Blackwater Worldwide, the private security firm founded by Michigan native and prominent Republican donor Erik Prince, is changing its name to escape a torrent of bad publicity that followed multiple incidents and investigations of the behavior of its employees in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 

Blackwater said Friday it will no longer operate under the name that came to be known worldwide as a caustic moniker for private security, dropping the tarnished brand for a disarming and simple identity: Xe, which is pronounced like the letter “z.”

It is perhaps ironic, given Prince’s family ties to the religious right, that he would now choose to engage in the Biblical act of pouring old wine into a new skin.