Blackwater 3.0: Rebranded \u2018Academi\u2019 Wants Back in Iraq
\nBy Spencer Ackerman – December 12, 2011 – Wired Danger Room camouflage <\/p>\n
So much for naming your mercenary company after an obscure element from the periodic table.<\/p>\n
Say goodbye to Xe. The company formerly known as Blackwater \u2014 the world\u2019s most infamous private security corporation \u2014 has jettisoned the name it chose in its 2009 rebrand. Now the \u201csecurity solutions provider\u201d wants to wash away the taint of the 2007 Nisour Square shootings by adopting the new name \u201cAcademi.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the company is changing its name \u2014 not its core business. And it even wants back into the country where it ran its brand through the mud: Iraq.
\n\u201cOur focus is on training and security services. We\u2019re continuing that,\u201d new CEO Ted Wright tells Danger Room. \u201cWe\u2019re not backing away from security services. The lion\u2019s share of our business today is providing training for security services and [providing] security services.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Blackwater \u2014 sorry, Academi \u2013 was a sports franchise, you\u2019d consider 2011 its rebuilding year. A consortium of investors close to the family of founder Erik Prince bought the company in late 2010, and spent 2011 putting together its new leadership team. It brought on board former Attorney General John Ashcroft, Bill Clinton consigliere Jack Quinn and Suzanne Folsom from the insurance giant AIG. Wright came from military-services giant KBR. Notice a pattern? All have deep experience with crisis management.<\/p>\n
Notice another pattern: All of those hires either worked in senior government positions or worked closely with those who did. That signals confidence in the company\u2019s traditional business \u2014 getting big government contracts to protect diplomats, aid workers and even the military in dangerous places. On its new website, Academi says providing \u201cstability and protection to people and locations experiencing turmoil\u201d is its \u201ccore\u201d business. New name, same wheelhouse. …more<\/a><\/p>\n