The globalization of special forces By Manlio Dinucci

18 May 2014 — Voltaire Network

The Special Forces of the U.S. army were created to use their military skills with a focus on conducting unconventional warfare operations, mainly by fomenting riots or assassinating political opponents. Washington secretly deploys them in 78 countries, while denying their existence, even though the budget for their missions exceeds 10 billion dollars annually. The proliferation of these forces should enable Washington to extend its invisible dictatorship around the globe.

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‘Blackwater’ footage: Who are the mercenaries in Ukraine?

10 March 2014 — RT

Videos have sprung on YouTube alleging that the US private security service formerly known as Blackwater is operating in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. Western press is hitting back, accusing Russia of fabricating reports to justify “aggression.”

Screenshot from YouTube user WorldEarthNews

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The Privatization of War: Mercenaries, Private Military and Security Companies (PMSC) By Jose L. Gomez del Prado

27 January 2014 — UN Working Group on Mercenaries and Global Research 7 November 2010

Beyond the WikiLeaks Files

The Privatization of War: Mercenaries, Private Military and Security Companies (PMSC)

Private military and security companies (PMSC) are the modern reincarnation of a long lineage of private providers of physical force: corsairs, privateers and mercenaries. Mercenaries, which had practically disappeared during the XIXth and XXth centuries, reappeared in the 1960’s during the decolonization period operating mainly in Africa and Asia. Under the United Nations a convention was adopted which outlaws and criminalizes their activities. Additional Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions also contains a definition of mercenary.

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Tony Blair’s Pet Bulldog? The Curious Case of Colonel Tim Spicer By William Bowles

20 May 2006

spicer_image002.jpg

Tim Spicer (right) is an ex-soldier from the Scots Guards, an elite unit of the British Army, a veteran of Northern Ireland (where he got his OBE) and the Falklands, and he also served in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s. Spicer’s (defunct) company, Sandline International took over from Executive Outcomes (EO) which was disbanded after South Africa made it illegal for South African nationals to engage in mercenary activities.

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