Wherever mercenaries are involved there is usually double dealing and betrayal. That seems to be the case in the brutal killing of Gadaffi as the South African mercenaries who were paid to help him escape from Libya begin to tell their story.

One of the mysteries surrounding the death is why his mercenary bodyguard was allowed to escape. The mob that surrounded the dictator was intent on a bloody end to the dictator. So why should his protectors be spared? Other captured Gaddafi mercenaries have been beaten and killed.

One difference of course is colour. These mercenaries were white South Africans, trained professionals hired to get Gaddafi out of the country. They believed this was what many countries and Nato wanted. In the confusion of the Gaddafi capture some mercenaries were killed but others were helped to get away and the wounded were flown to hospitals out of the country.  

This is where the double deal is revealed. It is believed that the group who hired the mercenaries  was infiltrated by the winning National Transitional Council, the new Libyan government. Their aim was to lure Gaddafi out of hiding and into the open where Nato strikes could be called in. If he survived he could still be captured. The plan worked brilliantly.

The mercenaries didn’t think Nato would attack their convoy, some sources say Nato had helped them get into the country in the first place. The mercenaries expected to be opposed by the badly organised and undisciplined Libyan forces and they had the firepower to overcome them. But when the strikes came in it was a different story.

Forward Planning

One of the mercenary leaders is the South African Danie Odendaal who was alongside Gaddafi as he was captured. Odendaal was wounded in the Nato strike but he was helped away from the scene and is now in a hospital, somewhere in North Africa. Many of his comrades also escaped to tell the tale but this was dangerous and not very well paid work.

They received $15000 and the deal was set up two months before Gaddafi was captured. All of which throws a light on the forward planning that went on at the highest level. Some of the group were attached to Gaddafi’s son Mutassim who was said to be leading the defence of Gaddafi’s last stronghold, his home town of Sirte. Mutassim was also captured but was not attacked. A video shows him relaxed, smoking a cigarette and drinking water. Then moments later – he was dead and like his father – his body was put on display. What happened to the mercenaries working for him, were they also spirited away?

The last minutes of the Gaddafi regime are confused, brutal and bloody. But behind the scenes the new Libyan politicians were pulling the strings and the South African mercenaries were puppets in a  high level power game. Which isn’t over, it’s only just beginning.

Feudalism is the control of the many by the rich. In America we believe that everyone has an equal voice. Part of the government’s job is to protect the minority from the majority, the rich from the poor. The corporate institution is leading us to feudalism. We need to remove 14th amendment protections for corporations in order to begin the transition towards a purer democratic state. We should see the privatization of intelligence as a threat to democracy and liberty.

Erosion and corruption of the protective capacity of the state

The protective capacity of the state is one of the few institutions we have left in America that has not become privatized to a large extent. The transition is already well under way to privatize our national defense. In today’s digital world, oftentimes information is the most valuable commodity. Our current battles in Afghanistan have showed how a vast army is feeble without proper intelligence to back it up and tell it where to strike. But more frightening than the thought of corporate armies, is the thought of corporate intelligence firms with broad power and scope. We have already seen the privatization of the military with groups like Blackwater, now named Xe, which trains about 40,000 troops annually at its headquarters and “has hosted more than 300,000 law enforcement, military, government, commercial and civilian personnel [to date].” Such groups, operating outside the government yet with authorization from the government, are extremely powerful, well-connected, and secretive. According to the their website, Xe has worked with the following government agencies: Department of Defense, Department of State, Department of Transportation, Local and State Entities, U.S. Military, Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, Multi-national Corporations, and Friendly Nations (www.xeservices.com). The move to privatize intelligence is already well under way. There are corporations that bid over potential intelligence contracts. And like so many other corporations, only the most ruthless and efficient of them all survive, narrowing the field of players over time. It is economic Darwinism and a predatory system that tends to move towards monopoly over time. Eventually, we might see one mega-corporation emerge, and such a monopoly on intelligence is truly a scary thought. As the protective capacity of the state is slowly privatized over time, the move from democracy to feudalism will not be noticed by the general public. Even an oligopoly on intelligence gathering still places too much power in too few hands. The old saying “with great power comes great responsibility” seems oddly paradoxical here, since the main advantage of a limited liability corporation is that it protects investors from bearing all the responsibility. The main advantage of corporations to their investors is a huge disadvantage to the citizens who are negatively affected by the corporation. So, we might say, an intelligence gathering firm would be better expressed by a new saying, “with great power comes limited responsibility.” That is not something we, the public, should want. We want people to be held accountable. Unfortunately, a corporation isn’t an actual person. We feel the need to blame someone when things go awry.

The lack of transparency and accountability in private military corporations (PMCs), unlike what we want and expect from our government, shrouds them in an impenetrable clout. “Traditionally, the right to amass extensive resources for war required the scrutiny, approval and accountability of government and, indirectly, the populace. The PMC, however, allows use of extensive resources to be expended without accountability” (Moagoto and Sheehy p. 2). With government we trade some efficiency for added transparency and accountability. In all industries we do not require more transparency. In the fields of intelligence and defense, we should value accountability very highly. We entrust those people with our safety and when they fail, they should be held accountable. This seems very fair and just to me. When we outsource intelligence to a large multinational corporation to save money, their lack of transparency allows them to act in almost any way, legal or illegal. Legal is preferred. In essence it ‘costs’ more to have these safety measures. The added bureaucracy of government tends to increase the cost of a service, i.e. The USPS. The USPS are not as cost effective as their competitors like UPS or Fed Ex and yet they can operate in the red. The difference here is that when UPS makes a mistake, a package can be sent to the wrong address, thus arriving late to its intended recipient. When an intelligence report gets the wrong GPS coordinates for a terrorist hideout and the assault kills innocent civilians, we the people want the right to vote out of office those in charge. But first we must be an informed electorate, so we must have transparency first, in order to have appropriate accountability later.

While many areas once part of the commons and/or controlled by the government are now in the hands of multinational corporations, defense and intelligence gathering are subjects where we, the people, should want no corporate involvement. The goals inherent in security and national defense are not the same goals inherent in corporations. Limited Liability Corporations only seek to maximize quarterly profits and generate wealth for their shareholders. Our national defense and sense of security should not be a market to be fought over. It is paid for by each current American citizen, and by countless others who gave their lives protecting this country. We should not want the leadership of our intelligence gathering bodies to be driven solely on the mindset, “how can I make more money this quarter?” The privatization of intelligence should be seen as a threat to democracy and liberty. It moves us closer to feudalism. Marc Bloch notes in Feudal Society that, “feudalism coincided with a profound weakening of the State, particularly in its protective capacity.” But through the erosion of our government, by the courts and through legislation, corporations have eked out more power and influence.

Corporations as mercenaries

PMCs are extremely well trained and well geared, and the government increasingly calls on them to do risky, unpopular, or politically threatening jobs. “Matters are not helped by the fact that governments’ use of PMCs is rarely transparent; in most cases, it is deliberately opaque and easily veiled from public and parliamentary view” (Maogoto and Sheehy p. 2). All around us you can see the media influence of the corporate machine making use of euphemisms like “private defense contractor” when really this is not a new invention. There have long been private armies, but we all know them as mercenaries, and not “intelligence entrepreneur.” This kind of corporate military has the advantage of being limited in its liability. The owners hold no responsibility for abuse or deaths caused by the group. Concerns about PMCs, ‘like concern about mercenaries, pirates, and terrorists, stem from the inherent violence of their profession combined with a lack of control over and accountability for their actions[,]‘ particularly where they are viewed as acting outside national legal regimes. (Maogoto and Sheehy). When they are held responsible, it is possible to silence persons with hush money and non-disclosure agreements in order to maintain a clean public image. The intelligence entrepreneurs who fight for these corporations are not soldiers who get honored with a fancy military funeral. Often the family will not know what happened to their family member when she goes missing or gets killed. One way corporations protect themselves from prosecution is to make a shell or proxy corporation. Under 14th amendment protections, corporations were given the right to own other corporations. This allows the shell corporation to act unethically or illegally, and even if it gets its charter revoked, the parent corporation has limited liability from its scion. We need legal reform on an international scale to handle the complex nature of transnational PMCs. Getting many nations to agree on any legal document will be no small hurdle.

For profit, not for the people

Wars should not be for profit. Profit should play no part in modern warfare. I can not say it does not play a part in modern armed conflicts. It is fairly accepted that the military industrial complex profits hugely from any armed conflict. America is a large exporter of arms and has sometimes had her own weapons used against her and her allies. Conflict is not even an efficient use of resources from a sheer economic point of view. A bullet is used once and then destroyed, but taking that same capital and investing it into infrastructure, you have a public good that can be used by many people for many years.

Not a moral person

The exact purpose of a corporation is to diffuse responsibility off of real people and on to the legal person that is the corporation. The current financial market meltdown is a good example of the effectiveness of this system. It is not one firm’s fault, the “system” is at fault. This is corporations doing exactly what they were meant to do: diffuse responsibility. But this is not a moral person, so it cannot act responsibility, except if by ‘responsible’ we define this to be actions that maximize profits and market share. The shareholders would be calling the CEO ‘responsible’ if he moved towards achieving greater market share and larger quarterly earnings reports. This is not in the spirit of the word. Responsibility requires a moral agent and corporations are neither moral or immoral, but amoral. To speak of morality when speaking of corporations is to misrepresent the structure framework of the modern transnational corporation. If we asked whether or not a car is a moral thing, we would say neither, it is amoral. It is a machine, and machines are not capable of moral judgments. Yet, corporations are machines too. They are profit machines and extremely efficient ones at that. All this confusion over calling corporations moral, or asking why don’t they act more ethically or responsible stems from the fact that corporations are legal persons. We must never confuse legal personhood with moral personhood. The current legal precedent has shaped an atmosphere that blurs the line between legal and moral personhood.

We ought to remove 14th amendment protections for companies

The 14th amendment was designed to extend Constitutional protections to newly freed slaves and other minorities. It fell short though as it still did not give women the right to vote. When judges and lawyers read a law, there are two ways they can read it. Judges can be a “semantic originalist” and take the point of view from what the law writers intended. Contrasting this are the “expectation orginalists” who try to view the law from the view point of what the law was expected to accomplish (Scalia p. 119). Not every law can be read correctly from just one point of view. With a law like cruel and unusual punishment, what the framers of the law considered “cruel” could well differ with what our modern society considers acceptable punishment techniques. So for this particular law, being a semantic originalist doesn’t seem most appropriate. However, the 14th amendment is most appropriately evaluated from the prospective of an expectation orginalist. We know that the framers of that amendment, and those who ratified it, intended to help recently freed slaves. Any rational human knows they did not pass this law to extend the civil protections of humans to limited liability corporations. As Delphin M. Delamas, the attorney for Santa Clara County in Santa Clara Country v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company said of the 14th amendment; it’s goal was to, “…raise the humble, the down-trodden…not to make the creature of the State—the bodiless, soulless, and mystic creature called a corporation—the equal of the creature of God…” (Hartmann p.103). One way in which a corporation and a single human are specifically dissimilar is in their power. A mere human has barely a fraction of the power of a corporation. A human only lives for around 85 years, whereas corporations can ‘live’ for hundreds for years. Corporations have whole legal teams on retainer, while almost all the humans on the planet to do have such luxury. Society imprisons humans who commit felonies, but corporations who violate repeatedly have no body to imprison. Some people even now praise the corporation so much that they make it seem perfect. In America, corporations are the new church and capitalism is the new religion. Corporations have more power, influence, and resources than many countries. With all this before us, we need to see them for what they really are. Corporations are our legal creation. “Corporations are neither physical nor metaphysical phenomena. They are socioeconomic ploys, legally enacted game-playing, agreed upon only between overwhelmingly powerful socioeconomic individuals and by them imposed upon human society and its all unwitting members.” Buckminster Fuller (Hartmann p.165), the famous scientist penned a summary of the corporation that makes them seem very devious. Given out current legal treatment of corporations, they can very often legally act deviously. In other cases, they don’t bother to act legally. If the cost to comply is greater than then cost to break the law and pay the fine, then it is really a simple business decision. Corporations have only one singular purpose to which they are constantly striving: quarterly profits and share values. Since corporations only think about their actions and consequences one quarter of the fiscal year at a time, they care little about anything else. Polluting and then paying fines and fees later may push back the date of financial transactions, moving potential losses to the next quarter where they might not be as obvious. Or better yet, the corporations can take their issue to the courts, which won’t cost them much more because they already have lawyers on retainer. But that isn’t why they do it. Court cases can take months and even years to be resolved, and then even after there are appeals that can be made. Both these tactics delay payment by the corporation. The longer the corporation holds on to that capital in dispute, the more time it has to use it and reap its benefits. As the reader is well aware, it takes money to make money.

Abuse of power

PMC’s would be motivated by profit and market share alone. It would therefore be congruent with this motive to blackmail normal or especially high profile citizens. An intelligence gathering corporation would presumably gather tons of “dirt” on people, either on purpose or accidentally or as a consequence of other work. This could be celebrities, who would pay to protect their image. Or perhaps ordinary folks might be the target of smaller blackmail schemes. A single individual or family is relatively powerless to fight a large corporation, physically, legally, or politically. Corporations only donate money or do charitable work to be seen as charitable. They will usually spend more on PR about their donation than on the donation itself. Exploiting the media with good PR is common for large corporations. During the BP oil spill in the gulf of Mexico, BP spent millions of dollars on TV ads telling everyone how hard they were working and how soon displaced workers would be getting their relief checks. Common sense would be to spend money on relief rather than on talking about it. But if the public sees a large check on the TV screen every so often, they feel the corporation has done it’s part to help the community. Corporations are not good neighbors, they have no emotions, only an obligation to make money quickly.

Difference in power

The difference in power between flesh and blood persons and artificial persons is immense while they have essentially the same legal rights. Railroad lawyers continually went to court for over one hundred years before finally getting the decision they had sought for so long, 14th amendment protection for corporations, specifically the railroad. This is not law and was never decided by any court. It was a mistake on the part of law clerk J. C. Bancroft Davis, in his headnotes. The law, as jurisprudence has stood, gives equal rights to artificial and human beings while they are inherently unequal. One man could never stand up to the might and power of a corporation. Two types of people, unequal, are treated as though their blood was the same. The obvious problem is that corporations have no blood, no veins, no heart. We don’t give governments the same rights as human beings. That would be absurd and unfair. What judges and society have upheld is the type of logic that represents treating humans and limited liability corporations as equal. Any ‘natural’ person will tell you, using their common sense, that in no way is a person equal to a corporation in power or influence or wealth or duration.

Externalities as taxation without representation

From such narrow sightedness comes inevitable consequences. When a human fails to consider their future, they often make mistakes. Humans must pay for the consequences of their own actions. We are held accountable. Corporations are not. There is even a term for the act when a corporation moves a cost they would normally have to pay and instead pass it on to someone else. It’s called externalizing. Corporations are externalizing machines, and have become very efficient at it (The Corporation). Corporations move the cost of things such as clean up and disposal, from the corporate account, to the community where the corporation chose to do harm. The local government often lowers taxes and gives other incentives to entice businesses to move in, but the giving is all one-sided. The tax breaks the corporations receive are disproportionately large for the amount of jobs they create. In fact, the government subsidies can cost $40,000-$900,000 per job created (Hartmann p.180). But local governments feel forced to gives these kind of favors towards corporations because they know that if their town doesn’t, another one will, and they will lose some economic benefits. “But there’s no way that mayors or governors can withstand the heat once a major company announces it is thinking about leaving” (Hartmann p. 180). In truth, most of the profit generated by large, multinational corporations will leave the city and only a small part will stay in the form of taxes and wages, etc. This is the opposite of small businesses, which keep almost all of their profit within their communities. The effect of this externalizing machine is that someone else pays for the corporations misdeeds. Usually these are environmental effects like pollution or containments which can linger in soil and groundwater for generations. The corporation that externalizes waste is passing the cost of clean up onto future generations. This is a form of intergenerational tyranny. We have future citizens in essence paying a tax on a service they had no say in and likely saw no benefit of. This is a form of taxation without representation and obviously this would run contrary to a fundamental belief in American culture. The cry of the Boston tea party “no taxation without representation” is still as fundamental today as is was so long ago. Those living in contaminated areas will not be informed by the corporation that pollution has been put into their community, since, many times, there is no such law requires them to do so. Under such conditions, the full extent of the pollution may not be known for years or even decades. And as decades pass, with chemicals seeping into the soil and groundwater, it is usually the most vulnerable in our society that pay the price: the young and the poor. The poor have the least alternative options, and may therefore be forced to drink from rivers they know are unclean, to use mud they know is dirty to make bricks for houses, or to eat the fish from those dirty rivers. Those with the fewest resources, especially outside of the industrialized countries, do not have the legal means to fight such toxic assaults on their health, environment, and community. Environmental disasters can ruin whole regions and ecosystems and they may take generations to recover. I believe it is clear how the poor are particularly susceptible to the ills of corporate externalization. But the young, whose bodies and minds are still in a developmental stage, are even more susceptible. Firstly, children experience their environment differently than able bodied adults. Young children, especially toddlers and infants chew and suck on almost anything they can get their hands on, thus increasing their exposure to any environmental containments. Also, small children are lower to the ground, so they inhale more dust and particulates (Third Hand Tobacco). This externalization by corporations is also intergenerational, meaning those not yet born are affected. Those with no voice or say or input in the matter are affected by externalizations. It is not hard to find common chemicals in our society today which carry a label that says “known to cause birth-defects.” Most such chemicals that are legal in the USA are illegal or banned in Europe (Lepisto). There are always other chemicals or other polymers to use which don’t have such catastrophic human consequences, but they are less profitable to manufacture in the short term.

Corporations are a legal institution, and the public rarely grasps the significance of this. Like any social or political institution, the individuals in the system can be good or bad, independent of the goodness of the system itself. This is important because sometimes individuals are attacked as if they are somehow “evil” for operating within usually legal, yet unethical ways. So, when a CEO moves a plant to India, he should not be seen as a person who destroys communities. Instead, it is our current system of “Free Trade” that has forced the CEO’s hand in the matter. Education is important to show the public the distinction here as the public is not often keen on self-reflection. Noam Chomsky notes the distinction using slavery as an example. Slavery is inherently evil and immoral. But within the system, the institution of slavery, you can have kind, benevolent slave owners, and you can also have mean, cruel slave owners. So if someone acts legally, but unethically, the law should be changed there. We should want the law to reflect common-sense morals and ethics, which I believe is the intent of most laws: to promote general welfare and community strength.

The transition to feudalism

I fear we are moving towards feudalism, but perhaps it is much worse than I actually know. Corporations already have stolen the rights of citizens through legal mischief. Corporations have a large influence on our daily lives, sometimes more than our friends and family. Corporations have nearly taken control of every asset and resource on the planet. We need to remove some of the legal teeth that corporations use to unfairly protect themselves, namely 14th amendment personhood. We have given corporations legal rights, we don’t need to also give them control of our guns, tanks, and subs. Not since the East India Trading Company have corporations had the type of military power we are on the verge of today. A modern corporation can control resources, trade, influence laws, and politicians, all legally. But so far their physical manifestations are relatively limited. A huge multinational corporation often touches the ground in a few spots, while still generating huge wealth for its shareholders. But even with little physical capital they can wield tremendous power and influence, and they have the ability to exert control in almost any way they see as profit-generating. So, just imagine taking these same corporations and giving them whole armies, mobile and well-armed. The erosion of the state is already well under way. In many ways, governments are powerless today compared to 60 years ago (The Corporation). The corporation and corporate-personhood is an international phenomena nowadays.

The erosion of rights, of liberties, of the commons, and of our very own government are all moving us as a global society closer to feudalism. This change will not come instantaneously, like flipping a light switch, but rather slow and probably through many legal battles to come. The point is that this is a battle for democracy and right now, we the people, are losing. The odds are against us actually, given the immense power, control, influence, and willingness to protect the status quo that modern multinational limited liability firms have. It isn’t even as though the line between the corporations and the government is getting blurry, it is no longer there. This is in reference to intelligence meetings that were held between ranking government and military officials, and their corresponding ranking officials in the corporate world. At one table they had people from the CIA, NSA, FBI, but also Coca Cola, Microsoft, and GE (The Corporation).

A government of, by, and for the people is part of the American way of life. In recent years, corporations have grown in their legal power and influence. With their huge profits, they buy their way into the political process, corrupting it. From within the system, corporations are slowly giving themselves more human rights and privileges. 14th amendment protection for corporations is unfair. We need to change the law so that companies no longer enjoy 14th amendment protection. Other bodies like unions do not share in such generous Constitutional protections. The owners of all the major corporations are consolidating power. The rich keep getting richer, while the poor keep getting poorer. Soon corporations will hollow out the government completely. And once everything has become privatized, we will no longer have accountability and transparency by those in charge. We will then live in a feudal state.

Bibliography

Hartmann, Thom. Unequal Protection:The rise of corporate dominance and the theft of human rights. 3rd ed. San Fransisco: Berrett-Koehler publishers, inc, 2009. Print.

Lepisto, Christine. “7 Foods Banned in Europe Still Available in the U.S.” Treehugger. Discovery, 2 Apr. 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/7-foods-banned- europe-available-us.php>.

Maogoto, Jackson N., and Benedict Sheehy. “Private Military Companies & International Law: Building New Ladders Of Legal Accountability & Responsibility.” Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2010. <http://cojcr.org/vol11no1/99-132.pdf>.

Reich, Robert B. Supercapitalism. New York: Vintage Books, 2008. 100-200. Print.

Scalia, Antonin. A Matter of Interpretation: federal courts and the law. 6th ed. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1998. 100-02. Print.

The Corporation. Writ. Joel Bakan. Big Picture Media Corporation, 2010. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. <http://www.hulu.com/watch/118169/the-corporation?c=News-and-Information/Documentary- and-Biography>.

Third Hand Smoke. Accessed Oct 12, 2010. <http://www.hulu.com/watch/139331/abc-good-morning- america-health-third-hand-smoke>

Xe website. Accessed Oct 12, 2010. <http://www.xeservices.com/WhatWeDo/Training.aspx>

Our own military has now been furnished with unconstitutional changes to the law to facilitate the declaration of martial law, a concept not provided for in the constitution and normally associated with the harshest of dictators. Our military has also practiced methods of taking over some of our cities and have actually taken over sections of a few using techniques perfected in Iraq. The military is using our tax money to develop new lethal and “non-lethal” weapons specifically designed for crowd control.

Few Americans from the era of our nations battle for independence, no matter what their political preferences were, wanted a large standing army. Their own militia was their choice for defense. There is no doubt this is the reason the right to bear arms is in the constitution.

During the American Revolution, General Washington had trouble keeping enough men in the field to fight the British. There were several reasons for this but right at the top of the list was the colonies refusal to supply or provide troops for fighting outside their own colony. That is how strong and deep their fear of large national armies went.

Today our so called militias are half way around the world interfering in a fight that is hardly our business and profits only the large oil companies and a select few government contractors. Interference that was not asked for by anyone and was in fact condemned by the United Nations. Yet everyone, or so it seems, is proudly displaying cute little painted or printed ribbons displaying the words “Support our troops”. Have Americans changed so much since the first days of our republic or are their sentiments, like the actual ribbons, fakes. If so we had better hope their true sentiments can be brought to the surface in sufficient numbers to prevent the past from repeating itself.

In our struggle for independence from an empire our most hated enemies were the Hessians and the native tribes that sided with the British because they were paid to. It is difficult to believe that we now “support” our very own army of mercenaries. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the ex-special forces from our own military who let the government train them and then hire out to anyone for incredible sums of money, if they are Chilean special forces units hired en masse, or even our own troops who signed on because they couldn’t find another job that paid as well as the military – not even with a college degree. Those last are not entirely to blame for their choice. They are victims as well. Victims of corporate America and the special laws our government has made solely for the purpose of increasing profits even at the price of our freedom. Some are even true patriots but they are all part of the largest, and best paid army of mercenaries the world has ever seen. How can other citizens in other countries feel any different than our own ancestors did upon seeing the Hessians land on American soil.

I don’t mind saying they scare me as well as the rest of the world. They scare the rest of the world because other nations now perceive our country to be an aggressor very much interested in creating a new empire, our military to be one used for corporate profit, and because nobody knows which little nation will be next. They scare me because they are destined to lead us to only one place. If this trend is left unchecked we will, perhaps after half a dozen more invasions of foreign countries, end up with another Lexington and another 1775 right here at home, because it will be the only possible way for we the people to reassume control of our own government.

We must elect leaders who will guide the country using the principles intended by the constitution and force those leaders using any means available to adhere to those principles. Let your congressmen know you don’t support these wars for profit. Boycott products made by companies that lobby for legislation and take actions that create such hostile environments, and write to your newspapers urging others to support the cause.

The MPLA had stated that it was willing to seek friendly relations with Washington, but certain forces in the US government saw (or imagined) Soviet threats all over the world and wanted to prolong the war in order to “deny the MPLA an easy victory”. This covert operation – which made use of mercenaries and South African forces, both repugnant to black Africa – cost the lives of many thousands of Angolans, and accomplished virtually nothing of value for the United States. It is regarded as perhaps the most wasteful and pointless operation undertaken by the agency, and it badly tarnished American standing and prestige in Africa.

Stockwell came to see the CIA’s role in the Third World as unconscionable and decided to expose its Angolan machinations in a book. Apart from providing countless details about his part in the shenanigans, he also provided insights into how covert operations actually work. Far from conforming to the James Bond stereotype, these operations involve an enormous amount of bureaucratic wrangling, personal issues coming to the fore (like laziness, drunkenness, depression and work stress), inefficiency, favouritism and complacency. Interesting also is his claim (corroborated by other agency defectors like Phillip Agee) that being an agency operative rarely exposed one to the risk of being killed by the KGB (the Soviet secret service). CIA officers were far more likely to meet danger at the hands of customs officials when operating in foreign lands.

In Search of Enemies is a fascinating book and it should be read by everyone with an interest in foreign policy, as well as the threats posed by unaccountable power masquearding under the cover of “national security”.

As an American I have opposed the war in the Middle East since day one. Sitting in America behind the safety of its borders with my eyes wide shut for fear of the truth of what is truly happening over there. I feel we do not belong there and although I support our troops all the way my feelings are they should all be safe and at home.

As a mother with my youngest son serving as a SeaBee in Iraq still my views have stayed the same. With him being a quiet young man he has never voiced to me his experience in that foreign land. I am sure for the most part he does not want to contribute to any more sleepless nights for me worrying for his safety. My son till date has not been exposed to the faces of war and the tragedies the people who live there face on a daily basis. I pray to God he never has to live with the memories of war, but my views still did not change.

Until now…

A month or so ago my daughter started talking about this guy she met on line and who was the owner of SIC Iraq. This sparked my interest and I asked more about him. After a couple weeks I decided I would ask him if it would be alright if I asked some questions and had him explain what SIC really is and who, by the way, he is. Since our chat and the knowledge I now posses about what is really going on over there I do believe our presence there is a necessity. Yes, I have changed my opinions on us being in the Middle east.

Through our discussion I discovered there is not only military personal involved in the conflicts in the Middle East but there are also many privately owned security companies. One of these companies is SIC Iraq. I am not sure if any of you have ever heard of SIC, but I am sure if you are in the military was recently then you have heard of them or been in their presence.

First of all let me explain what SIC is.  SIC stands for Solar International Consulting. This is a group of very experienced men and woman with most of its members being former military or former police officers. This group of people make up a security unit who not only protects Americans but all those who sign the contract for protection. They risk their lives to protect others.

By now I am sure some of you are saying to yourselves these guys are nothing but mercenaries, but the difference between this unit and mercenaries are these are the good guys. Mercenaries go to the highest bidder and are not necessarily good people with good values. This unit cares about human beings and protecting them from harm.

This article is to introduce you of what this security service is all about, but most importantly who the man who founded this company is and what he stands for.

So let me introduce you to Dino…..

Dino is a 29 year young man from Texas, he was in the Army for four years being introduced to Iraq in 2005. After his stint in the Army he worked for another security service in Iraq where is obtained a manager status. He decided it was time to work for himself so about a year ago SIC Iraq was born.

Dino told me that at the moment his company is only in Iraq but they are considering expanding it to cover Afghanistan. Dino also said some of his crew have also worked in Africa and Afghanistan.

Feeling a bit awkward I asked what his worst experience there has been and his reply was this,” I have personally been shot, but it comes nothing near the feeling of sorrow that I have felt for those men here who have lost their lives.”

As he wrote these words I could feel his inner emotions and realized this man was not a person with not feelings, but rather a warrior who is loving and caring. His goal is to try to give those people a chance at freedom and to give our people a chance at keeping it.

I also realized that this man who has only been on this earth for such a short time has seen the horrors of war. The faces of small children who have lost limbs and family members. Whose homes have been in iniallated by bomb blasts and people who have invaded their cities. Not knowing what will happen to them next. He has seen things I am sure he will take to his grave because instead of wanting to remember he is trying to forget.

I find this man of freedom not only fascinating but a world hero. He has sacrificed so much to protect others. I asked him why he does this job and his answer was this… “I have five children and I want to make sure their future is as safe as it was when I was growing up.” This pulled at my heart strings as I thought about what he goes through on a daily basis not only for his children but for us all.

I asked Dino other things but for security reasons I could not get any answers, which is completely understandable. The safety of him and the other members of his crew could be jeopardised if he is not careful.

SIC Iraq has no government funding and the cost for one armored vehicle is 97K- 100K. They do not have helicopters but they do have a plane which is not used for missions. It is on contract for evacuations and corporate aircraft services. Just in case they need to get out of there fast or in case there are injuries they have a way out.

This man from Texas has touched my heart with his warmth and value of human life. He made me realize that there is a difference being made over there in the Middle East with our troops presence and also with the companies such as Dino’s. This soldier who fights for peace is not only a protector but deep down inside he is a loving caring and warm individual.

Below is an example of what lives deep in his heart and what his fears are. Never before revealed he decided to share this with me and through tear filled eyes I share it now with all of you:

Journey of Life

I START TO SEARCH IN BLINDNESS TO FIND MY WAY THROUGH THIS UNCHARTED JOURNEY CALLED LIFE. THE DEEPER I GO, THE DARKER MY VOYAGE SEEMS TO BE. AS I STUMBLE THROUGH THIS HELL, I HEAR THE CRIES OF THE LOST SOULS FROM THE TRAVELERS ON THIS SAME PATH. EACH LEFT BEHIND WITH A STORY TO TELL BUT NO ONE AROUND TO LISTEN. I CONTINUE MY STRUGGLE TO WHAT SEEMS TO BE AN INEVITABLE END. MY BODY WANTS TO STOP AND JOIN THE LOST SOULS. YET MY HEART PUSHES ME THROUGH. NOT KNOWING WHAT WILL COME, I LISTEN TO MY HEART AND CONTINUE.BUT IN THE DARKNESS I DO NOT KNOW IF I AM MOVING FORWARD OR BACK. MY BODY BEGINS TO GIVE UP AND I DECIDE TO SIT. I START TO STARE INTO THE DARKNESS AND THINK HOW I ENDED ON THIS PATH. IT BEGINS TO GET HARDER TO THINK AS THE CRIES OF THE SOULS GET LOUDER. I SEEM TO BE SURROUNDED BY THEM UNABLE TO MOVE. STUCK IN THIS DARKNESS WITH NO ONE TO HEAR ME YELL FOR HELP. SLOWLY MY VOICE DROWNED OUT BY THE COMMOTION AROUND ME AND I TOO HAVE BECOME A LOST SOUL. A LOST SOUL, A VICTIM OF THIS UNCHARTED JOURNEY CALLED LIFE.

When I read this for the first time I found myself in that dark place also, hearing the cries of the lost souls he has encountered, but the difference between him and me is that he has experienced these things for real as I only see them through his eyes. The pictures he has kept deep in his heart I am afraid will never be erased, but the reasons why he stays in this terrible land, for him, far out weigh the memories that will live forever embedded within his heart, mind, body and soul.

Dino is a special man indeed. One of those people we all wish we could be. One of those hero’s who I do not want to just exist but whom I want the world to see that what he is doing is a good thing. A man that is needed for all of us, not only for Americans but for all nations under God.

For now Dino still resides in this place called war and fights on a daily basis to protect all who need his help. I commend you Dino for doing what most would never even consider. For leaving your home, your children and the ones you love and also the ones who love you. You have a heart of gold and to me you are a hero.

SIC Iraq I am sure under your command will flourish and you will remain in this place called war until you feel your job has been done. I am not sure how many times you have been thanked for your service but as an American and as a Mother I would like to give to you my heart felt thanks for your service and your unselfishness. You are a true warrior like no other. You and your entire crew deserve our daily prayers for your safety and for the safety of those you protect.

I end this article with a completely different view of what is happening in the Middle east. I now believe we are needed in that horrible place. With people like Dino and my son and all the other men and woman who fight the war on terror and also for freedom. I thank you for opening my eyes to the real Iraq.

Without SIC and other companies such as Dino’s Iraq and the rest of the world who needs protection would not be the same.

All of the images used in this articles were given to me by Dino. They are photos he has taken on his travels in Iraq.

More of mine:

South Korea on High Alert Status

Are There Still Functioning Missiles Left From the Cold war

Thanksgiving Soldier

The motives for the Bush Administration to maintain Conservative Republican control aren’t hard to understand. George W. Bush using Daddy George H. W. Bush’s ideas through the once bound “World Police Force” for governmental mercenary sales. Approximately 150 thousand civil contractors, External Corporate business entities give the Intelligence, and supplies of the American military. The near 200 thousand non-military, reduces the American Soldier death count without reporting the lost civilians, if not encountered by reporters.

World War 1 started in 1914 with the assignation of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, heirs to the Austro-Hungarian throne. The groups of murders were apart of the Black Hand (Unification of Death) secret society that agreed to assasinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

The Black Hand — Ideology

They group ideological outlooks within army officers through idealistic youths tending towards republicanism. They also had royalty with nationalistic outlooks. They could be compared with the Death Squads of the more modern governmental groups, but The Black Hand was not apart of the government yet.

The Chess game, which began WW1, is now being acted out in the world political theater. Hitler’s national movement to George Bush’s dethroning of Sodom Hussein using American soldiers as the mercenaries. Acting out political change in lieu of the Black Hand for the up coming WW3 focusing on the hot spot of the Middle East.

The Bush Administration’s paranoia is generated by their need to change America to the greatest fascist state ever. Mercenary Payoffs are returns to those in power. A fascist ideal of the Black Hand generated through the Illuminati of Europe. The United States of America was made to avoid the fascism experienced from our colonial days. Looking upon The George W. Bush Presidential Administration “We the People” must ask if foreign subversives have infiltrated the United States?

Immigrated sleepers with foreign ideas or intelligence sleepers, which the have entered into America’s political systems. Extremist yes, prejudice yes, violent yes, by the nature of espionage, we now see they too meet today’s criteria of terrorist, but still the Conservative Republican subculture is an accepted microcosm.

Terrorism is an accepted mind-set in the world including America observing the Bush Administration. A different culture with different subcultures exists. That would explain the lack of law enforcement in immigration, and our economic failure. Any Foreign government, even if defunct, can be acted out with zealous belief in results. Using America’s Republican Party to stalemate Congressional corrections, and installing the current organizational enforcement agencies (i.e. Homeland Security), which are illegal in nature Constitutionally could be filled with subversives not in America’s interest. Unity under espionage or espionage’s havoc is a standard operating procedure no matter what it affects.

The data imported above can be compared to the United North American ideology. Like all espionage, there can’t be conclusive evidence so unity is the blanket term covering up the infiltration. The question is “have all of Americas Agencies been infiltrated to the point they are not functional for their intended purpose?” Scooter Libby goes free. The legal system doesn’t work. Mukasey can’t be brought before Congress because George Bush claims executive privilege. The legal system fails again. Waxman wants to file contempt charges against Mukasey for not showing up in their investigation. Husband of V. Plame, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson was fired for standing against the Iraq War. His wife, Valerie was compromised, when her name was leak to the press as a CIA investigative operative for the Iraq War reasoning. Most of this White House Soap Opera is merely stopping further investigations on the Vice President, Dick Chaney who meets the Illuminati criteraria.

For logic’s sake, the American people must reassess any Executive Powers gained through legal/illegal manipulations offsetting the balance of powers in American Democracy’s “Branches of Power.” A Democracy is the name of our Government, and it is outlined in our Constitution. By changing the government’s economic base from physical wealth (what is held in hand) to consumerism isn’t a change Americans should agree with, because “the people” lose accountability of the Political Hierarchy. Capitalism is not the name of Government. Capitalism is an economic plan or method to support a nation, but there is no Government called capitalism.

Unfair debt repayment started the Revolutionary War. The British Government was making the colonialist pay for the French and Indian War. Consumerism is like our Politicians, passing the buck without responsibility. Look at what it has got us. Recession approaching depression while the media reports what is being given them by a Sodom Hussein impersonator. Selective reporting only makes for illusion, and not actuality.

“Why are things being done by this methodology being used inside The White House?” The motif is the question. “We the People” should be analyzing the sum of the changes done to our constitution. We can no longer trust the laws because they aren’t being enforced and “The Constitution is up to Interpretation” as, stated by Alberto Gonzales the one time Attorney General of the Bush Administration. This is their interpretation of The Constitution of the United States.

The question why our immigration laws are undermined by the Attorney Generals band of State Attorneys is the point. The State Attorneys that didn’t do as the Bush Administration said resulted in firings. That too cannot be simpler. Could this be an attempt to consolidate intelligence sleepers from the Americas inside the United States? Its purpose would continue to destroy the separation of power in the United States? It would eventually lead to the United North America. Think about our system. How things are done? How our system works? If more people, in mass were to come into an already controlled government. More changes continuing in the Fascist Unification Movement will result as it began with Bush Administration.

Before we get concentrated on the one administration, we must look back to the Kennedy Assignation in Dallas. Years apart, but this goes hand in hand with the European Black Hand division of the Illuminati. This must be the legacy Bush wants to be known a hundred years from now, in the revised government of 2108. George Washington’s Fatherhood will be passed to George W. Bush. The fascist Kingdom grows with compliant followers given power. Mexicans, Central Americans, and South Americans are enticed by the past Free US successes, sleepers from other countries swarm from known various ruling failures. Molding The New World Order using the strongest World Power as a mercenary force. The United New World Order is in their sites.

In America’s wealth, the coffers of the United States need a new tally before President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Chaney leave office. Americans, “We the People” need to know if any other pilfering has been going on under this fascist regime. Ferdinand Marcos robed the Philippines as he attempted to leave with 750 million dollars of Filipino gold. A man with a Presidential income of less than $27,000/year became one of the world’s top ten wealthiest men owning 3 major buildings in uptown Manhattan.

Draw your own conclusions. History is full of mindless self-absorbed rulers. Karl Rove is no longer the brain of George W. Bush or is he? He wonders around like George W. ’s mind.

But what are PMC’s and what do they do?

PMC’s are essentially ‘respectable’ mercenaries. They provide many services traditionally supplied by regular armed forces. Only they do so for private profit. Services such as providing physical protection for aid workers, canine services, weapons systems operators and instructors, alongside other services.

Ex-soldiers often run them. Usually former officers from one or other elite units. Veterans from the SAS and other Special Forces units are highly sought after, especially former officers.

So, is the PMC a new idea? No. Mercenaries have existed for millennia. In fact, the mercenary has been described as ‘The second oldest profession’, prostitution being the oldest. ‘Whores of war’ indeed.

Saxon tribal chiefs could hire Houscarls who would fought to the death, even if their employer was killed. In medieval Europe, the Condottieri and Swiss were available to anyone who could afford their services. The Ronin, Ninja and Shaolin Monks of achieved equal notoriety, as did the Irish ‘Wild Geese’. In South East Asia during the 1960-70’s the Hres and Hmongs in Laos, the Cambodian Nungs and the Vietnamese Montagnards fought on all sides, and often among themselves. And the ‘Congo mercenaries’ were equally notorious. The history of the mercenary soldier is long and bloody.

Today’s PMC’s, however, have taken a much greater role in global realpolitik than their predecessors. During the first Gulf War of 1991, there were approximately 100 service personnel per private contractor present. In Gulf War II, there were about 10 service personnel per private contractor. In fact, private contractors form the second largest contribution to the occupying forces in Iraq at this moment.

Of course, globalisation has spread itself far and wide. It may well be the case that proponents of globalisation will say “Why not see if we can run war at a profit.” Either that or keep quiet and avoid the debate entirely. Opponents will probably claim that soldiering for profit is nothing more than another case of Big Business (literally) making a killing.

PMC’s have been active in many of the major trouble spots. Sandline International, which ceased trading in April 2004, was heavily involved in Sierra Leone, including breaches of the UN arms embargo. This was a major dent in New Labour’s much-heralded (and remarkably short-lived) ‘ethical foreign policy’.

Another British firm, Global Risk International, is a principal player in Iraq, it provided security for Paul Bremer. Dyncorp Inc., an American firm, is currently training the new Iraqi police. MPRI, another American firm, was active in the former Yugoslavia, and supplied arms to one of the warring factions during the civil war.

Columbia has also ‘benefited’ from PMC’s. American firms provide pilots to defoliate coca fields and helicopter gunship escorts. Other firms protect US diplomats in Israel, bodyguard Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan and provide ‘close protection’ or ‘physical protection’ in a number of other countries. They also have their contacts in Britain, with Kellogg, Brown and Root (a Halliburton subsidiary) formerly responsible for the refit of Britains own WMD (Trident submarines) at Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth. This deal is already months behind schedule and massively over budget.

It hasn’t always been plain sailing. Northbridge International have been particularly unfortunate. They offered to send a ’special constabulary’ of 60 men to arrest Liberia’s former President, Charles Taylor, at a price of $4 million. It was turned down, and Northbridge also faces investigations into allegedly offering mercenaries to work in the Ivory Coast. More recently, the implication of Mark Thatcher in a plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea has thrown the spotlight firmly on those who wish to stay in the shadows.

So why are PMC’s so popular, especially with the British and American governments? There are a number of reasons. Mercenary forces can be easier to engage, and quicker than UN peacekeepers, whose focus is always open to change in the political climate. Mercenaries are usually available if the money is right. There is also the issue of the quality differential between units of hardened professional soldiers and UN troops, many of whom come from the armies of poorer nations. Faced with a choice between hardened, experienced veterans on the one hand, and UN troops, who may well be of dubious quality and could be withdrawn by their governments, it’s an easy choice to make.

There is also a political angle to the use of PMC’s. The sight of American boys being brought home in bodybags has undoubtedly been a severe restriction on the activities of the US military in particular, at least until 9/11. If the bodybags are filled with mercenaries, then the attitude of many people is likely to be indifferent at best

PMC’s can also evade much political and legal oversight over their operations. Many armies are subject to highly complex and explicit rules of engagement, military law and international law like the Geneva Convention.

PMCs, on the other hand, aren’t subject to much regulation, if any. No tiresome legal complexities tie their hands. Being private companies, the worst that can happen is that their operatives may be indicted under the national laws of the countries they operate in. As yet, few indictments have been forthcoming, although a few conventional soldiers have been indicted to appease public opinion. And as many of these companies operate in what are known as ‘failed States’, in which national law is at best somewhat notional and corruption omni-present, this is unlikely to change soon. Americans serving with foreign armies could have their citizenship revoked under the 1870 Foreign Enlistment Act, but, today, this is highly unlikely to happen.

To sum up, the PMC is nothing new. Private armies have existed for millennia and are, seemingly, back and here to stay. It’s basically the same old racket, dressed up in designer suits instead of soiled battledress.