A story that some of you may never have Re Iraq, it's from May of 2004. Private "contractors"

[AlCzervik]

Hired Guns with War Crimes Past
By Louis Nevaer, Pacific News Service
Posted on May 4, 2004, Printed on March 18, 2008

the whole thing is a must read imo but this part right here-----

Strydom was a member in the Koevoet, Afrikaner for "Crowbar," an outlaw group that paid bounty for the bodies of blacks seeking independence during the 1980s. The Koevoet terrorized blacks in Namibia and northern South Africa for more than a decade. Hundreds of deaths are attributed to its members.

More notorious is Gouws' past. A former police officer, Gouws was a member of the notorious Vlakplaas death squad that terrorized blacks under apartheid. Only after South Africa established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Col. Eugene de Kock, a former death-squad leader who supervised Gouws, applied for amnesty, did the activities of the Vlakplaas come to light. Gouws faced a choice: repent by confessing, or be charged with crimes. He applied for amnesty, confessing on his application for absolution to killing 15 blacks and firebombing the homes of "between 40 and 60 anti-apartheid activists."

the rest is at the link
http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/18588

[Orwellian_Ghost]

1. Executive Outcomes

http://www.zmag.org/ZMag/oct00peck.htm

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/New_World_Order/Mercenaries_Minerals.html

Don't miss this one:
http://www.harpers.org/subjects/CareerAsOwnerOfExecutiveOutcomesSouthAfricaMercenaryCorporation/SubjectOf/Article

If you have to go to the library to find it you will understand how these mercenaries move about and what they do.

Cheers.

[AlCzervik]

2. thanks for the information, bookmarking them all.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

3. The Harpers article

is only available to subscribers online but it is a foundational piece as relates to mercenaries.

I remember reading it when it came out a decade ago and you could really get a sense of where this stuff was heading.

[AlCzervik]

4. it's just maddening.