1,500 White African Mercenaries In Iraq

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.rense.com/general49/inir.htm

1,500 White African
Mercenaries In Iraq
From AfricanCrisis.Org
News24.com
3-3-4


JOHANNESBURG - Francois Strydom learnt about killing in the Koevoet, the apartheid-era paramilitary police unit, notorious for violence, torture and murder.

In Iraq, Strydom found his skills were in demand.

Employed by US-based firm SAS International, Strydom was one of a number of South Africans in Iraq working as private "security experts" before a January 28 bomb outside the Shaheen Hotel prematurely terminated his contract.

The aftermath of the blast sent shockwaves through the media, as Strydom's death revealed an embarrassing situation. It was estimated that 1 500 former soldiers and policemen were operating in Iraq, in defiance of stringent legislation forbidding the practice.

It emerged that the men make up along with US and British personnel the largest contingent of commercial "military service providers" on the ground in Iraq.

Most are said to be members of former elite units, disbanded following the end of apartheid, their members suddenly finding themselves unemployed, their skills no longer required.

The US-led conflict in Iraq, however, has given a boost to the jobs market.

Many such men don't regard the training of Iraqi police as "mercenary" work per se. Officials however, beg to differ, as such activity is clearly outlawed by the 1998 regulation of foreign military assistance act.

"Any form of service in an area of conflict such as Iraq is illegal unless authorised by the national conventional arms control committee," said Kader Asmal, who chairs the committee.

"This is to deal with mercenary and other 'civilian' services such as bodyguard activities, training of policemen or the supply of material," Asmal added, in a letter to The Star newspaper.

A recent statement from the office of Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota also warned against offering "private security" services of any kind in Iraq without the express authorisation of the minister.

Serving defence forces troops and police officers have also reportedly been warned against taking "career breaks" in order to conduct remunerative work in Iraq, under threat of penalties.

Strydom's death and the ensuing furore has shone a spotlight onto an industry that nowadays quietly prospers below the radar of the general public. The business of the industry is war, or as they might prefer to put it, "military security".

Even to speak of such firms as "mercenary-companies" is to court harsh criticism from industry figures, who try to distance themselves from the image of the typical soldier-of-fortune rampaging through an African war zone - an image they say is outdated.

"What the South African authorities are up against is not merely a few military adventurers," claimed journalist and defence expert Michael Schmidt in the newspaper This Day, "but the 21st century equivalent of the troops employed by the Dutch East India Company: private armies of very wealthy companies with global reach". - Sapa-dpa

Edited by Anthea Jonathan

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_A...492812,00.html

[travisab1]

I wonder... do they call themselves, being white and all... Afro-Iraqies?

Travis

[SuperScout]

Great new geographical term!
Looking at the situation in Iraq, and what I know of the SA military types, I think it's a good investment, whoever made the decision. Or will we hear whining about all those good jobs that were "out-sourced"?

[BLUEHAWK]

Hell, I didn't even know there IS such a thing as a mercenary soldier in this day and age... interesting.

[kmac7847]

Come on HAWK!!! The world today is running over with mercenary types many come from homes and people in your and my community, look at MPRI or Sandline International or SAS it's a business that will only grow 100 fold as todays battle fields extend to every country, county and township in the world. am I the only one on this forum thats actually provided my knowledge and experience to the highest bidder? Wake up my friend.

KMA

[Keith_Hixson]

Young Healthy and have military skills.
There are countries, dictators, and companies that will hire you.

Merecenaries are still around and will be for a long time.

I believe in the revolutionary war they were called, "Hessians."

Keith

[MORTARDUDE]

It is interesting that you should mention "Hessians". That part of what is now Germany, was called Hesse and was known for supplying mercenary soldiers all over the known world. The King, however, had a bad habit of charging top dollar for their services and paying his soldiers very little. He made quite a bit of cash, to say the least. As it turns out, this is where the first Rothschild made his fortune by supplying rare coins and medals to this monarch and others. In a few generations they had a huge banking empire and, as they say, the rest is history. The Hessians were a vital component of The British Army during the Revolutionary War....

[BLUEHAWK]

kmac -

Well, I AM fairly much awake, though somewhat doddering by now ... I simply did not know that there are still mercenaries, per se, functioning to augment (is it? Scout/Scamp/colmurph/Pho?) already employed fighters.

Larry - are these neo-mercenaries anything resembling the Hessians in effectiveness or another way?

[revwardoc]

Hessian is actually a generic term for the German mercanery troops who fought in the American Revoution and served England in other bases. The Principality of Hanover, for example (King George III still ruled Hanover as its Elector), formed 5 battalions and garrisoned Gibraltar and Minorca, freeing up British troops for North America service.

Germany, at that time, didn't exist as a country but instead there were the Prussians who dominated the northern parts, the Austro-Hungarians who controlled the southeast, with the rest spit up between some 300 small sovereignties and 1400 estates of Imperial Knights.They had all been supplying troops to other European countries for literally centuries. The men from Hesse-Cassel supplied troops to England for continental wars 3 times earlier in the 18th century including the '45 in Scotland.

Frederick II, the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, had over 100 illegitimate children to support plus a French-style theater, opera and corps de ballet. To support his lavish lifestyle and its accompanying pleasures, he rented out12,000 soldiers for roughly 8 pounds/man. Similar treaties were made with the Duke of Brunswick and with the principalities of Hesse-Hanau, Waldeck, Ansbach-Bayreuth and Anhalt-Zerbst. The problem with those treaties regarding the men themselves was that they didn't receive anything near the 8 pounds their princes were paid for them. They were paid virtually pennies and no provisions were made for pensions or if they were wounded. If their women and children wanted to accompany them to America, it was at their own expense.

Ironically, England first approached Catherine the Great of Russia for troops but she refused using "...the most vile and undignified terms, unfit for either a woman or a sovereign."

[Seascamp]

French, Brit and Belgian Mercs are as common as pig tracks in Africa, especially in the former South Africa if not present day South Africa. The ones I saw favored a tat of Africa on the upper arm and were hired guns, period. I know we hired the HBL (Hunnish Bedouin League) for security and protection while doing oil exploration in North Africa and they were Officered by French or Belgians with the balance being Mediterranean Arabs. So I?d say that what is common practice over there will offend some sensitivity here, but that is the way things work in Africa and in the mid east and convenient election season recriminations aren?t going to change that one iota, no way.
I guess it wouldn?t come as a surprise to anyone to find that the majority of Saudi fighter Jet pilots are Pakistani Mercs and guess where they were trained to be jet jocks? Oops.

Scamp

P.S. Blue, I have never seen any former US Military Mercs out and about, but then Latin America is not a place I have worked a lot.
Plus I think that Africa and the mid east is not their working turf, but I don?t know for sure.