Ex-Blackwater leader defends firm

HOLLAND, Mich., May 6 (UPI) -- The man who once headed the international security firm formerly known as Blackwater defends the firm's record despite controversy it engendered in Iraq.

Erik Prince, speaking at the Tulip Time Festival Wednesday in his home town of Holland, Mich., said Blackwater Worldwide, now known as Xe Services, conducted 40,000 bodyguard missions in Iraq without one of the politicians or dignitaries it guarded being killed. However, it is mostly known for its involvement in the 2007 incident in Baghdad in which 17 Iraqi civilians died.

Prince, a former Navy SEAL, said Blackwater employees discharged their weapons only about 200 times in all those missions, the Detroit Free Press reported.

"All the while, we had 30 of our men killed," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

He said the security company also successfully completed hundreds of missions in the United States, including hurricane relief work, and overseas, such as the rescue of three U.S. college students in Kenya.

Prince also said the United States is in danger of losing its prosperity and way of life through the atrophy of its values of self-reliance and entrepreneurship.

"We are a nation being bled dry by debt, litigation and regulation," said Prince, who received a standing ovation from the audience of about 900.