by the UAE to create a foreign legion to defend the country and possibly to try to seize back three disputed islands from Iran, according to The New York Times.
The 800-man battalion of foreign mercenaries is a product of a deal between a Prince and a prince—Erik Prince, 41, the founder of Blackwater, and the crown prince of the Abu Dhabi, Shaikh Mohamed bin Zayed an-Nahayan, who is seen by many as the de factor ruler of the UAE.
Blackwater was hired by the Pentagon to provide security for Americans in Iraq 
and Afghanistan. It has gotten into trouble with both countries for several incidents of gunfire that killed local citizens. When Blackwater and Prince next ran into trouble with the US authorities, Prince moved to the UAE.
The New York Times said Prince now has a $529 million contract from the UAE to create its foreign legion. It has recruited Colombians and South Africans, among others. Training is being conducted by retired American soldiers, veterans of the German and British special operations units and former officers of the French Foreign Legion.
The battalion is to put down internal revolts, defend pipelines and other infrastructure and conduct special operations missions inside and outside the UAE, the newspaper said in its Sunday edition.
The Times said: “Although there was no expectation that the mercenary troops would be used for a stealth attack on Iran, Emirati officials talked of using them for a possible maritime and air assault to reclaim a chain of islands, mostly uninhabited, in the Persian Gulf that are the subject of a dispute between Iran and the UAE.”
The islands in question are Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs. Abu Musa has a population of roughly1,000 Arabs plus a substantial number of well-armed Iranian military forces. The Tunbs are uninhabited. Iran has periodically sent some troops to Greater Tunb. Lesser Tunb is just a pile of rocks and has been described as more a navigational hazard than an island.
A military attack by foreign mercenaries on Abu Musa seems fanciful to many. It would be huge development that could set off a war in the Persian Gulf. It would also likely give Prince much more trouble than he already has with the US government, which frowns on Americans leading invasions.
A 2009 cable from the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi said of the crown prince: “He sees the logic of war dominating the region, and this thinking explains his near-obsessive efforts to build up his armed forces.”
