La Légion étrangère Arabian

Bonjour, mon ami. Votre petite nation appartient à moi maintenant!

According to the New York Time, Erik Prince billionaire founder of Blackwater was hired by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi to put together an 800-member battalion of foreign troops for the U.A.E., according to former employees on the project, American officials and corporate documents obtained by a reputable source.

The force is intended to conduct special operations missions inside and outside the country, defend oil pipelines and skyscrapers from terrorist attacks and put down internal revolts, the documents show. Such troops could be deployed if the Emirates faced unrest in their crowded labor camps or were challenged by pro-democracy protests like those sweeping the Arab world this year.

For Mr. Prince, a 41-year-old former member of the Navy Seals, the battalion was an opportunity to turn vision into reality. At Blackwater, which had collected billions of dollars in security contracts from the United States government, he had hoped to build an army for hire that could be deployed to crisis zones in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. He even had proposed that the Central Intelligence Agency use his company for special operations missions around the globe, but to no avail. In Abu Dhabi, which he praised in an Emirati newspaper interview last year for its “pro-business” climate, he got another chance. 

How would you like to be general of your own private army?  The Ahabs better watch it.  He might decide one day to use that army to step up to be the "Prince" of his own private country, flush with oil wealth.  That's basically what the Roman generals of old did when they had a battle hardened army more loyal to them personally than to the republic.  I admit, I'd be tempted, especially when my employers were degenerate camel jockeys, rich as Midas only by the good luck of geography.