 2021
*First Published: August 25, 2021, 10:33 am
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