The “Good Guys” come from those same countries that are screaming the loudest over the audacity of Russia for having used them themselves, and to add insult to injury, those are the same countries that developed this business model in the first place – even the Vatican with its long tradition of Swiss Guards, were afraid of local hires, as they might turn and murder the Pope instead of risking their lives to protect him.
And not to forget all the “rigmarole and fanfare” over the proffered coup attempt by the Wager Group, or protest, depending on your standpoint. The Western press, has raised some legitimate questions as to the dark side of mercenaries, and how the various countries and the collected “Good Guys” AKA the “West” use them for “Dirty deeds done dirt cheap” and not only cheaply, but deniably.
I remember watching old movies and documentaries, and reading about what went on in Africa and the former British Colonies, and what still goes on today. Often, private armies were hired to protect mining and other special interests. Many of these resources have since been removed from the Internet, as they blatantly implicate those with the “most sin” who we know are prone to casting the first stones.
They act as if they are without sin, and how best they can solve all security, specialist, and technical problems, especially tailored for the Third World. Take for instance an intensive interview with Tim Spicer (1997): founder of the private military companies Aegis Defence Services and Sandline International.
Loving someone and “Being in Love”
As the line in an old movie goes, about “Soldiers of Fortune,” there is a big difference between loving someone and being in love. It often comes down to having to make a choice, between what is needed, proper, and what is possible and sustainable, even in love-love and love-hate relationships. There are often marriages of convenience, however, rarely sustainable, and often based on mineral rights and the provision of security for energy production and infrastructure.
New Details on the Wagner Coup are emerging, and even how the CIA, depending on who you are reading or listening to, wanted Russia’s Collapse. I am sure that there are some side plots here that show inconvenient truths and that show duplicity in “Who has the moral authority to blame whom?”
That is a moot issue now, but still many questions remain. Meanwhile, US media coverage clouds the future as to what comes next, and how best to outsource the military conflict in Ukraine. It describes those in the Wagner group as the worst force of people on earth that you can find, committing the most hideous of war crimes, including egregious forms of profiteering and exploitation in Africa
Earlier this month, according to RT, The Russian MOD claimed that Kiev is making greater efforts to recruit more fighters from across the world to offset manpower shortages, adding that Ukraine “uses them mostly as cannon fodder for direct assaults.”
Who will supply the troops?
However, it that clear that NATO and the US will not be able to directly supply troops, so it may come down to doing the same thing as Russia was blamed for – how dare NATO and friends try to outsource the dirty part of military conflict?
Russia has repeatedly warned as to the plight of foreign fighters, “and if they should choose to fight for Ukraine, the best, (most optimum outcome) they could expect is long-term prison sentences.”
One only has to look at what happened to Iraq and Libya for some insight as to the preferred model that the US wants for the Russian Federation. The US is like a wrecking ball, and Russia, as a target for being broken up, is a recurring pattern in US foreign policy. However, things are not going according to plan.
There may not be any alternative in the minds of US policy planners, and we only need to look back at Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan to understand how it works and the anticipated results. “Is NATO really to blame?” is a question that should be asked more and more, as a lot more is involved here than NATO expansion and the collective West acting as the Calvary saving “Lilly White” Ukraine.
The U.S. government and NATO more or less constructed the bomb, placed it, lit the fuse, and then acted shocked and surprised when it exploded. This has deep implications for how the conflict can potentially be solved.
Much of it, providing foreign mercenaries, is a profit motive endeavor driven by US Hegemony and the relentless greed of defense contractors, and various mercenary groups, to keep this war going. We can expect to see more; however, it will not be reported in the MSM unless it works.
Already Ukraine is at the stage where it needs outside help, not just weapons, and it has needlessly sacrificed its best troops, and if such outside help is not forthcoming from NATO members, from active duty forces, such as Poland’s military for starters, then from where will they come?
And even to consider the topic from a historic perspective, Hessians (Germans) fighting on the side of King George against those rascal American rebels during the American Revolution, Gurkis from Nepal defending the British Empire, and the notorious French Foreign Legion, bleeding Africa and Vietnam for France, are all examples of “regularized and legalized” mercenaries.
Have Gun will Travel!
The military conflict between Russia and Ukraine has become a magnet for foreign fighters from numerous countries, who can be found in the ranks of both armies. Ukraine has become a magnet for financially motivated volunteers who are seeking adventure and a regular payday, among other reasons—running from something, such as relationships, debt, or the law.
This realization, especially the article about foreign fighters, is very useful, especially when considering on the CIA concocted model of Georgians fighting in Ukraine, as little to no mention is made of it in any mainstream commentary, especially as to its actual organization.
As recently discussed with a trusted source, about the CIA and the infamous Georgian Legion, who have bragged about torturing and executing Russian prisoners, “Nobody loves mercenaries, as they are hired killers, and they are not fighting for their own country”.
My source tells me, “They have arrived to Ukraine and have lost contracts with the Government and outside of Ukraine too”. They were asked for more details, as it might be worth writing another article to let those behind them know that others know.
“You mean with the Ukrainian government and others, US and NATO members?” And he added: “The Georgian government should want to arrest these people or cancel their passports, make it hard to return here to do a coup. In addition, as we know, many foreigners serve in the legion on a freelance basis. After completing 5–7 missions, they go into passive mode, return to their home country, and start opening and strengthening Legion branches. They start with small information diversions and are ready for armed and terrorist actions depending on the need.”
So basically, we could say this is a training mission, for a force in reserve, that can be mobilized to do jobs that cannot be done through normal channels, even as PMCs, (private military contractors).
The Georgian Legion has aspirations to become an international association, which will further increase their overall funding and exposure on an international level. Perhaps it already is, and is acting as a front for some other Private Military Contractor. So, basically, we could say this is a training mission to prepare a force in waiting, one which can be activated as an international instrument for covert actions.
It is worth noting that The Swiss Officer involved, Dominique Saudan, a former OSCE Colonel who funded Mamuka Mamulashvili, who worked in Abkhazia, and had previous ties with Moscow, became involved with Mamuka’s sister, under strange circumstances, putting her in Paris.
It is claimed by some of his former associates that “he had been likely recruited by US intelligence, according to my sources, and his expenses are still on the CIA’s books, and it is even better that he is from a non-NATO country.” However, now working only in the Ukrainian Direction, and one final comment, unlike before, the Georgian Legion has changed their information strategy and is now keeping a lower profile.
Nona, the sister of the head of the Georgian Legion, also wants to go in to shadow action format, as she is a member of the Georgian Parliament, and is also a member of the opposition UNM, (United National Movement), as a result, she now tries to distance herself from the now jailed former Georgian President Michael Saakashvili, some of her former jobs, corruption scandals, and her change of heart is related to all the negative press and the blowback which is causing her personal damage.
Virginia Farm Boys
William Arkkin, a national security reporter and senior editor, writing for Newsweek, is openly admitting to the role that the boys from the Virginia Farm are playing in Ukraine, including working out of Poland.
He claims that the CIA has “got its hand in a little bit of everything” in Ukraine. He describes in a recent interview with Democracy Now how the CIA is shuttling weapons into Ukraine using a “gray fleet” of commercial aircraft that crisscrosses Central and Eastern Europe, sending personnel into Ukraine on secret missions and assisting Ukrainians with new weapons and systems, all while using Poland as its clandestine hub to coordinate its operations inside the country.
I remember years ago having posted some comments on a UN blog site, just for the fun of it, however, now it is all the more relevant. The White Africans who keep UNDP secure: 11 million USDs spent to have our brothers and sisters killed in Algeria. The world of mercenaries in South Africa is as sordid as it always was, and one only has to dig a bit to find more than enough material for Hollywood blockbusters,
In short, decommissioned White and Black South African soldiers are being hired to protect UN facilities and peacekeepers, and committing a slew of crimes in their wake. This model is not only in the case of post-Apartheid South Africans but also in post Afghanistan and Iraq.
PMCs, Private Military Companies
Black Water, by its various names, and a slew of other defense contractors, AKA, private armies, were all having a feeding frenzy, with unlimited reign to do pretty much as they “damn well pleased” and they blatantly get away with murder when under US government or oil company contracts.
It would be an interesting statistic to know how many of these hired killers from PMCs, from various parts of the world, and all walks-of-life, ended up in Ukraine-and on both sides of a dead-end but profitable conflict. Being a mercenary is one of the world’s oldest professions, besides the oldest profession, sex workers!
Even now, the Gurkhas, who acted once as the hired gun enforcers of the British Empire, and even today the UK, are now being recruited for Ukraine and other hot spots around the world. Their history dates back to a peace treaty between Nepal and Great Britain, whereby they were allowed to join the ranks of the East Company’s army—essentially as mercenaries.
The fact that such highly capable mercenaries are being recruited from the other side of the world bodes ill for any peaceful solution, and points towards the deregularisation of state military activity, further fraying the already tattered laws of war.
Henry Kamens, columnist, expert on Central Asia and Caucasus, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.