Just in:

Blackwater: the Rise of the World's most
Powerful Mercenary Army by Jeremy Scahill [ Nation Books - up here at least ]

frightening reading. soldiers for hire...

two bits from the book:

1] Chilean soldiers were promised $ 6000 per month, contracted for $ 2700 and then told on their arrival in Iraq that they would only receive $ 1000 per month.. if they didn't like the terms they were free to head downtown Baghdad and book their own return flights....

2] Blackwater defended itself from lawsuits from victims' families by having its lawyers argue that the company should be immune from any liability since it is part of a " US total Force that includes contractors ". Since the mercenaries are not subject to US military law and have been granted immunity from prosecution in both Iraq and Afghanistan, they literally operate outside the law, with a licence to kill.

and not just ' away'...In the US, Blackwater mercenaries were used in the wake of Hurricane Katrina...dispatched to New Orleans..The coast Guard disputes Blackwater's contention that its operatives ' rescued' people, local law officals expressed concern over these 'guns for hire' engaging in firefights with looters and ' gangbangers '..

while the book is critical of some of blackwater's undertakings and paints a chilling picture of operations, it is by no means a hack job intent on painting Blackwater and its competition/clones as evil, corrupt and inhumane..
still, it sure is a cautionary tale writ large..a real page turner...

Rocketeer-I read the article by the same guy I think the Democratics are after the CEO of Blackwater.I am not sure if this is being used as Political Media because of the fact that the Republicans hired these people or that Haliburton was undremined which has had an open contract under the Clinton Adminstration.I know for a fact that they make big money I had a buddy who worked for them until he was killed back in 2004 in a explosion in Sadi Arabia at their compound.And yes they work anywhere Homeland Security they also work under signed contracts and also sub-contracts.

Personally I think "mercenary" security should be heavily used to fight in place of american troops.

Half of the bad publicity in this war has been the deaths of beloved American Soldiers.

Who cares if terrorists kill some South African mercenary who is working on his third identity and has a necklace made of blood diamonds?

Under international law, you are not an illegal mercenary unless you are involved in a war between TWO OR MORE RECOGNIZED SOVEREIGN STATES. It's the greatest loophole ever.

War directed by corporate policies that include a primary responsibility to make money for their stockholders precludes any moral impetrative. Maybe war by corporate contractor would bring a whole new dimension to the brutality inherent in the whole process. Being “cost effective” would be quite interesting in a war situation.

No skin off our ass, if you don't like the Mercs' unruly behavior DON'T FIGHT THE USA.

quote:

Who cares if terrorists kill some South African mercenary who is working on his third identity and has a necklace made of blood diamonds?

Under international law, you are not an illegal mercenary unless you are involved in a war between TWO OR MORE RECOGNIZED SOVEREIGN STATES. It's the greatest loophole ever.

Our government cares, and we are the only country, apart from the USA, to have laws against mercenaries. Oh, and the public back here in South Africa also cares about our people fighting in Iraq. Even if it is as mercenaries. And, yes, their deaths so far have reached front page news in the papers.

And the whole "blood diamond" comment is offensive. Not all south Africans who fight as mercenaries are after diamonds. It's the Central African rebels who steal diamonds. please don't base your facts on movies.

The Mercs I referenced were the Apartheid-Era SADF guys who got out of the country because they were facing criminal charges from the new regime or were simply out of a job in the Mandela era.

From what I hear, besides the Sandpiper/Executive Outcomes careers that they became famous for, the French Foreign legion is loaded with them. (Just like it has always been loaded with the losers of wars and regime changes)

You want to know WHY they lost their jobs? because they're white.

The SANDF is waging a campaign of getting rid of white people in the army. This causes a huge loss of expertise. And, being real soldiers, I believe that they feel it their duty to fulfill a higher calling to fight in wars.

And, no, they were not facing criminal charges. The only people facing criminal charges, are the leaders of the old regime and people like Eugene Kok.

And they're not really in the French Foreign legion. they're mostly in the Royal Marines or they work for US Contractors like Blackwater.