Three Victims of Brutality in Iraq Were Veterans

[seemslikeadream]

By Kenneth R. Bazinet, Daily News, New York Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News


Apr. 2--WASHINGTON - Modern-day mercenaries working for private security firms know they may face the same horrific deaths as their comrades in Fallujah, but for them high pay and love of the job trump any risk, experts said yesterday.



The four U.S. workers whose bodies were desecrated in Fallujah Wednesday worked for Blackwater USA, a security firm that hires former Navy SEALS, Green Berets and Delta Forces.

These veterans, some with 20 years active duty service, train at the company's massive facility in North Carolina. Two ex-Navy SEALS founded the outfit, which recruits fighters all over the world.

In addition to U.S. mercenaries, there are about 10,000 Iraqis hired by private security companies and another 6,000 to 8,000 foreign fighters, like ex-British SAS, and French Foreign Legion, also under contract.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Yep and as Mercenaries they make very good money

but they have no protections under the laws of warfare... and the pay is beyond extraordinarily good

[leftchick]

2. I resent the US using my tax dollars to pay these...

soldiers of fortune while neglecting our current and former military personels' needs..... :grr:

[Gin]

3. Are they DOD employees? Does Blackwater take a cut of the pay

like employment companies do? We (tax payers) pay for these for hire killers on both ends.

[atreides1]

8. Not DoD Employees

Technically no. they are not DoD employees. The ID card that was found was one carried by any military retiree.

Blackwater is a contractor, it signed a contract with the Pentagon for so much, and the people that Blackwater hires agreed to work for so much.

[RainDog]

4. they are also immune from war crimes charges

because they technically do not represent our nation.

This is a disgusting trend because it further undermines democracy to have corporations in control of a military which has no accountability to the American people.

btw, I will go retrieve the link, but one of the guys, Michael Teague, shares the same name as a guy who used to be part of the Aryan Nations army.

I wonder if they're the same person?

[seemslikeadream]

6. Jury finds against Aryan Nations for $6.3 million

Is it this guy?





Nazi family values
Chewing the fat with a white-supremacist mom and her 6-year-old daughter at an Idaho barbecue.


- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Amy Benfer


July 15, 1999 | Last Saturday morning, 20 members of the Church of Jesus Christ Christian/Aryan Nations assembled in front of Zip's Hamburgers in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, to begin what had been billed as the "Aryan Nations 400-Man Flag Parade." As they gathered, an employee of Zip's arranged letters on the restaurant's marquee to spell out, "We support human rights."

Despite the parade's name, this is really family day, Nazi-style. At the head of the marchers is Richard Butler, a retired airplane mechanic and the 82-year-old founder and pastor of the Aryan Nations Church, so fragile that he spends the latter half of the parade in a plastic lawn chair carried on a flatbed truck. Behind him are Michael Teague, his chief of staff, in full Nazi regalia, and a smattering of women and men. But the crowd of protesters who line the streets has already decided to focus on a much smaller target: Michael Teague's 6-year-old daughter, who is carrying the Aryan Nations flag and marching with her mother, Christian, and 9-month-old sister.
http://www.salon.com/mwt/hot/1999/07/15/aryan_compound/


Victoria Keenan and her son Jason said they were attacked by the guards after their car backfired outside the group's compound near Coeur d'Alene. They said the men chased them in a truck, shot at them and forced them into a ditch. The Keenans were then beaten with rifle butts.

Two of the guards are serving prison terms for the attack, and a third is still a fugitive.

Plaintiffs' attorney Morris Dees argued that Butler and Teague were reckless and negligent in overseeing the group's security staff.

In closing arguments, he urged the jury to award the Keenans $1.26 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages to send a message to hate groups across the United States.

http://www.cnn.com/2000/LAW/09/07/aryan.verdict/

[RainDog]

7. Here's the article I saw

http//:seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/arya31.shtml

...my du links never work...

Thursday, August 31, 2000

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

<i>Much of yesterday's testimony was by former Aryan Nations security chief Michael Teague, also a defendant in the case. Butler, Yeager and former security guard Edward Jesse Warfield are the other defendants.

Teague painted a picture of Aryan Nations security guards as ex-convicts, some with drug problems, who often acted impulsively... But under examination from Dees, Teague read from internal documents that suggested otherwise.

"Aryan Nations is a disciplined, coordinated monolithic hierarchy with all authority emanating from leader-Pastor Richard Butler," Teague read from a handbook approved by Butler.

Teague testified that he'd had a conflict with Warfield because he thought Warfield used drugs and lacked the intelligence to be a security guard. But he also admitted that he'd appointed Warfield to a security job.

After court ended, Teague walked out of the courtroom and was surrounded by an honor guard of flag-carrying Aryans supporters. They sang a song as they escorted him to his vehicle.</i>

[seemslikeadream]

10. RainDog

did you catch the photo?

[saigon68]

11. The Regular US military Loathes

These Mercenary Rambo Wannabees

[leftchick]

21. I was wondering about that...

It must make our military feel like crap to see these rambos with their up to date equipment and knowing the wages they are paid.

[9215]

23. OH, BOY!

You may have hit on something big. Now we see what other employees at Blackwater are connected to White Supremacist orgs. That Teague was head of security at Aryan Nations and then working for a security firm is too coincidental.

[RainDog]

29. Do you have confirmation that they are the same person?

As far as I know, there is no source which claims they are the same person...which is something which should be and could be discovered...

does anyone have a picture of both Michael Teagues to see if they are the same man?

but if they are, this should also be something the American people know about...who is getting taxpayer money as contractors in Iraq.

Can someone post photos/links of Michael Teague from the Aryan Nations, and Michael Teague from Blackwater?

[NNN0LHI]

30. Hey RD. Why not post this info in its own thread in the GD forum?

Let our DU investigative team sort this out. This is too important to not investigate.

Don

[seemslikeadream]

31. I've got the one from Aryan

look for Blackwater


Jerry Zovko of Ohio, Michael Teague of Tennessee, and Scott Helvenston of Florida. Zovko and Teague were with the Army’s airborne special forces before joining Blackwater.


Teague was a 12-year Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, Panama and Grenada. He received a bronze star for his service in Afghanistan.

Teague had worked in the security business since leaving the Army six years ago, but he joined Blackwater Security only two months ago.

38 years old

[RainDog]

32. If you can find a photo, please feel free to post your own thread

I have to go have a life for a while.

[RainDog]

34. They ARE NOT the same

msnbc has a picture on their site. The two men are not the same person.

I think it's important to note this and not just let the question sit here.

[Just Me]

35. They are examples of another form of corporate abuse,

and political corruption. "Used" to avoid and/or pierce through laws, empowering and profitting those who indulge their appetites into death and violence and exploitation of human life. Corporations should be banned, altogether, from such involvement in politics.

[saigon68]

5. looks like fun </Sarcasm>

You forgot to add --- they are "Universally Loathed" especially by the Resistance Forces who don't ask for, or give "any quarter"

[napsi]

9. I have a real problem

with people taking glee at the deaths of these men...mercenaries or not. It diminshes our cause and makes us no better than the bastards who put us in Iraq.

This is the only reply I will make on this subject. It disgusts me.

[saigon68]

12. I hope you are not talking about me.

I see no joy in any of this.

I only point out to the Children who want to play Rambo, both in and out of the U.S. Armed Services AND who want to sell their souls for BIG BUCKS.

That they too could end up as

"THE MAIN COURSE AT THE BARBECUE"

</SARCASM>

[ROC]

14. I also have a problem with these people

Calling these contractors mercenaries has gotten out of hand. I don't like the war either, but I cannot use that dislike to justify comments like those posted on this thread.

[saigon68]

15. Sorry about that

They are Mercenaries, a "contractor" is a guy with a lunch pail who repairs your plumbing.

[mitchtv]

33. are you saying "they are not mercenaries?"

150k to 250k a year to handle 'security'. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck. Or should I say " a rose by any other name , is still, a rose"

[9215]

19. They must have pissed somebody off

These contractors must be doing something to really piss off elements within Iraq. This is more resentment than that held against US forces whose role, at least to some, is more ambiguous.

If I were to guess I'd say that these Blackwater people are identified as the primary elements of colonialization by the people of Iraq and this was a message to all others who try to privatize this war. The US is really blurring the distinction between private and public military operations.

[RainDog]

25. here's a little background on the lead up to the kilings

http://billmon.org/

As Billmon notes in two different entries, the marines had been fighting in the area for at least 10 days prior to the attack on the Blackwater "contractors"

This was not, in other words, an attack from "out of the blue."

This was an attack which came after days of fighting.

Again, this is horrible. This is what war looks like.

[legin]

36. Thanks RainDog, some good stuff at billmon n/t

[seemslikeadream]

27. The streets were almost empty

for a few days leading up to this. People knew something was up. I heard on tv news this morning.

[RainDog]

20. What happened is horrible

..and I take no glee at all. It's disgusting.

What I think needs to be made clear, however, is that these people are not civilians in any ordinary sense of the word.

This is part of the horror of war.

This is the reality of a war. You cannot go into a country and bomb the shit out of it, fire everyone, try to appoint your puppet to lead the new govt, and think that you will be greeted with bouquets of roses, as, apparently, far too many Americans were willing to believe.

Why do we not see any of the caskets coming back to the U.S. with American soldiers?

Why do we not get any information on how many other "contract military personnel" --newspeak for mercenaries-- have been killed?

Get a grip. This is what war is, and if the American people are not willing to accept that this is what war is, then they should not support war, especially "pre-emptive" war, especially a war which was also justified by saying that Saddam was a brute...but now turn a blind eye to our support of Uzbekistan, whose leader boils opponents to death and subjects the mother of the same to forced labor for telling this story to the western press.

How many of the dead bodies of Iraqis have you seen since the fighting began??

why don't you see those dead bodies??

Why do you see these dead bodies, instead?

[Redleg]

28. I'll second that- even though I disagree with what those cowboys

are doing in Iraq I cannot take pleasure in seeing them get killed.

[RainDog]

13. They are part of the corporate army which is being used

by our govt to get around any accountability to the American people.

What happened to them is terrible. So is the fact that Bush lied to Congress and the American people to put us all in this mess. He should be impeached for that.

His lies have also resulted in the deaths of 10,000 Iraqi civilians...but that doesn't matter, it seems...after all, we were "liberating" them.

 
http://blackwatersecurity.com/

<i>Blackwater Security Consulting is a strategic division of Blackwater USA. Blackwater USA has historically provided a spectrum of support to military, government agencies, law enforcement and civilian entities in training, targets and range operations as a solution provider. Blackwater Security Consulting has it roots in the Special Operations community and continues to sustain the skills that have been acquired over the years as effective tools that will support both national and commercial objectives. Our staff has a wealth of exceptional experience worldwide and is renowned for dealing with high-risk situations and complex operations. Our mission is to provide the client with veteran military, intelligence and law enforcement professionals with demonstrated field operations performance tempered with mature experience in both foreign and domestic requirements. We employ only the most highly motivated and professional operators, all drawn from various U.S. and international Special Operations Forces, Intelligence and Law Enforcement organizations. We focus on physical and personal security, personal security/risk and assessments, and training.</i>

http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1832

<i>Gary Johnson, president of USA Blackwater, told the Guardian UK's Jonathon Franklin that former commandos training in North Carolina will be sent to Iraq for a year and a half. Their job will be to guard oil wells from saboteurs.
"We scour the ends of the earth to find professionals - the Chilean commandos are very, very professional and they fit within the Blackwater system," said Johnson.

The Guardian story notes that several of the 60 recruits served during Augusto Pinochet's brutal military government.

USA Blackwater isn't the only security firm hiring ex-military of disturbing origin. Last month, The Forward's Marc Perelman reported that contractor Erinys International utilized "former henchman of South Africa's apartheid regime" to guard oil facilities and train new Iraqi police.

...There is no tally of mercenaries injured or killed in Iraq, nor, of course, the number of Iraqis they've killed or wounded.

Estimates for the number of private soldiers now in Iraq range from at least 10,000 to over 20,000, with more expected to pour in as the security situation worsens and as countries hesitate to commit their own troops beyond June 30 hand over of civilian authority to the interim Iraq Governing Council.<i>

[RainDog]

16. here's some more background on "contractors"

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=9&ItemID=2261

...this is how we've also used contractors in Columbia...

DynCorp is one of the largest private contractors for the US armed forces with 2001 revenues of $1.8 billion; up 34.5 percent for the year. It has assets of $644 million and 2001 profits of $102 million. DynCorp is the 121st largest private firm in the world and performs technical and consulting services including: aviation maintenance, logistical support, telecommunications, information systems, weapons testing; and management. ...Allman in Rollingstone magazine said of DynCorp's subcontractor EAST, "Once upon a time these pilots and crews were called mercenaries. Today they're known as contract personnel. Many come from US involvement in clandestine warfare in Cuba and Central America. (May 8, 2002)."

...and Military Personnel Resources, Inc provide another example of "contractors."

Insiders joke that MPRI has more generals than the Pentagon. This high level mercenary group has over 1000 elite military and law enforcement leaders on retainer, including Gen. Ed Soyster, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Gen. Frederick Kroesen, former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe and a former Assistant Director of the FBI Many of its employees serve on the Council of Foreign Relations. The President, Carl Vuono was the Army Chief of Staff during the invasion of Panama and the Gulf War. He retired after the war and joined MPRI in 1991. One of his first big jobs was advising the Croatian government when it split away from Yugoslavia. He is credited with the victorious military strategy of lightning armor drives that were used against the Serbs. MPRI is a military consultancy and also supplies pilots and Special Forces and elite training and security services worldwide. They recently completed an $800,000 contract to review and advise the Colombian military. MPRI also runs the US Army's college program, the ROTC, at over 200 US universities.

[saigon68]

17. Save your effort RainDog they won't listen n/t

[NNN0LHI]

18. Too many people can't handle the truth n/t

[Judi Lynn]

22. How could anyone justify the use of these men?

The Pinochet's people actually threw leftists, and suspected leftists out of airplanes. There were torture centers all over Chile, including a torture ship, "La Esmeralda."

From your second article:

"François Strydom, who was killed in the January 28 bombing of a hotel in Baghdad, was a former member of the Koevoet, a notoriously brutal counterinsurgency arm of the South African military that operated in Namibia during the neighboring state’s fight for independence in the 1980s. His colleague Deon Gouws, who was injured in the attack, is a former officer of the Vlakplaas, a secret police unit in South Africa," wrote Perelman.
(snip)

Simply unbelievable, isn't it?

[jmcgowanjm]

26. Americans need to get used to this

Because we've got 500000 people we're about
to send 4000 USmarines into. We're going to do
a Jenin on these folks

We're raping and pillaging. That's the reason we've gone into
Iraq.
We want what they won't let us have.
And we're going to have to do this everywhere
because we are the biggest debtor in the world.

And after this we've got to mow down Samarra,
Al Hillah, Tikrit, Colombia, Pakistan, Venezuela
etc.

We put people's heads on stakes in Cambodia.
And we Menu bombed-that's B52's-3/4's of Indochina.

Anybody here wonder about what our
clusterbombs do?

We're just just getting started folks.
So sit back and try to center yourself.

[seemslikeadream]

24. Forgot the link for original story

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8341687.htm