Apartheid Enforcers Guard Iraq For the U.S.

[wellst0nev0ter]

In its effort to relieve overstretched U.S. troops in Iraq, the Bush administration has hired a private security company staffed with former henchmen of South Africa’s apartheid regime.

The reliance on apartheid enforcers was highlighted by an attack in Iraq last month that killed one South African security officer and wounded another who worked for the subsidiary of a firm called Erinys International. Both men once served in South African paramilitary units dedicated to the violent repression of apartheid opponents.

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.

<snip>

The contract raised eyebrows in the industry because Erinys beat out better-known competitors. While the coalition authority has not released information on the tender, some of its officials were quoted as saying the bidding was fair.

MORE. . . (simple email registration required).

[saigon68]

1. too bad these guys are too old

To be used by the Bush Family Crime Empire of Halliburton



</sarcasm>

[gula]

2. Does the name Chalabi ring a bell?

From the Billmon message board: And what's up with the name, Erinys? From Greek myth, these are the inhuman beasts that exact blood revenge for those who cannot do so themselves. Who is this group exacting revenge against--and what for? Are they exacting revenge against Iraqis who stayed in Iraq and want to the oil profits to stay in Iraq, which according to Chalabi is cause for revenge because he wants to send it to his Western cronies?

a MUST read: http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uschal083671397feb15,0,735950.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines

[newyawker99]

3. Hi gula!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[daleo]

4. BFEE democracy in action

There is always work for evil henchmen in the BFEE.

[ConcernedCanuk]

5. Bush Administration hiring mercenaries, why am I not surprised

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.
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and ILLEGAL mercenaries to boot ?

From the article:

According to Goldstone — who chaired South Africa’s Standing Commission of Inquiry Regarding Public Violence and Intimidation in the early 1990s — elements of those government-sponsored hit squads continued to foment trouble even after Nelson Mandela was freed from prison and South Africa embarked on the road towards full-fledged democracy. In addition, several mercenary companies dispatched former South African soldiers to war-torn countries, including Angola and Sierra Leone.

This prompted the new South African government to launch a campaign to outlaw mercenary companies. The July 1998 Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act prohibits South Africans from direct participation as combatants in armed conflict for private gain. The law covers recruitment, training and financing, and applies to South Africans acting abroad as well.

South African security companies working outside the country are required by law to register with the National Conventional Arms Control Committee. According to South African lawmaker Raenette Taljaard, however, the committee did not receive an authorization application from Erinys International. “A lot of the South Africans doing mercenary work or working for private military companies were involved in Apartheid-era repression,” she said. “This is a big concern and it is just bad for South Africa’s reputation.”

/snip/
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Scary part is: - what about the mercenaries that we DON'T know about . .

The BFEE's evil just knows no bounds . . .

(sigh)

[Judi Lynn]

6. Why didn't we expect this?

Why let all that haughty, well-honed racial hatred go to waste?