Deaths of scores of mercenaries not reported

[seemslikeadream]

April 13 2004 at 01:21PM

Deaths of scores of mercenaries not reported



By Robert Fisk and Patrick Cockburn

Baghdad - At least 80 foreign mercenaries - security guards recruited from the United States, Europe and South Africa and working for American companies - have been killed in the past eight days in Iraq.

Lieutenant-General Mark Kimmitt admitted on Tuesday that "about 70" American and other Western troops had died during the Iraqi insurgency since April 1 but he made no mention of the mercenaries, apparently fearful that the full total of Western dead would have serious political fallout.

He did not give a figure for Iraqi dead, which, across the country may be as high as 900.

Full total of Western dead would have serious political fallout
At least 18 000 mercenaries, many of them tasked to protect US troops and personnel, are now believed to be in Iraq, some of them earning $1 000 (about R6 300) a day. But their companies rarely acknowledge their losses unless - like the four American murdered and mutilated in Fallujah three weeks ago - their deaths are already public knowledge.

The presence of such large numbers of mercenaries, first publicised in The Independent two weeks ago, was bound to lead to further casualties.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?sf=2813&art_id=vn20040413132117588C325435&click_id=2813&set_id=1

[brainshrub]

1. I feel no pity for mercenaries.

Bastards. Every last one of them.

[seemslikeadream]

3. large numbers of mercenaries lead to further casualties.

The presence of such large numbers of mercenaries, first publicised in The Independent two weeks ago, was bound to lead to further casualties.


But although many of the heavily armed Western security men are working for the US Department of Defence - and most of them are former Special Forces soldiers - they are not listed as serving military personnel. Their losses can therefore be hidden from public view.

The US authorities in Iraq, however, are aware that more Western mercenaries lost their lives in the past week than occupation soldiers over the past 14 days.

The coalition has sought to rely on foreign contract workers to reduce the number of soldiers it uses as drivers, guards and in other jobs normally carried out by uniformed soldiers.

Often the foreign contract workers are highly paid former soldiers who are armed with automatic weapons, leading to Iraqis viewing all foreign workers as possible mercenaries or spies.

http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=401463

[54anickel]

18. It they are helping to protect our troops in any way, I cannot hold it

against them. You want someone to hate and blame for them, look to Rummy. There was an article posted a few days ago where he is being questioned to justify the high number of security contractor over there.

He's all for that high tech, low troop count military. Pushing the PNAC adgenda. Trouble is that high tech crap of his doesn't work for this type of operation and he knows it. So in an effort to keep the number of troops required down (makes that PNAC adgenda look so great) he brought the extra bodies required in thru the back door.

From your article:

At least 18 000 mercenaries, many of them tasked to protect US troops and personnel, are now believed to be in Iraq, some of them earning $1 000 (about R6 300) a day. But their companies rarely acknowledge their losses unless - like the four American murdered and mutilated in Fallujah three weeks ago - their deaths are already public knowledge.

[lightbulb]

15. That's a pretty mean thing to say

Not everyone being called a "mercenary" is a gun-happy ex marine out to make a fortune by killing people. Many are normal folks who've taken a highly risky job driving a truck or guarding something because they badly needed the money. Many of them would probably much rather be doing something else.

[brainshrub]

19. Just because you need the money

doesn't excuse you from taking part in an illegal & immoral venture.

I could use some money right now too, should I take that job driving a get-away car for a group of bank-robbers?

[lightbulb]

23. Bank robbery is illegal in the eyes of the US government

While the American adventure in Iraq is, by the standards of the current administration, quite legal. Unfortunately, there are many Americans who look to their government for moral guidance before looking to their own conscience, and consequently they feel that their role in the occupation is just.

Please don't misunderstand me. I grieve every day about what's going on over there, and my disgust with the current administration and its misdeeds is enormous. But it is important not to let such outrage strip away the ability to see the difference between those who are truly evil, and those who are simply victims of their own moral shortcomings.

[brainshrub]

24. Those "victims" are the ones who enable evil.

They use the excuse: "I was only doing my job."

I have posted this before, and I suspect I will again as more mercenaries (a.k.a. Independent Contractors.) die in Iraq: Anyone who goes to Iraq to make money, deserves what they get.

[Vladimir]

28. Well said n/t

[seemslikeadream]

31. Only doing my job?

Now where have I heard that before? I seem to hear a German accent.

[Streetdoc270]

34. Yea like the Cattle Farmer....

...Who got Kidnapped while driving a truck in Iraq. His farm failed and when he couldn't pay his bills he went to Iraq to feed his family and is now listed by some people as 'mercenary scum who deserve what they get for trying to earn a living'

[seemslikeadream]

38. He was not a cattle farmer

Actually he was a dairy farmer. But he got into it with his dad, I believe 20 years ago. He was also a truck driver and made a living doing that for quite some time, if I remember correctly. A ton of farmers have lost everything, and so have alot of other people, no reason to learn or remember how to kill to earn a living.

[DenverDem]

37. "victims of their own moral shortcomings."

Is that not the definition of "evil"?

[anarchy1999]

2. Answer to the very question I posed earlier today.

When will they start to post all the numbers?

Thank heavens for Fisk, and may he stay safe.

[seemslikeadream]

5. They've keep pretty quite on the hostages in Columbia

Another illegal war where PMCs are working in a country and no thought for the "entry level" mercenaries that work for them.

How many do we not know about?


The Forgotten Hostages Oct. 8, 2003 Another illegal war more hostages


The Forgotten Hostages Oct. 8, 2003

Edited on Mon Apr-12-04 05:21 PM by seemslikeadream
Another illegal war - more hostages



CBS) At this moment, three Americans are being held hostage under heavy guard in the jungles of Colombia, hoping for a miracle.

Their story is probably one you don't know much about. But after hearing from them, it is one you will never forget.

They are hostages of a narco-terrorist group known as FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- guerrillas with a violent history and a penchant for holding kidnap victims for years, and then, often, killing them.

The Americans fell into the group's hands when their plane crashed in the jungle more than eight months ago. The families of the hostages say the men they love have been forgotten.

They hope that will change tonight, because of what you are about to see and hear from the hostages themselves. Correspondent Dan Rather reports.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"To our country, we miss you and we hope we return one day. We're alive and well," says Keith Stansell, 38, a systems analyst.

"We expect to get out of here one day. We can't say for sure,” says Thomas Howes, 50, a professional pilot. “But our main concern is the welfare of our families."

"I'm a proud American,” says Marc Gonsalves, 31, also a systems analyst. “I look to you guys and I ask for a diplomatic solution to get us home safe, please."

A videotape of the three Americans - Stansell, Howes and Gonsalves - was made by Colombian journalist Jorge Botero. He made the trek deep into the jungles to a steamy, wooden shack.

Botero was escorted inside by a guerrilla commander, where he met the three Americans and recorded a tape to prove that they were alive and well – and ready to be traded for imprisoned members of the FARC Revolutionary Army being held by the Colombian government.

They are prisoners in a war most Americans don't even know is going on, even though the United States is deeply involved.

Stansell, Gonsalves and Howes are contractors, like some of the thousands of American civilians now in Colombia. Many of them were hired by the U.S. government to search for and destroy cocaine production
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/06/60II/main576739.shtml

Part II: The Forgotten Hostages

"I have a message for the company that we work for, just remember one thing when you see the three of us here. We did a good job for you. Just take good care of our families. We see here in the press release that our contract has been changed to a company that we don't know about after our crash,” says Stansell.
What the three men didn't know was that ten days after their plane went down, California Microwave handed over the mission, their contract, to a newly formed company named Ciao.

The three learned this from a press release Botero brought them, which Stansell read to his friends: “Three years ago, the Pentagon awarded a contract to conduct surveillance in Colombia to California Microwave, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman. Shortly after plane went down, California Microwave transferred the contract, along with the planes and pilots, to a new company called C-I-A-O … chow."

When their captors overheard the hostages talking about the new company, the FARC made it clear that the new name sounded suspiciously like the CIA.

"C-I-A-O. This happened after the crash. We don't know who these people are," says Stansell. “We're civilian contractors."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
60 Minutes II went to Northrop Grumman and asked about its new subsidiary, Ciao, which is now apparently in charge of planes and pilots in Colombia.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/08/60II/main577184.shtml

March 16, 2004
Hostage's Son Gets Support from Classmates


“A child has lost his father to a Colombian guerrilla group we need to take action now,” said Dylan Rawles.

The letters to Senators Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh were the idea of teacher Stacy Ireland. “As sixth graders we can make a difference working with our government in Noblesville and we can make a difference in United States,” said teacher Stacy Ireland.

No one wants to make a difference more than student Kyle Stansell. “I just have a feeling now, all this is being done. It's got to do something,” he said.

Kyle is the son of Keith Stansell. Stansell and the two other American hostages appeared in a documentary shot last summer in Colombia. It is the only visual evidence that the men are still alive.
“Then I see him on this and he's almost crying and I've never seen him cry in his entire life,” said Kyle.

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1716114&nav=CPFQLZmj


U.S. adds to military presence in Colombia
Leftist rebels admit holding three Americans
Saturday, February 22, 2003 Posted: 10:17 PM EST (0317 GMT)



The bodies of two passengers were found shot near the wreckage of their crashed plane.

U.S. adds to military presence in Colombia
Leftist rebels admit holding three Americans
Saturday, February 22, 2003 Posted: 10:17 PM EST (0317 GMT)



The bodies of two passengers were found shot near the wreckage of their crashed plane.

CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- A senior Bush administration official told CNN on Saturday that additional U.S. military personnel have been dispatched to Colombia, where leftist rebels have acknowledged holding three Americans captive.


Colombia's largest rebel group has said the lives of the three U.S. citizens are at risk if the government does not halt military operations in rebel-held territory.

In a communiqué posted Saturday on its Web site, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- known by its Spanish acronym, FARC -- acknowledged for the first time that it had captured three Americans who survived a plane crash February 13 in rebel-held territory.

The rebels also claimed responsibility for shooting down the plane, which they said had been on a mission to spy on them. Colombian and U.S. military forces have blamed the crash on mechanical problems.

"We can only guarantee the life and physical integrity of the three official gringos in our power if the Colombian military immediately suspends military operations and overflights in the area," said the communiqué, which was datelined "The mountains of Colombia, February 21."

The State Department refused to comment on the FARC announcement and repeated previous statements holding the FARC "responsible for the safety, health and well-being" of the Americans.

The United States "demands their safe release," a State Department official said.

The State Department official said the United States has "not authorized any group to negotiate" with FARC for the hostages' release.

http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:nM4LQCfeQ9oJ:www.cnn.com/2003/WOR ...




Edited on Mon Apr-12-04 05:21 PM by seemslikeadream
Another illegal war - more hostages



CBS) At this moment, three Americans are being held hostage under heavy guard in the jungles of Colombia, hoping for a miracle.

Their story is probably one you don't know much about. But after hearing from them, it is one you will never forget.

They are hostages of a narco-terrorist group known as FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- guerrillas with a violent history and a penchant for holding kidnap victims for years, and then, often, killing them.

The Americans fell into the group's hands when their plane crashed in the jungle more than eight months ago. The families of the hostages say the men they love have been forgotten.

They hope that will change tonight, because of what you are about to see and hear from the hostages themselves. Correspondent Dan Rather reports.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"To our country, we miss you and we hope we return one day. We're alive and well," says Keith Stansell, 38, a systems analyst.

"We expect to get out of here one day. We can't say for sure,” says Thomas Howes, 50, a professional pilot. “But our main concern is the welfare of our families."

"I'm a proud American,” says Marc Gonsalves, 31, also a systems analyst. “I look to you guys and I ask for a diplomatic solution to get us home safe, please."

A videotape of the three Americans - Stansell, Howes and Gonsalves - was made by Colombian journalist Jorge Botero. He made the trek deep into the jungles to a steamy, wooden shack.

Botero was escorted inside by a guerrilla commander, where he met the three Americans and recorded a tape to prove that they were alive and well – and ready to be traded for imprisoned members of the FARC Revolutionary Army being held by the Colombian government.

They are prisoners in a war most Americans don't even know is going on, even though the United States is deeply involved.

Stansell, Gonsalves and Howes are contractors, like some of the thousands of American civilians now in Colombia. Many of them were hired by the U.S. government to search for and destroy cocaine production
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/06/60II/main576739.shtml

Part II: The Forgotten Hostages

"I have a message for the company that we work for, just remember one thing when you see the three of us here. We did a good job for you. Just take good care of our families. We see here in the press release that our contract has been changed to a company that we don't know about after our crash,” says Stansell.
What the three men didn't know was that ten days after their plane went down, California Microwave handed over the mission, their contract, to a newly formed company named Ciao.

The three learned this from a press release Botero brought them, which Stansell read to his friends: “Three years ago, the Pentagon awarded a contract to conduct surveillance in Colombia to California Microwave, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman. Shortly after plane went down, California Microwave transferred the contract, along with the planes and pilots, to a new company called C-I-A-O … chow."

When their captors overheard the hostages talking about the new company, the FARC made it clear that the new name sounded suspiciously like the CIA.

"C-I-A-O. This happened after the crash. We don't know who these people are," says Stansell. “We're civilian contractors."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
60 Minutes II went to Northrop Grumman and asked about its new subsidiary, Ciao, which is now apparently in charge of planes and pilots in Colombia.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/08/60II/main577184.shtml

March 16, 2004
Hostage's Son Gets Support from Classmates


“A child has lost his father to a Colombian guerrilla group we need to take action now,” said Dylan Rawles.

The letters to Senators Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh were the idea of teacher Stacy Ireland. “As sixth graders we can make a difference working with our government in Noblesville and we can make a difference in United States,” said teacher Stacy Ireland.

No one wants to make a difference more than student Kyle Stansell. “I just have a feeling now, all this is being done. It's got to do something,” he said.

Kyle is the son of Keith Stansell. Stansell and the two other American hostages appeared in a documentary shot last summer in Colombia. It is the only visual evidence that the men are still alive.
“Then I see him on this and he's almost crying and I've never seen him cry in his entire life,” said Kyle.

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1716114&nav=CPFQLZmj


U.S. adds to military presence in Colombia
Leftist rebels admit holding three Americans
Saturday, February 22, 2003 Posted: 10:17 PM EST (0317 GMT)



The bodies of two passengers were found shot near the wreckage of their crashed plane.

U.S. adds to military presence in Colombia
Leftist rebels admit holding three Americans
Saturday, February 22, 2003 Posted: 10:17 PM EST (0317 GMT)



The bodies of two passengers were found shot near the wreckage of their crashed plane.

CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- A senior Bush administration official told CNN on Saturday that additional U.S. military personnel have been dispatched to Colombia, where leftist rebels have acknowledged holding three Americans captive.


Colombia's largest rebel group has said the lives of the three U.S. citizens are at risk if the government does not halt military operations in rebel-held territory.

In a communiqué posted Saturday on its Web site, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- known by its Spanish acronym, FARC -- acknowledged for the first time that it had captured three Americans who survived a plane crash February 13 in rebel-held territory.

The rebels also claimed responsibility for shooting down the plane, which they said had been on a mission to spy on them. Colombian and U.S. military forces have blamed the crash on mechanical problems.

"We can only guarantee the life and physical integrity of the three official gringos in our power if the Colombian military immediately suspends military operations and overflights in the area," said the communiqué, which was datelined "The mountains of Colombia, February 21."

The State Department refused to comment on the FARC announcement and repeated previous statements holding the FARC "responsible for the safety, health and well-being" of the Americans.

The United States "demands their safe release," a State Department official said.

The State Department official said the United States has "not authorized any group to negotiate" with FARC for the hostages' release.

http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:nM4LQCfeQ9oJ:www.cnn.com/2003/WOR ...

[Domitan]

12. Makes me wonder

if those unaccounted mercenary deaths might have been part of the reason for the drastically high death count last week Monday (remember Skynews' 130 death article)?

[DenverDem]

4. Deaths of scores of SOLDIERS are not being reported.

The bushler gang is LYING aboout the REAL COSTS of this war of aggression on every level.

[seemslikeadream]

20. Cheap little war

[seemslikeadream]

6. Rifkind made head of Iraq security firm

Today it was revealed that had become the chairman of AmorGroup, which has 650 employees in Iraq, as well as significant numbers in Afghanistan.

Sir Malcolm will be part-time and based in London. The US-owned company is not disclosing what his salary will be.

According to its website, ArmorGroup has 7,500 employees in 50 locations. It says its work is to " identify, reduce and resolve exceptional risks in complex, sometimes hostile, environments".

A fortnight ago, four American private security personnel employed by another US firm, Blackwater Security Consulting, were killed and their bodies desecrated in Falluja.

It is thought up to 10,000 "security consultants" - who critics say would be more accurately described as mercenaries - are working in Iraq, on salaries at anything between £600 and £3,000 a day.


http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1190968,00.html




ArmorGroup provides single source solutions to identify,
reduce and resolve exceptional risks in complex, sometimes hostile, environments. To achieve this we have in excess of 7,500 employees in approximately 50 global locations.Global reach is what distinguishes ArmorGroup – we have people where they are needed most.

http://www.armorgroup.com/

Security Companies Doing Business in Iraq

http://travel.state.gov/iraq_securitycompanies.html

[saigon68]

7. These mercenaries will get no mercy

It will be barbecue time if the Resistance gets their hands on them.

[seemslikeadream]

10. How many more do we not know about?

How many didn't get their picture taken?

[bobthedrummer]

14. Real hot-dogs, and part of PNAC, rent-a commando

fuck them and the corporate pale horse they rode in on
http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/resources.aspx?act=contrib
the use of them has harmed our troops and fuels anti-American sentiment-the civilized word hates them too but not the Vulcans, the neo-conservative dominated traitors of the administration of George W. Bush aka The War President:nuke:

[seemslikeadream]

54. And now 20,000 of our soldiers are staying

because the PMCs are running scared. Strange that there are about 15,000 to 20,000 "security personnal" in Iraq?

[Romulus]

8. "mercenaries"

I like how the real tinfoilhatters around here like to throw the term "mercenary" around to show how savvy they are at bashing Shrub and co. over this Iraq thing.

The loaded term "mercenaries" seems to be deliberately used to evoke images of Hessians occupying Long Island, circa 1776.

Too bad the "mercenaries" being bashed are doing a job no different from the rent-a-cops at the local American mall.

At least 80 foreign mercenaries - security guards recruited from the United States, Europe and South Africa and working for American companies - have been killed in the past eight days in Iraq.

Somebody had to say it.

[Magleetis]

9. last time I checked

my local mall was not in a war zone.

[htuttle]

11. Sure, just like mall security guards

In fact, I can remember an incident a few weeks ago when I was at the mall:

Somebody made a sudden move, and the mall guards opened up on all of us with their M-16's. It was all I could do to duck behind a cart full of sunglasses to avoid the fire.

:eyes:

[minkyboodle]

26. lol

well put

[frylock]

13. mer·ce·nary

Pronunciation: 'm&r-s&n-"er-E
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -nar·ies
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin mercenarius, irregular from merced-, merces wages -- more at MERCY
: one that serves merely for wages; especially : a soldier hired into foreign service

[Streetdoc270]

35. So by definition....

The US armed forces are Mercenarys, as they join for the pay check.

[seemslikeadream]

39. If you'd like to know what's going on

read this


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=125&topic_id=9558&mesg_id=9558

[seemslikeadream]

16. Typical security guards

[NNN0LHI]

17. That looks just like my mall. I don't go there too much n/t

[DenverDem]

21. Horsehocky.

Hiring of mercenaries is another way the bushler gang redistributes tax wealth to their power elite cronies rather than properly equipping and supporting our soldiers.

Rent a cops at the mall are not firing indiscriminantly into groups of civilians, further demonizing America to the rest of the world.

Somebody had to say it.

[seemslikeadream]

22. Here's one thing that happens when war goes private

As foiled coup saga swirls, report says...
Mirror Reporter



AS the saga surrounding the capture of 67 terrorists at the Harare International Airport on Sunday evening dramatically unravels, a UK-based research institute has established that the British government is abetting the trafficking of small arms into conflict zones in Africa.

The institute, Africa Strategy, says about 142 mercenary companies based in Britain – including Sandline International, which succeeded the notorious Executive Outcomes that employed some former members of the 32 Commando of the apartheid South African defence forces captured in Harare – are allegedly using end user certificates from the British government in the arms trafficking. Executive Outcomes was set up in 1993 by Tony Buckingham and Simon Mann and has worked in Asia, Africa and South America. Most of its personnel were hired from South Africa.

The Africa Strategy research showed that most of the UK-based mercenary companies imported the arms into the country from the former Yugoslavia and other Eastern European states before shipping them to conflict zones in Africa and Asia.

“We looked at the figures and discovered that the production of new arms had fallen by over 80 percent in 2003 . . . 90 percent of the arms were now exported into Britain and most of the companies use end-user certificates from the British government,” the report says.

more
http://www.africaonline.co.zw/mirror/stage/archive/040314/national28983.html

[wetbandit2003]

27. the four people in falluja

The four people in falluja that were killed by Cleric
Sadr's followers were guarding a supply line that was bringing FOOD and SUPPLIES into Falluja. These people were there to help
the people of Falluja, not to fight a war.

[NNN0LHI]

30. Sadr is a Shiite and Falluja is a Sunni city. They were not Sadr followers

I have posted stories here with quotes from bosses at Blackwater Security who said they had no idea what these guys were doing where they were. You do not have any idea what you are talking about.

Don

[tom_paine]

45. But that won't stop him from saying it over and over, Don

Totalitarians EVERYWHERE from Nazis to Commies to Bushevik Scum know that a LIE repeated over and over and over, becomes "true".

They make me SICk to my stomach, as a Free American looking at these Bushevik Totalitarian Bootlickers, so like their Nazi predecessors in all but violence and overt racism.

[saigon68]

55. He is a disruptor Don there are dozens of them here lately

just taking up bandwidth. Screw him -- he's just spouting a bunch of nonsense.

[markses]

33. All wet, wetbandit

al-Sadr does not have Sunni supporters in Fallujah - at least not before the US siege. At least get a minimum of facts straight before you trail off into incoherent nonsenses.

Now, Blackwater did claim that the four "security personnel" were heading into Fallujah to "pick up kitchen supplies." It is, of course, not exactly clear what that means. It is even less clear that the company has any credibility on such questions, given the training their employees go through. What is clear, however, is that you understand little of what is going on in Iraq; your absolutely fallacious assertion that the Blackwater employees were "killed by Cleric Sadr's followers" discredits everything you have to say about the matter from here on out.

[DenverDem]

36. Horsehocky.

The food and supplies were for US troops, not Iraqi civilians.

[tkmorris]

47. That is completely false

May I ask where you got that idea from?

[NNN0LHI]

29. I used to know two brothers from S. Africa who were mercenaries

Only from the two way radio and by mail. Never met them in person. They seemed like nice enough fellows. I wonder if one or both of them are in that photo?

Don

[seemslikeadream]

32. I believe

Simon Mann is one of them. I'll look for the others. They are the ones from Zimbabwe.

Nick Du Toit is another but not in that picture.



Amid reports he has homes in South Africa and in Hampshire, Britain, Mr Mann’s nationality remains unclear – the Army will sign-up those Britons with dual nationality and citizens from the Commonwealth but has not confirmed Mr Mann was a member of the forces.

He is said to be Sandhurst-trained and to have served in Northern Ireland with the Scots Guards and later in the 1990 Gulf War as an intelligence officer in Riyadh.

His father is said to be the late George Mann, president of the Marylebone Cricket Club and a former captain of England’s cricket team.

Since leaving the Army he has been a computer consultant and linked to a number of ‘private military’ firms, including Sandline International and Executive Outcomes.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2644901

[seemslikeadream]

25. Take a look a one PMC

http://www.globalrsl.com/



range of services



guest houses

[seemslikeadream]

48. Just more PMCs logos

Join Our Team of Professionals at Camp Doha, Kuwait
CSA Will Allow You to Use Your Experience and Expertise to Excel
Experience Middle Eastern Culture

[Nostradammit]

53. Those are all some butt-ugly logos -

Sorry to veer off topic but that is some horrible design work they got there.

Guess killers aren't generally known for their delicate sensibilities, are they?

Is that Pikes Peak in the back of "Space Mark International?"

I swear, the Springs has become Mordor.

[74dodgedart]

40. Its a way to hide the true casualty count...

They also don't mention the casualties from Iraqi security personnel.

So 70-80 Americans died last week but, the true total of pro-coaliton forces is probably over 200.

[seemslikeadream]

41. And another reason

that PMCs are hurting our soldiers. Thanks

[seemslikeadream]

42. Bush, Pandora's Box and the Tiger

So, today, we have major fighting from the Shi'a, from the Sunni and whoever wants to join in to fight against the occupying forces from America, Poland, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Spain, El Salvador and Italy--with the Shi'a and Sunni infliciting heavy casualties on the Western Alliance of the bought-and-paid for, from your American taxpayer money (not to mention the mercenaries that have been hired from all over the world at a rate of $100,000 to $200,000 per year--by the way, they, the mercenaries guard Bremer, our man, not our military????what's that all about???) In fact, Skye news claimed that over 130 Western military and mercenary troops had been killed. Later, the U.S. military changed that and said only 12 had been killed, but hundreds of Iraqis.

As anyone who has ever been in war knows, you have no real idea of how many of your opponents you have killed; you only know of your own casualties. And, as usual, the U.S. military, like that of Israel, inflates the amount of kills of the enemy and lessens their own losses; we saw that in Viet Nam, in Korea before that, in Somali, in Afghanistan, and now in Iraq. But even if the Iraqis are losing at a rate of 4 to 1, there are millions of Iraqis to fight against America, and others from bordering countries, and others even as far away as China, who are coming in to fight against the Bush/Bremer army- of- the- paid-to-fight, and we have only 125,000 of our men there in Iraq, with few more to send. Our military is stretched between Afghanistan, Phillipines, Indonesia, Kenya, Germany, Japan, Korea and over 100 other places, and we have come down to sending our "national guard" to fight overseas.

Even if we have a draft, we cannot get enough men to deal with the Iraqis; several generals have made clear that we'd need over 500,000 men to just police Iraq, and that would be with minimum "resistance." But believe me when I say, we are going to be facing major resistance from here on out. I say this because at this point, the moderate Shi'a and moderate Sunni, and even many of the Kurds are coming out to fight against America--because they realize they are not going to get a democracy of any sort, only an occupation by America and a country run by American puppets, with contracts that have been let that will allow American companies and their friends to keep milking Iraq for decades or longer.

http://www.counterpunch.org/hamod04072004.html

[NeoConsSuck]

43. Deaths of scores of mercenaries not reported?

Whatever. Doesn't bother me one bit.

[tom_paine]

44. The King's Hessians are nameless, faceless drones

Very easy to give the Orwellian Treatment.

King George's never change much: They both used Hessians to deflect popular criticism over War Deaths, and to falsely "keep those deaths down".

[seemslikeadream]

46. Dang, Americans sure do make "good Germans"

[JohnOneillsMemory]

49. Something democrats do occasionally, write poems.

Regarding Numbers.

Check the president's approval numbers as
Fallujah buries its dead.
What's the death count?
What the hell?
Who knows

How many bodies shattered by munitions.
Or made and unmade, reverse shock and awe.
Or burned away by fire.

Or buried promptly according to custom.
Where ever possible.
At home. In a stadium.
On the side of the road.

Disappearing like targets in a video arcade. 'Pop.' All gone.

"The Marines are good at what they do," said the general.
How fortunate for the coalition of the willing.
Hired guns don’t even count.
Under the table.
No accountability.

No damned numbers.

Not like Enron. We understand loss in solid numbers.
But the bodies, like the books, are cooked.

No one we knew.
All gone.

[Jax]

50. Deaths of scores of Iraqis will NEVER be reported

as a result of their country being pre-emptively invaded and bombed into oblivion by the appointed pResident, named b*sh, who is using using the United States Armed Forces as his own corporate army.

I hate b*sh. Hate him.

Jax

[WhereIsMyFreedom]

51. Why the hell do these guys get

$1000 per day when our own military gets their benefits cut? Where is this money (up to $18 million/day) coming from? It is not fair to our military, it is not fair to the American people to be using mercenaries.

[MetaTrope]

52. Well, the dead ones don't get paid

...and I'm sure that's something the BFEE considers when they set up the convoy routes.