Mercenaries
Bruce Blain, The role of private & mercenary armies in international conflict, har karakter af et oplæg til en diskussion i et FN forum, http://207.44.245.159/article3396.htm
UK manages a good amount of hypocrisy in its treatment of people engaging in war activities in foreign countries. Mark Thatcher in Equatorial Guinea, support for Chechen rebels. It is bringing some law and order to the system, that Blairs government will institute a licensing of mercenary firms - but the double standards remain. George Monbiot, The Guardian, 250105.
100906, www.iol.co.za, The Sunday Independent beskriver en ny Sydfrikansk lov, The Prohibition of Mercenary Activity and Regulation of Certain Activities in a Country of Armed Conflict Bill. Det forekommer at være en god ide til efterfølgelse.
210606,
Reuters AlertNet, In Comoros, outrage over sentence for French mercenary (Bob
Denard).
010807, The Guardian, Jeremy Scahill, A very private war "There are 48,000 'security contractors' in Iraq, working for private companies growing rich on the back of US policy. But can it be a good thing to have so many mercenaries operating without any democratic control ? ...There are now 630 companies working in Iraq on contract for the US government, with personnel from more than 100 countries... Their 180,000 employees now outnumber America's 160,000 official troops....Private personnel... n some cases have taken command of US and international troops in battle...Moreover, this revolution means the US no longer needs to rely on its own citizens and those of its nation-state allies to staff its wars, nor does it need to implement a draft, which would have made the Iraq war politically untenable. Just as importantly, perhaps, it reduces the figure of "official" casualties."
210907, The Independent, Making a killing: how private armies became a $120bn global industry. Det skulle være den hurtigst voksende gren af økonomien ! De kan ikke lide at blive kaldt lejesoldater (mercenaries) så nu hedder de "privatised military firms", PMF. Der er knap 50.000 af slagsen i Iraq, 800 er dræbt. Selv hjælpeorganisationer bruger lejesoldater. [? OJ]. Soldaterudlejningsfirmaerne forsøger nu at skabe et nyt marked: Fredsbevaring !
210907, The Nation, John Nichols, Blackwater, Oil and the Colonial Enterprise.
230907, The Independent, Kim Sengupta, The Real Story Of Baghdad's Bloody Sunday. 28 døde. Der sprang en bombe, angt fra konvojen. Der var ingen, der beskød konvojen. Blackwater-folkene forsøgte at jage andre biler bort - i trængslen. En bil, med et par med barn, der forsøgte at følge ordren blev skudt i brand. Blackwater-folkene skød også iraqiske politifolk og soldater og tilkaldte helekopterassistance. Det gav endnu flere døde. Den iraqiske regering har annulleret Blackwaters godkendelse. Men amerikanerne er ligeglade.
290907, Sunday Herald, Neil Mackay, The Whores of War. Blackwaters boss, den højre-orienterede fundamentalist, Erik Prince, gav 275.550 USD til republikanernes valgkamp. Det kunne betale sig. Firmaet har kontrakter i Iraq for mindst 320 millioner USD. "One Blackwater employment policy is to hire ex-administration big-hitters into key positions. It hired Cofer Black, a former State Department coordinator for counter-terrorism and former head of the CIA's countefterrorism centre, as vice-chairman. Robert Richer, a former CIA divisional head, joined Blackwater as vice-president of infelligence in 2005....Blackwater has also hired at least 60 Chilean commandos trained under the Pinochet regime...With 30,000 mercs working for 28 firms contracted by the US government in Iraq, the Blackwater incident could have wide-reaching ramifications....Iraq is now moving towards scrapping Order 17, established by the US under Iraq administrator Paul Bremer, which exempts foreign contractors from Iraqi law."
031209, Vanity Fair, Adam Ciralsky, Erik Prince: Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy
3 D Global Solutions, USA
Accenture
ACS Defense, US aktiv i Colombia
Aegis Defense Services, britisk, v. Tim Spicer (fortid: militærkup i Papua New Guinea; våbenleverancer trods embargo i Sierra Leone, 260604, Naomi Klein i The Guardian. CorpWatch, 100604, 231004, bringer The Times en artikel, der nærmest er en jobannonce for Aegis i Iraq.
Africa Security, France
Air Ambulance Africa, Tripple A, med Mark Thatcher som investor, 290804
Airscan International, airscan.com, transport, overvågning, Angola, Colombia
Alion, US, overvågning i Colombia
Alliance Prestige, France
Alpha Five, UK, hovedkvarter Hong Kong
Arinc, US, aktiv i Colombia
Armour Holdings
Armour Group, britisk har 500 gurkhas ansat til beskyttelse af Bechtel og Kellogg Brown & Root personale. (The Guardian, 060604.)
Atlantic Intelligence, France
ATS, Worldwide Services, Altha, Fla.
Aviation Development Corporation Erinys International, Johannesburg, S.A. based (managing director: Jonathan Peter James Garratt, other directors: Christian Gouws, Sean Michael Cleary, Alastair Morrison)
Avient, et britisk flyselskab ledet af Andrew Smith. Avient havde
kamphelikoptere og civile fly bygget om til bombefly, fløjet af Avients
personale til støtte for Joseph Kabila. (100906, The Times, Briton linked to
Congo war crimes).
Blackwater Consulting/Blackwater Security, North Carolina (gennemgås af Jason Miller, 151205) (Går efter advokaterne for de familier, der sagsøger for erstatning. 200107). (Blackwater is in place to become this nation's shadow police force and is its current shadow army, 270307, Sheila Samples). 010807, The Guardian, Jeremy Scahill, A very private war "There are 48,000 'security contractors' in Iraq, working for private companies growing rich on the back of US policy. But can it be a good thing to have so many mercenaries operating without any democratic control ? ...In another incident that has caused major tensions between Baghdad and Washington, an off-duty Blackwater operative is alleged to have shot and killed an Iraqi bodyguard of the Shia vice-president Adil Abdul-Mahdi last Christmas Eve inside the Green Zone... In both cases, families of the deceased charge that Blackwater's negligence led to the deaths. (Blackwater has argued that it cannot be sued and should enjoy the same immunity as the US military.) ...There are now 630 companies working in Iraq on contract for the US government, with personnel from more than 100 countries... Their 180,000 employees now outnumber America's 160,000 official troops...[Blackwater] protects the US ambassador and other senior officials in Iraq as well as visiting Congressional delegations; it trains Afghan security forces, and was deployed in the oil-rich Caspian Sea region, setting up a "command and control" centre just miles from the Iranian border..Indeed, shortly after Tony Blair announced that he wanted to withdraw 1,600 soldiers from Basra, reports emerged that the British government was considering sending in private security companies to "fill the gap left behind"....At present, Blackwater has forces deployed in nine countries and boasts a database of 21,000 additional troops at the ready, a fleet of more than 20 aircraft, including helicopter gun-ships, and the world's largest private military facility - a 7,000-acre compound in North Carolina. It recently opened a new facility in Illinois (Blackwater North) and is fighting local opposition to a third planned domestic facility near San Diego (Blackwater West) by the Mexican border. It is also manufacturing an armoured vehicle nicknamed the Grizzly) and surveillance blimps...The man behind this empire is 38-year-old Erik Prince....among Blackwater's senior executives are J Cofer Black, former head of counterterrorism at the CIA; Robert Richer former deputy director of operations at the CIA; Joseph Schmitz, former Pentagon inspector general...Company executives recently announced the creation of a new private intelligence company, Total Intelligence...Washington spends $42bn (£21bn) annually on private intelligence...US defence contractors are receiving nearly half the $630m in US military aid for Colombia; in Africa, mercenaries are deploying in Somalia, Congo and Sudan and increasingly have their sights set on tapping into the hefty UN peacekeeping budget....The billions of dollars being doled out to these companies, he says, "makes of them a very powerful interest group within the American body politic and an interest group that is, in fact, armed. And the question will arise at some time: to whom do they owe heir loyalty ?" "
Braddock
Brown & Root
CACI, tortur Abu Ghraib
California Microwave Systems, US, spionage mod FARC i Colombia
CalNet, interrogators, John Stanton & Wayne Madsen: Torture Incorporated, 140604.
Colosium, Schweiz, Israel
Combat Support Associates (CSA), hovedkvarter, Camp Doha, Quwait, www.csakuwait.com
Compagnie internationale d'assistance spécialisé (CIAS), France
Computer Science Corporation, CSC, ejer DynCorp er knyttet til CIA (Ospina, Monde Diplomatique, nov.2004)
Control Risks Group, britisk, speciale maritim sikkerhed, http://company.monster.co.uk
Crucible, specialitet flymotorer
Cubic, US
Custer Battles, sikrer Baghdad lufthavn, www.custerbattles.com og er sortlistet for at have svindlet for mindst 50 millioner USD, The Guardian, 120605, The Seattle Times, 260706, "They plundered Iraq for fun and profit".
Defense Control, France
Defence Systems Limited, DSL, founded by Alastair Morrison, Observer, 141104. Forsvarer olieselskaber, Texaco, BP, Total, Triton, aktiv i Colombia
Design Staffing, LLC, interrogators, John Stanton & Wayne Madsen: Torture Incorporated, 140604.
DynCorp, Virginia, 90000 ansatte, www.dyncorp.com. Beskytter præsident Karzai i Kabul (280906, ICH, Stephen Lendman: Afghanistan: The Other Lost War.). Arbejder i Colombia og Bolivia, 010807, The Guardian, Jeremy Scahill, A very private war.
Eagle Aviation Service and Technology, EAST, under DynCorp, US aktiv i Colombia
Earthwind Holding Corporation, France, Luxembourg
EPI & Security, USA, hyrer folk i Ecuador uden tilladelse, 280906, www.latinamericapress.org/ UN investigates mercenaries.
Eric SA, France
Erinys, britisk, sydafrikansk, havde ansat to tidligere apartheid folk, Deon Gouws & Francois Strydom, den sidste medlem af Koevoet, The Guardian, 060604. Og Tim Spicer. Firmaet er anklaget for tortur i Iraq, Observer, 141104. Directors: major-general John Holmes & Alastair Morrison, Observer, 141104. Strydom dræbt i Baghdad i januar 2004, Observer, 141104. Beskæftigede også Roger Rouget, der er blandt de arresterede i Equatorial Guinea, Observer, 141104. www.erinysinternational.com, Erinys Iraq. Se også Klare.
Executive Outcomes, established by Simon Mann in South Africa in the early 1990'es, Crause Steyl particiated. Simon Mann har gået på Eton, Sandhurst,og er tidligere Scots Guards og SAS officer, 290804. Med er også Tony Buckingham (George Monbiot i The Guardian, 310804)
Genric, UK, aktiv i Basra, www.genric.co.uk
Géos, France
Gestistión de Seguridad, aflægger af 3D Global Solutions (USA) hyrer i Peru, 280906, www.latinamericapress.org/ UN investigates mercenaries.
Golan Group, Israel
Global Risk Strategies, britisk, The Guardian, 060604, beskytter kongelige i Mellemøsten, www.globalrisk.uk.com
Greystone Ltd, registered in Barbados, Blackwaters afdeling for udenlandske regeringer. 010807, The Guardian, Jeremy Scahill, A very private war
Groupe Barril Sécurité, France
Groupe Rendon, US ?, aktiv i Colombia
Gurkha Security Guards
Hart Group, britisk, havde ansat Gray Branfield, der myrdede for apartheidregimet, The Guardian, 060604.
Hod He'hanitin, Israel, se Spearhead Ltd.
Hos Hakanit
icioregon.com
International Charters, ICI,
International Peace Operations Association, Doug Brooks.
International Security Consultants, Israel
Interop, Israel
Iris Services, France
Keeni - Meeny Services
Kroll Security International, London, chief executive Alistai Morrison, Observer, 141104.
Kudo, Schweiz, Israel
Levdan, Israel
Lockheed-Martin, US vedligeholder helikoptere i Colombia
Logicon, US
Logo Ltd., Simon Mann's flyselskab, Guernsey
Long Range Avionics Technologies, Israel
Lordan - Levdan (Israel)
ManTech, US overvågning i Colombia
Matcom, US overvågning i Colombia
McKinsey
Meteoric Tactical Solutions, Pretoria, Lourens (Hecky) Horn *, Hermanus Carlse *, Festus van Rooyen, hører under Erinys, aktiv i Iraq
Military Professional Resources Incorporated, MPRI, dir. Carl Vuono, www.mpri.com
Northrop Grumman Corporation, aktiv i Colombia, www.northropgrumman.com
Olive Security
Omega International Assistance, sydafrika, mere security end lejesoldater
Premier Executives Transport Services i Dedham, Massachusetts, ejer Gulfstream jet, reg. nr. N379P, til hørende som er lejet ud på langtidskontrakt til USAs regering og anvendes til "rendition".(se Boston.com)
Presidium International Corporation, UK/Italia, hovedkvarter Seychellerne, www.portaliraq.com
Raven & Atlas, France
Ronco
SAIC
Saladin, France
Sandline International (Bahamas), havde Tim Spicer, UK, www.sandline.com
Secopex, France
Securance, France
Sécurité sans frontiéres, France
Select Armor, The Plains, Va.
Silver Shadow Advanced Security Systems, Israel, leverer våben
Spear Head Ltd., Israel
Strategic Consulting International, Knightsbridge, Tim Spicer
Titan, US, tortur Abu Ghraib
Total Intelligence, Blackwaters efterretningsfirma
Trident Marine, Tim Spicer
Tripple A, Air Ambulance Africa, med Mark Thatcher som investor, 290804
TRW, US overvågning i Colombia
United Placements, Interrogators, John Stanton & Wayne Madsen: Torture Incorporated, 140604.
USIS, US Investigations Service, Interrogators, John Stanton & Wayne Madsen: Torture Incorporated, 140604. (Carlyle Group)
Vinnell Corporation, www.vinnell.com, Saudi Arabia
Wackenhut, København, indgår i Group 4 Falck !!!!, www.wackenhut,com
WatchGuard International
Your Solution, USA, leverer bl.a. honduranere til USAs krige - og opfylder ikke sine kontraktmæssige betalinger, 280906, www.latinamericapress.org/ UN investigates mercenaries.
ZKD, Inc., interrogators, John Stanton & Wayne Madsen: Torture Incorporated, 140604.
Fængselsfirmaer
Nogen firmaer leverer udover væbnede vagter også hele fængselsløsninger, derfor tager vi fængselsfirmaer med her:
Corrections Corporation og America (CCA), Jason Miller
Wackenhut Corrections Corporations, Jason Miller
Westinghouse (leverer ikke personale), Jason Miller
Major Thomas J Milton, The new mercenaries - Corporate armies for hire , fra 1997, en nøgtern beskrivelse.
Charles E Carlson, Out from the cocoon, the All Professional Military, http://207.44.245.159/article3406.htm giver en etisk, men også jordbunden vurdering af betydningen af en professionel hær.
There are in april 2004 about 20000 private security contractors in Iraq. The 4 "civilians" killed and maltreated in Fallujah in the first days of april were commandos from Blackwater Security Consulting, former US Special Forces. This firm also provides personal security to viceroy Paul Bremer. [As these mercenaries amount to 1/8 af the total US force in Iraq, you must surely consider them part of US forces, a part which has the positive side - seen from Pentagon - that losses do not appear as turn up as embarassing "killed in combat".] Some Defense Department officials are concerned that private commandos are not subject to adequate oversight. There is no government vetting of cintract workers who carry weapons. The firms, stunned by the casualties they suffered this week and by lack of military response, have begun to banding together to share their own operations - center telephone numbers and tips of threats, as well as to organize ways to rescue one another in a crisis. (Dana Priest et al, Washington Post, 080404 ) Nu konkurrerer de private hære med de officielle om mandskabet, Scotland on Sunday, 250404 .
En del af torturproblemerne i Iraq kan skyldes anvendelsen af "private contractors", The Guardian, 300404 .
USAs vanskeligheer med at undgå genindførelse af værnepligt medfører, at de private hære har gode tider. Men de klarer ikke at skaffe tilstrækkeligt med
soldater. Derfor udliciteres et stort antal opgaver, som tidligere udførtes af soldater, til civile. Og det sker ikke altid på frivillig basis, der har været flere
historier med asiater, som er blevet narret til Iraq, se f.eks. The Hindu, 020504 .
Det viser sig, at England har hyret nogen af de lejesoldater (Meteoric Tactical
Solutions), der ville lave et kup mod præsident Obiang i Ækvatorial Guinea - og som i øvrigt har en fortid i
apertheidtidens sydafrikanske specialtropper, The Guardian, 060604 .
De stakkels "civile" gidsler, der tages i Iraq, er ofte netop landsknægte, se John Hooper, Italian trio home to a mixed reception, Guardian, 100604
Menneskerettighedsgrupper i USA søger nu erstatning for nogle af de iraqiske torturofre under Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Den anklagede er Titan Corp. et af de firmaer, der leverede personale til forhørene, TheGuardian, 100604. Måske er det en måde at komme efter den slags firmaer. Sagen behandles også i KCAL9, 010704 en svensk iraqer er med blandt klagerne.
260604, Naomi Klein skriver i The Guardian, at 25 % af regningen til "genopbygning" går til "sikkerhed". Et yderligere tab er 20 % til korruption.
Jason Miller, 151205, ser på lejesoldatfirmaerne som en måde at omgå Posse Comitatus bestemmelsen i USA.
230406, K Gajendra Singh. De mange højte betalte lejeknægte der slås for USA - en meget blandet gruppe - kan vel falde ind under USAs betegnelse "enemy combattants". [Det ville være en god juridisk måde at bekæmpe den praksis på, OJ].
Sagen om Jonathan Keith Idema, alias Jack Idema.
080704, ser jeg den første notits om personen. På et rumænsk weblog af alle steder. Her refereres først et AP telegram om at 3 amerikanere er tilbageholdt i Kabul. AP beskriver sagen derhen, at de 3 amerikanerne er på en selvorganiseret terroristjagt. De holder 8 afghanere i et privat fængsel hjulpet af 4 afghanere, som også er sat fast. Afghanistans indenrigsminister, Ali Ahmad Jalali, at de 3 + 4 er fængslet og de 8 sluppet fri, at de 3 amerikanere hævder at arbejde for Defense Department. Det amerikanske militær har advaret om, at Idema ville udgive sig for at arbejde for dem (!!).
AP beskriver Idema således: tidligere green beret i 40erne, kom til Afghanistan i vinteren 2001.
soj har undersøgt hans identitet og når til titlens navn, fødselsår 1957. Seargent i Green Berets med sidste station i Litauen, hvor han havde kontakt til KGB, som gjorde det muligt for ham at afsløre en eksport af våben-kernemateriale, hvilket han fik rosende omtale for af Pentagon i 1992. Han fik senere en dom på 6 år for svindel. Han arbejdede som civil rådgiver for Nord alliancen i Afghanistan i oktober 2001 med kontakt til general Hazrat Ali. Derefter har han solgt nyheder. Bl.a. et af ham selv optaget videobånd om et el Qaida angreb på en skole. soj anfører en del årsager til at tro at båndet er fup. Et uddrag af båndet solgtes af Templar Titan, et privat sikkerhedsfirma. Han har drevet et firma: Special operations Exposition & Trade Show.
Og selvfølgelig skal han ikke i afghansk fængsel. Idema's og Edward Carraballo's advokater har bedt den amerikanske ambassadør, Zalmay Khalilzad, om at bede de afghanske myndigheder droppe anklagerne !!! International Herald Tribune, 090904.
150904, AP, Idema og Brent Bennett fik 10 år, Edward Caraballo fik 8.
141104, Scotland on Sunday: "to the astonishment of other prisoners, Idema and his 2 american co-defendants have been given their own private set of rooms where they live in relative luxury".."rumours are .. circulating that all 3 will be freed in a deal between Washington and the Afghan government".
310305, Al Jazira, Idema får ændret sin dom fra 10 til 5 år i en afghansk appelret. Bennett fra 5 til 3og Caraballo fra 8 til 2.
080606, Malaya.com. Throw out those recruiters of mercenaries. Fattige filipinoer hyres som lejesoldater til amerikanernes krig i Iraq.
190906, BBC, "Israelis in Iraq: Could Their Target Be Iran ?" Israelere træner kurdiske soldater i Nordiraq. De kom i 2004 via Tyrkiet. Et Israelsk "security firm", Interop og dets 2 schweitziske subsidiaries, Kudo og Colosium er hovedentreprenører på Irbul lufthavn.
280906, www.latinamericapress.org/ UN investigates mercenaries. Igennem de sidste 3 år er flere og flere latinamerikanere blevet lokket til tjeneste i private "security" firmaer - og mange er sendt til aktiv tjeneste på USAs slagmarker. I adskillige tilfælde er den løn, forsikring og de arbejdsforhold, der er lovet, udeblevet. FNs Menneskerettigheds Kommission undersøger nu sagen. De er specielt hyret i Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras og Peru. Der er 25000 lejesoldater i Iraq - altså det næststærste kontingent ! 428 af dem er dræbt i Iraqkrigen og 4000 er sårede.
030407, Haaretz, Colombia seeks Israelis accused of training death squads. "Interpol issued an international arrest warrant Tuesday for three Israelis accused of training private armies of Colombian drug cartels and right-wing death squads."Yair Klein, Melnik Ferri and Tzedaka Abraham were being sought on charges of criminal conspiracy and instruction in terrorism and face nearly 11 years in prison if convicted...Klein, a former lieutenant colonel in the Israeli army, appeared in a 1998 video used to train far-right squads. In 1991, he was convicted and fined US$13,400...by an Israeli court for selling arms to Colombia's illegal groups. Klein also spent 16 months in a Sierra Leone prison for his role in a guns for blood diamonds deal."
091210, Huffingtonpost.com WikiLeaks Reveals That Military Contractors Have Not Lost Their Taste For Child Prostitutes.
International Peace Operations Association er en forening af amerikanske lejesoldatfirmaer.
* Fængslet 230304 i Chikurubi fængslet i Zimbabwe for at handle våben til et kup i Malabo, Ækvatorial Guinea mod præsident Obiang.
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