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TechnoratiGENEVA - The use of private security guards like those involved in the shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians is part of a growing new form of mercenary activity - the recruitment of people around the globe to peform military jobs in other nations, a U.N. report says.
Independent human rights experts who wrote the report, which was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, say the reported killing of civilians in Iraq last month by guards recruited by the security firm Blackwater USA underscores the risks of using such contractors.
The U.N. Security Council and General Assembly have opposed the use of mercenaries, but the hiring of foreign soldiers by one country for use in another is barred only for the 30 nations that ratified a 1989 treaty against the practice. The U.S. and Iraq are among the many states that didn't sign.
A five-member U.N. panel has been studying the use of contractor guards for two years, said Jose Luis Gomez del Prado, the Spanish expert who heads panel. Its report is to be presented to the U.N. General Assembly next month.
"The trend toward outsourcing and privatizing various military functions by a number of member states in the past 10 years has resulted in the mushrooming of private military and security companies," the report says.
A "tremendous increase" in the number of such companies, including those working for the U.S. State and Defense departments, has occurred because of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the report said.
Officials at the U.S. Mission to the U.N. offices in Geneva declined to comment on the report.
Experts on the panel visited Honduras, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Fiji over the past 14 months to look into recruiting and training practices by private security contractors.
The report said companies had hired former soldiers and policemen, but it charged that some of those had become "private militarily armed soldiers."
In Chile, the experts were told that recruits were given military training by private companies in the United States, Jordan or Iraq and "eventually performed military functions."
The panel said that many Peruvians also had been recruited to work in Iraq and Afghanistan as security guards and that at least 1,000 remained in Iraq.
Gomez del Prado said security companies had hired recruits from other countries, including Spain, Portugal and elsewhere in Europe as well as Russia and South Africa.
"I don't know if they work for Blackwater, but all these private security companies they are recruiting from all over the world - from the Philippines, from Fiji," he said.
Once the guards are in areas of armed conflict, immunity granted under national laws to private security personnel can easily lead to uncontrolled behavior, the report said, with "these private soldiers appearing only to be accountable to the company which employs them."
A joint U.S.-Iraqi panel has been created to review the practices of security companies in Iraq, and Congress has opened inquiries into the role of the contractors. Multiple U.S. investigations are looking into the fatal shooting involving Blackwater workers.
Blackwater, the largest U.S. security firm working in Iraq for the State Department, said its guards fired in response to an armed attack. Iraqi officials say 17 civilians were killed.
© 2007 The Associated Press
21 Comments so far
Show AllI'm just not seeing that vet-public or cop-public wedge.
On the contrary, I suspect that cops are as pissed off about the war as the next guy.
I recently had a situation unfold that woke me up to a very ugly reality, and after I explain I URGE YOU TO CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN GOVERNMENT AND REQUEST THAT THEY LOOK INTO THE FUTURE AND DEAL WITH A POTENTIAL NIGHTMARE NOW!
Here is what happened.
I live in northern California..I live in a very rural area, and we have a ..strong sense of "Rights". I am against the war, the Bush Doctrine in all it's many facets..and I have a bumper sticker to that effect.
And so it was very odd to me when i was stopped after 11 pm on our road..state Hwy 36..by a Sherriff deputy..odd in and of itself..
When he approached my window, and i asked "what's the problem" He asked for my Drivers license WITHOUT telling me what was going on..went to his truck and did his Authoritarin thing..then returned...then this happened..I was SHOCKED..to hear this:
"Are you aware that Decent, Patriotic Americans are giving there lives in Iraq?"
I was dumbstruck..
I stuttered that "uhhh..well..that's one opinion" at this he began to tell me..to my disbelief, that he had recently returned from Iraq and that he '..RESENTS THE BUMPER STICKER YOU HAVE ON YOUR VEHICLE"..
I have been stopped and hassled many MANY times in my life..and i have had this strange thing happen a few times..that my lip begins to twitch..as i become enraged at the corrupt power..I had this happen with a CHP while he was threatening to tow my vehicle if i did not allow a search..which was an eye-opener because i held my ground and he gave up..after that i have NEVER allowed their bullshit to frighten me...but this..this was really something new..
I stared at him..lip twitching..and all i could think to say was.." is that why you stopped me?"..at this he handed me my drivers license and said..'drive carefully" in a ..I thought..menacing way...and then FOLLOWED me to my driveway, wich is a dirt road shared by several land owners...he did not follow me down the dirt road..and my drivers license is General Delivery...but I am sure he knows where I live..
I am still enraged by this, and it has opened my eye's to a really serious problem..RETURNING VETS ENTERING LAW ENFORCEMENT WITH MAJOR CHIPS ON THEIR SHOULDERS, AND X NUMBER OF YEARS TREATING PEOPLE HOW EVER THEY DAMN WEL PLEASE..
HEAR THIS PEOPLE..DO YOU WANT TO BE STOPPED IN THE WEE HOURS BY SOMEONE WHO JUST RETURNED FROM GUANTANIMO, OR ABHU GRHAIB? DO YOU WANT TO BE DEALING WITH POLICE, SHERRIFFS ETC WO HAVE BEEN KILLING PEOPLE WHO DID NOT STOP FAST ENOUGH AT A "CHECK POINT"?
I HAVE BEEN WRITING MY REPS, SENATORS, CONGRESSMEN...AND I URGE YOU TO DO THE SAME..
I HVE BEEN TELLING MY STORY AND URGING THEM TO PASS LEGISLATION THAT WOULD REQUIRE MORE STRINGENT PSYCH TESTING FOR VETS ENTERING OR RETURNING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AFTER SERVING IN THE BUSH ARMY...AND TO ENACT A MANDATORY "COOLING OFF PERIOD" OF 3 YEARS BEFORE RETURNING TO OR ENTERING LAW ENFORCEMNT JOBS..
While looking around on the web I also came accross a truely terrifying story of a Pig in the South..returning vet..who BROKE INTO THE HOUSE OF AN ELDERLY COUPLE BECAUSE THEY HAD THE FLAG UPSIDEOWN..AND WHEN THEY REFUSED HIM ENTRY HE BROKE THEIR DOOR DOWN, INJURING HIMSELF IN THE PROCESS..AND THEY WERE THEN ARRESTED FOR "ASSAULT ON A PEACE OFFICER" BECASUE HE CUT HIS HAND BREAKING INTO THEIR HOME..AND THIS PIGS BUDDIES RALLIED AROUND HIM AND HAVE DONE THE "WALL OF BEAURAUCRASY" NUMBER ON THESE PEOPLE..ACTUALLY ARRESTING THEM...
THIS IS GOING TO BE BAD..FOLKS..IT IS A BEATING, SHOOTING..EVEN TORTURE..WAITING TO HAPPEN..ACT NOW...VETS MAY BE FINE PEOPLE..BUT THEN AGAIN MAYBE NOT...AND QUITE POSSIBLY..TOO FUCKED UP TO BE WEARING A BADGE AND PROTECTED BY THE THIN BLUE LINE AFTER THEY ABUSE SOMEONE FOR THEIR BELIEFS...ACT NOW..BEFORE YOU COME IN CONTACT WITH A DAMAGED COP..WHO NO LONGER CARES IF HE KILLS SOMEONE..
Just curious. But because this is a global economy shouldn't the military be free to work for a mercenary organization if they are offering better pay and benefits?
The average american is made to feel unworthy for even trying to work and obtain a little for themselves and their families.
Things are not suppose to be all about money, but they are when you look to our government officals and corporations for guidance.
It is obvious they only care more about public relations then they do about how we even have money to buy the shoody goods to begin with.
The usa is also debasing the currency the way they did in the roman empire.
For nearly two centuries the British Indian Army was the largest 'mercenary' force in the world of its time . And completely at the beck and call of 'Empire'.
(Though the bulk of the forces , the Indian sepoys , were paid but a pittance .Their 'Sahibs' got the cream. )
However it seems Israel has now eclipsed 'em all . It has ,in effect ,the largest 'mercenary' force ever : the combined forces of Uncle Sam , NATO , and of course all the trigger-happy private 'armies" such as Blackwater ,and that equally murderous Australian outfit Unity Resources Group .
Some good observations on here but there is another big advantage for the Bush gang to recruit mercenaries that is they're not restricted by any conventions.
I was watching C-Spam this morning and one of the guests was Michael Ledeen who is in my view an Israeli lobbyist hell bent on getting the USA to invade Iran. He didn't say so but his attitude was obvious.
We are the new Prussia. Only now we are even recruiting in jails for 'cannon fodder' as well, according to a news report, yesterday.
jmacneil: Excellent analysis! You have illustrated some poignant facts which are usually overlooked in the media, but are paramount in understanding the problems in the military and our 'legal' use of mercenaries.
The bottom line is this: Americans joining the military now are looking for a steady paycheck and a lucrative benefit package. Foreign recruits employed by these gangster 'security companies' will also sell their souls for financial reasons. If they haven't figured out by now that this is the most criminal administration in US history, too bad for them.
The corporate governments use mercenaries because, even though their wages are higher, they're cheap in the long term in that they require no maintenence after they are dead or injured or cease their employment. Not so long ago there was a helicopter downed by the Afghani defenders in which thirty six people were killed but the Pentagon would only admit to the seven enlisted dead, which was the flight crew and a photographer for Canada's forces. They didn't dispute that more people were killed, they just wouldn't address the fact in any way. The mercenaries are expendable and disposable.
The governments also like the mercenaries because they can use them in areas in which they don't understand the native language and customs so that they won't be bothered by supplications for mercy or help. Look out U.S.A. !
The all volunteer army that the U.S. uses is an abject failure. In such a rich economy as the U.S.A the only people that would join such an army are the less intelligent misfits who can't find something better. And that type of poor quality army and the host of mercenaries employed by the pentagon have something in common. They have no idealistic values to sustain them or to propel them to accomplish great deeds. But then, the whole mission in Iraq is lacking in honor and the soldiery know at least that much. And when some misguided patriot quits his multimillionaire occupation and joins the armed force it is, in a grim way, understandable that the regular grunts would have a fierce resentment toward such a gung-ho individual who they could only see as someone who would be constantly getting them into more trouble than was necessary. Not to mention that they would think he threw away a perfectly good life to immerse himself in the kind of bullshit that most of them hate. Fragging is still haunting the U.S. military.
Although they won't admit it, all of the members of the present criminal government which runs the U.S. knows full well that the war in Iraq is lost. If you read Julius Caesar or of Napoleon you would find out that an army typically loses a sergeant for every twelve to fifteen private types and that a good sergeant is what the army runs on. Being an all volunteer army, the quality of sergeants in the U.S. organization is already suffering a handicap when compared to other types of armies and the U.S. is presently losing sergeants in Irag and Afganistan at a rate of more than thirty percent of KIA's. Check out http://www.icasualties.org/oif/ under Fatality Details and the same in the Afganistan section. This loss of sergeants is what is being referred to when they speak of the army being broken in Irag and it is another reason why they want to institute a draft.
Haven't you noticed how everything has become an expense to this country?
No military and no dependents to care, no medical bills and no public outrage.
The only reason the gov. in the usa cares about blackwater is because they do not want to upset the top 1%s global investments.
The only reason the gov. wants the citizens of the usa is so they can be consumers.
They may have figured out what happens after everyone has run out of credit and money to pay for stuff.
Maybe they will just steal the investments from the upper middle class and change the currency.
Blackwater is recruiting in Korea. According to their website, they had a job fair in Korea in October. So I suppose we might shortly hear that since the next mercenaies are Korean they are not subject to US laws. Isn't that special!
Blackwater is also trying to open a "training base" in rural San Diego County, conviniantly close to the Mexican border! If you live in California, please help stop this invasion. See project details at:
www.prcsd.org
Who pays for the physical and mental damage done to these mercenaries? Who stops them from killing free-lance?
The fact that many of these thugs are ex-armed forces and could be called up by the existing armed forces is very telling how much this is a money deal.
That coupled with the fact that they don't fall under international law is a big win win for the baddies.
Geneva needs a new convention with some amendments if this isn't covered. If it is, the baddies will just ignore it anyway.
The sooner we end this government military privatization the better. Blackwater mercenaries were turned loose on New Orleans in 2005. They are setting up training centers around the nation to spread a murderous mindset among those meant to protect the public. Our government is permanently imprisoning "enemy combatants." But the Iraq government does not have the same right to imprison these privatized enemy combatants attacking innocent people?
We had a letter to the editor here in Winston-Salem from a former member of Blackwater, setting all of us wimps straight.
According to him, anyone who objects to free form shootings in Iraq simply doesn't understand the reality of war. "If you want to bring the Military home," he said, "then go ahead and do it..." without saying if that was his POV (doubtful).
If there's war, however, people like him get to shoot anybody they want, and since they want to shoot everybody-- in fact get off on it-- that's a lot of people.
It will just be luck if this dude doesn't find me in a local bar.
It appears that the UN, at least, recognizes that "private military" is, or should be, an oxymoron.
Problem with mercenaries or "hired guns" is that they will work for anyone with the money to pay. No idealogical facts get in the way.
The "citizen army" of our past consisted of individuals who would give "all" for their ideals and their homeland, not for money or glory.
metroeloise: I agree with everything you said there -- I was only comparing mercenaries vs. a forced draft in the context of a preemptive (if not illegal) war. It's certainly a terrible arrangement: but it probably could be worse.
Ideally, we'd have only an all-volunteer military, and they'd only be used in situations where there is a genuine threat.
Paul Bramscher wrote: In one weird sense, though, it may be an improvement over the military draft. Nobody is forced against his will to work for Blackwater — at least not that I've read yet
Woo! One: The fact is that they are used to get around the political liability of raising an army. When the body bags add up the votes start getting personal. These mercenaries are getting paid 3xs what our regular military gets. That's not including whatever profits that the company is making. This will lead to resentment, morale problems within our military. Second: Even given that the current administration (that never won an election) has been circumventing the law and regulations surrounding the legitimate use of a nation's, our nation's military, this is the only form of control there can be. Once the military is privatized there is no more control from the people. Just have to pay them. Three the "they are not forced" argument is missing the fact that the general militarization of our economy redirects our economic system away from civilian development. These mercenaries are being recruited where there are little other opportunities. The list of the "nations" that are being targeted for recruitment has something in common: poverty.
We've exhausted the pool available in the US, both for regular enlisted grunts and mercenary professional forces.
Just another way to avoid implementing a draft to achieve world hegemony. The forces controlling our society know that reinstating the draft in the US would unravel the whole scheme.
Yes ezeflyer Feudalism. We are devolving. Or perhaps more accurately that element has been lingering on in the internalized belief structures of many people. That is in a power elite. Mussolini called it plain and simple when he said that fascism ought be call corporateism since it is the merging of corporate structure and the state.
The history of democracy's emergence was in part a solutions to the ills of various elite power structures. "We the People" "Of, For & By" "With the consent of the governed."
I have found it so very disheartening to hear those basic principles disavowed by those on the either side of the great political divide. For slightly different reasons yet equally denied.
Some call me an optimist because I propose programs that are examples of practical application of those democratic principle as they merge into the economic sphere. I call for the forging of a new party, a true third party, a middle way party, a Purple Party, "a little Red, a little Blue".
In one weird sense, though, it may be an improvement over the military draft. Nobody is forced against his will to work for Blackwater -- at least not that I've read yet.
But I guess what it really speaks volumes about is government's inability to reign in violence. As private armies, do they ultimately have any greater right to cause acts of violence than would private individuals? I mean, at what point does something like bank robbery conducted by a small group of organized bandits blend into large-scale robbery (for instance, an oil grab)?
Feudalism