Iran Press/Middle East: Erik Prince's suggestion comes at a time when US President Donald Trump is looking to withdraw his country’s approximately 2000 troops from Syria, Independent reported.
In an interview with Fox Business, Erik Prince, who founded Blackwater now called Academi, welcomed Trump's Syria pullout decision, adding, however, that the US allies should not be abandoned in the war-torn country.
“The United States doesn’t have a long-term strategic obligation to stay in Syria. But, I also think it’s not a good idea to abandon our allies,” he said.
Trump announced the plan to withdraw American forces from Syria last month amid preparations by Turkey to launch an operation against US-backed Kurdish militants in northern Syria.
His abrupt move sparked concern among officials in Washington, prompting Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to step down in protest.
The planned pullout also raised worries among the anti-Damascus Kurds operating in northern Syria and left them feeling abandoned by Washington.
Prince, a former Navy Seal, argued that using private contractors would allow Trump to end 'forever wars' and protect US allies against what he called Iranian military advisors and Syrian army soldiers.
“American history is filled with public and private partnerships, of places that the private sector can fill those gaps, where a very expensive military probably shouldn’t be,” he said.
Back in August 2017, Prince made a similar $5 billion proposal to privatize the war in Afghanistan.
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“If there is not some kind of robust capability to defend from a ground invasion from the very conventional power that the Iranians and the Syrians have our allies there will be smashed,” he added.
Blackwater, which was founded in 1997, received hundreds of millions of dollars in US government contracts during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 103
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