4 mercs and non-gov paramilitaries

Wed Mar 31 12:14:25 PST 2004

Wow. This discussion was timely. Apparently the four bodies they've been 
dragging around in Iraq are those of Blackwater (US) Mercs. Like I 
said...Iraqis apparently aren't splitting hairs about "public" and 
"private"...seems to me any US companies involved at this point are more or 
less in colusion with The State.

>From MSNBC...

"U.S. officials, who spoke with NBC News on condition of anonymity, said 
that all four contractors were Americans who worked for Blackwater USA of 
Moyock, N.C. The officials did not confirm reports from the scene that a 
woman was among the dead.

Blackwater USA supplies security guards to the Coalition Provisional 
Authority and has provided protection for Iraq administrator L. Paul Bremer, 
among other coalition officials."

>From: "Tyler Durden" <camera_lumina at hotmail.com>
>To: gabe at seul.org, cypherpunks at al-qaeda.net
>Subject: RE: Jackbooted thugs, mercs and non-gov paramilitaries
>Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 12:47:06 -0500
>
>Aiya...shit. Things are rather worse than I thought. Hey...I'm getting the 
>idea for a Sci-Fi story...imagine "official" war casualties in Iraq get bad 
>enough that the US government decides to simply hire private forces to do 
>all the work (then the official casualty #s they can report are basically 
>zero from then on). Eventually some of the big Mercenary multinationals 
>start instigating wars so they can keep their stock prices up...
>
>-TD
>
>
>>From: Gabriel Rocha <gabe at seul.org>
>>To: "Email List: Cypherpunks" <cypherpunks at al-qaeda.net>
>>Subject: Jackbooted thugs, mercs and non-gov paramilitaries
>>Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 10:17:45 -0500
>>
>>I don't normally forward articles, but this one might be of interest to
>>some here. I especially like the part where these guys are exempt from
>>the legal system...
>>
>>http://www.economist.com/world/europe/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=2539816
>>
>>British companies have been grousing about losing out to the Americans
>>in Iraq. But in one area, British companies excel: security
>>
>>
>>THE sight of a mob of Iraqi stone-throwers attacking the gates to the
>>Basra palace where the coalition has its southern headquarters is no
>>surprise. What's odd is the identity of the uniformed men holding them
>>off. The single Briton prodding his six Fijians to stand their ground
>>are not British army soldiers but employees of Global Risk Strategies, a
>>London-based security company.
>>
>>Private military companies (PMCs).mercenaries, in oldspeak.manning the
>>occupation administration's front lines are now the third-largest
>>contributor to the war effort after the United States and Britain.
>>British ones are popular, largely because of the reputation of the
>>Special Air Service (SAS) regiment whose ex-employees run and man many
>>of the companies. They maintain they have twice as many men on the
>>ground as their American counterparts. According to David Claridge,
>>managing director of Janusian, a London-based security firm, Iraq has
>>boosted British military companies' revenues from #200m ($320m) before
>>the war to over #1 billion, making security by far Britain's most
>>lucrative post-war export to Iraq.
>>
>>It's a lucrative business. A four-man ex-SAS team in Baghdad can cost
>>$5,000 a day. Buoyed by their earnings, the comrades-in-arms live in the
>>plushest villas in the plushest quarters of Baghdad. Their crew-cut
>>occupants compare personal automatics, restock the bars and refill the
>>floodlit pools of the former Baathist chiefs.
>>
>>Established companies have expanded; new ones have sprung up. Control
>>Risks, a consultancy, now provides armed escorts. It has 500 men
>>guarding British civil servants. Global Risk Strategies was a two-man
>>team until the invasion of Afghanistan. Now it has over 1,000 guards in
>>Iraq.more than many of the countries taking part in the
>>occupation.manning the barricades of the Coalition Provisional Authority
>>(CPA). Last year it also won a $27m contract to distribute Iraq's new
>>dinar. Erinys, another British firm, was founded by Alastair Morrisson,
>>an ex-SAS officer who emerged from semi-retirement to win a contract
>>with Jordanian and Iraqi partners to protect Iraq's oil installations.
>>CPA officials say the contract is worth over $100m. Erinys now commands
>>a 14,000-strong armed force in Iraq.
>>
>>In industry jargon, these companies' manpower is split into Iraqis,
>>.third-country nationals. (Gurkhas and Fijians) and .internationals.
>>(usually white first-worlders). Iraqis get $150 a month, .third-country
>>nationals. 10-20 times as much, and .internationals. 100 times as much.
>>Control Risks still relies on westerners, but ArmorGroup, a British
>>rival, employs 700 Gurkhas to shepherd America's primary contractors in
>>Iraq, Bechtel and KBR. Erinys's corps of pipeline protectors is
>>overwhelmingly Iraqi. The cheapness of the other ranks, compared with
>>western soldiers, is one reason why PMCs are flourishing. .Why pay for a
>>British platoon to guard a base, when you can hire Gurkhas at a fraction
>>of the cost?. asks one.
>>
>>Nobody knows how long government contracts will last after the CPA
>>dissolves on June 30th. But multi-billion World Bank and UN
>>reconstruction funds should provide rich pickings. Amid rising violence,
>>the Program Management Office, which handles America's $18.6 billion aid
>>budget for Iraq, has raised its estimates of security costs from an
>>initial 7% of contracts to 10%. Blackwater, the American firm protecting
>>Iraq's American proconsul, Paul Bremer, says in many cases costs run to
>>over 25%. That's bad news for Iraqis hoping for reconstruction, but
>>great news for PMCs.
>>
>>The boom has led to two worries. The first is lack of regulation.
>>Stressed and sometimes ill-trained mercenaries operate in Iraq's mayhem
>>with apparent impunity, erecting checkpoints without authorisation, and
>>claiming powers to detain and confiscate identity cards. A South African
>>company guarding a Baghdad hotel put guns to the heads of this
>>correspondent's guests. According to the CPA, non-Iraqi private-security
>>personnel contracted to the coalition or its partners are not subject to
>>Iraqi law. Even the industry is concerned. Regulation is vital, says
>>ArmorGroup's Christopher Beese, if Iraq is not to descend into the law
>>of the jungle.
>>
>>Second, the boom may be eroding Britain's defences. Just when the war on
>>terror is stretching the SAS to the limit, the rising profitability of
>>private sector work is tempting unprecedented numbers of its men to
>>leave. An SAS veteran estimates that some 40 of its 300 corps requested
>>early release from their contracts last year. Another guesses that there
>>are more ex-SAS people in Iraq than there are currently serving in the
>>regiment. Head-hunters poaching military talent, say critics, risk
>>turning the army's elite corps into little more than a training school
>>for PMCs.
>>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar  get it now! 
>http://toolbar.msn.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/
>

_________________________________________________________________
All the action. All the drama. Get NCAA hoops coverage at MSN Sports by 
ESPN. http://msn.espn.go.com/index.html?partnersite=espn