Highway Robbery: Erik Prince Reportedly Charging People $6,500 to Escape Kabul Chaos
© AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin
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Over the last several weeks, the US and its allies have been coordinating evacuation flights for the many patriots and Afghan nationals who have been cleared to depart from Afghanistan following the Taliban’s* takeover of the Central Asian country. Now, as many are desperately waiting to leave, some individuals are trying to profit from the chaos.
Blackwater founder Erik Prince recently prompted public outrage and backlash from the Biden White House after reports detailed that the US defense contractor was reportedly attempting to turn a profit on distressed Afghans looking to leave Afghanistan.
The former US Navy SEAL informed the Wall Street Journal for a Wednesday article that he was presently offering plane tickets out of Afghanistan for a hefty $6,500, noting that a higher sum could be charged if interested individuals were trapped inside their homes and required additional assistance.
A costly ticket, according to Prince, ensured paying travelers that they would be safely transported to the Hamid Karzai International Airport. However, it remains unclear whether Prince has the actual ability to deliver on his promise.
The high-priced initiative comes as the Biden administration and US allies have been scrambling to clear visa-carrying Afghan nationals out of Afghanistan and organize evacuation flights. In many cases, there have been instances where scheduled flights have departed without even nearing the respective flight capacities.
A U.S. Air Force Airman guides qualified evacuees aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III at Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA), Afghanistan, August 24, 2021
© REUTERS / US AIR FORCE
Aside from Prince’s financial endeavors, free-of-charge evacuation flights have also been offered by many nonprofit organizations such as the Clinton Foundation and No One Left Behind, among other groups.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed during a Wednesday briefing that American operations have helped to evacuate more than 82,300 people from the Kabul airport, adding that flights have so far been “safely” coordinated out of the region.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday condemned Prince’s latest efforts to maximize potential financial gains, before going on to refer to the contractor as “soulless.”
“I don't think any human being who has a heart and soul would support efforts to profit off of people’s agony and pain,” Psaki told reporters, especially “as they’re trying to depart a country and fearing for their lives.”
"We are evacuating people free of cost because that is the right step to take, and certainly we wouldn't be supportive of profiting off people who are desperate to get out of a country," she said, cementing her disdain for such efforts.
Prince is most known as the founder of Blackwater USA, whose four contractors were convicted in 2014 of killing Iraqi civilians in 2007 while providing additional security for Americans during the Iraq War. The company has since been renamed Academi after being acquired by private investors.
In this Dec. 31, 2020, file photo pardoned Blackwater contractor Evan Liberty poses for a photo in Washington. Liberty is one of four former Blackwater contractors pardoned by President Donald Trump in one of his final acts in office, wiping away their convictions in a 2007 shooting rampage in Baghdad that killed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians. The pardons were met with intense condemnation both in the United States and the Middle East.
© AP Photo / Susan Walsh
It’s worth noting that ongoing efforts to evacuate individuals have repeatedly hit a wall, as Taliban forces have implemented multiple checkpoints, and in some cases reportedly turned away individuals from the airport. Earlier, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin admitted to US lawmakers that there have also been reports of Americans being turned away and “beaten” by militant forces at designated checkpoints as chaotic scenes unfolded in the capital city.
Most recently, the US Embassy in Afghanistan issued a security alert urging all American citizens stationed at the Abbey, East and North gates to “immediately” leave the grounds as a result of growing “security threats.”
In spite of calls to delay the full US withdrawal from Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden has maintained that troops will be sticking to the August 31 deadline, as threats from Daesh increase the longer American forces remain in the war-torn nation.
Biden has backed his move to continue with the withdrawal procedures by underscoring that the US mission has come to a close, and that - simply put - the US would no longer fight an entity that Afghan security forces did not want to stand against.
*The Taliban is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.
