Medhi Hasan and Erik Prince go head to head on Friday morning (Photo: Mehdi Hasan Twitter @mehdirhasan)
Mar 06, 2019
In an interview scheduled to air on Al Jazeera's YouTube channel Friday morning, journalist Mehdi Hasan confronts former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince over comments Prince made about Iraqis and the bloody history of his mercenary company.
"What drives you, when you kind of, come up with these plans to do private security especially in a lot of these Muslim-majority countries?" Hasan asked Prince in a clip posted to Twitter Wednesday. "Because you yourself have referred to the people your men were fighting in Iraq as barbarians who crawled out of the sewer."
Prince said that he was referring to "terrorists," a point Hasan conceded while pointing out that Prince's wording in the quote suggested the mercenary saw all Iraqis as terrorists.
"You said, 'These were the chanting barbarians American troops had been sent to liberate?'" Hasan said. "You weren't sent to liberate 'terrorists.' It sounds like you're talking about Iraqis."
Hasan's question left Prince at a loss for words, though Prince did, after a few seconds, deflect to attacking Saddaam Hussein and pointing out that he wasn't behind the policy decision to invade Iraq.
\u201cI asked Blackwater founder Erik Prince about calling Iraqis "barbarians" and about the murder & manslaughter that happened on his watch in Iraq. \n\nYou should really listen to his replies. (Watch the whole @AJHeadtoHead with him this Friday on @AJEnglish)\nhttps://t.co/7f4unXn1zz\u201d— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1551903374
In the clip, Hasan also brought up the conviction of four Blackwater employees for murder and manslaughter for their actions in Iraq. Prince, smiling, replied that it took four times to convict the men and implied that the federal government had to bring the case in Washington, D.C., in order to secure a conviction.
"Is a D.C. jury not a legitimate jury?" asked Hasan.
"I would say, a jury of your peers does not compare to the rest of America? No," Prince said.
"So some juries are legitimate, some not," said Hasan. "Like so-called judges."
The full interview is scheduled to air Friday morning. Watch:
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
In an interview scheduled to air on Al Jazeera's YouTube channel Friday morning, journalist Mehdi Hasan confronts former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince over comments Prince made about Iraqis and the bloody history of his mercenary company.
"What drives you, when you kind of, come up with these plans to do private security especially in a lot of these Muslim-majority countries?" Hasan asked Prince in a clip posted to Twitter Wednesday. "Because you yourself have referred to the people your men were fighting in Iraq as barbarians who crawled out of the sewer."
Prince said that he was referring to "terrorists," a point Hasan conceded while pointing out that Prince's wording in the quote suggested the mercenary saw all Iraqis as terrorists.
"You said, 'These were the chanting barbarians American troops had been sent to liberate?'" Hasan said. "You weren't sent to liberate 'terrorists.' It sounds like you're talking about Iraqis."
Hasan's question left Prince at a loss for words, though Prince did, after a few seconds, deflect to attacking Saddaam Hussein and pointing out that he wasn't behind the policy decision to invade Iraq.
\u201cI asked Blackwater founder Erik Prince about calling Iraqis "barbarians" and about the murder & manslaughter that happened on his watch in Iraq. \n\nYou should really listen to his replies. (Watch the whole @AJHeadtoHead with him this Friday on @AJEnglish)\nhttps://t.co/7f4unXn1zz\u201d— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1551903374
In the clip, Hasan also brought up the conviction of four Blackwater employees for murder and manslaughter for their actions in Iraq. Prince, smiling, replied that it took four times to convict the men and implied that the federal government had to bring the case in Washington, D.C., in order to secure a conviction.
"Is a D.C. jury not a legitimate jury?" asked Hasan.
"I would say, a jury of your peers does not compare to the rest of America? No," Prince said.
"So some juries are legitimate, some not," said Hasan. "Like so-called judges."
The full interview is scheduled to air Friday morning. Watch:
In an interview scheduled to air on Al Jazeera's YouTube channel Friday morning, journalist Mehdi Hasan confronts former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince over comments Prince made about Iraqis and the bloody history of his mercenary company.
"What drives you, when you kind of, come up with these plans to do private security especially in a lot of these Muslim-majority countries?" Hasan asked Prince in a clip posted to Twitter Wednesday. "Because you yourself have referred to the people your men were fighting in Iraq as barbarians who crawled out of the sewer."
Prince said that he was referring to "terrorists," a point Hasan conceded while pointing out that Prince's wording in the quote suggested the mercenary saw all Iraqis as terrorists.
"You said, 'These were the chanting barbarians American troops had been sent to liberate?'" Hasan said. "You weren't sent to liberate 'terrorists.' It sounds like you're talking about Iraqis."
Hasan's question left Prince at a loss for words, though Prince did, after a few seconds, deflect to attacking Saddaam Hussein and pointing out that he wasn't behind the policy decision to invade Iraq.
\u201cI asked Blackwater founder Erik Prince about calling Iraqis "barbarians" and about the murder & manslaughter that happened on his watch in Iraq. \n\nYou should really listen to his replies. (Watch the whole @AJHeadtoHead with him this Friday on @AJEnglish)\nhttps://t.co/7f4unXn1zz\u201d— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1551903374
In the clip, Hasan also brought up the conviction of four Blackwater employees for murder and manslaughter for their actions in Iraq. Prince, smiling, replied that it took four times to convict the men and implied that the federal government had to bring the case in Washington, D.C., in order to secure a conviction.
"Is a D.C. jury not a legitimate jury?" asked Hasan.
"I would say, a jury of your peers does not compare to the rest of America? No," Prince said.
"So some juries are legitimate, some not," said Hasan. "Like so-called judges."
The full interview is scheduled to air Friday morning. Watch:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.