“Erik Prince, the founder of the military contractor Blackwater and younger brother of Betsy DeVos, invited around 650 of his contacts to join a secret, private group chat. And now it has leaked.”
In a newspaper piece published by Steve Hendricks and Shira Rubin, they interviewed American families whose relatives were killed while fighting alongside Israeli forces in Gaza. The deceased Americans shared their "strong commitment to the Jewish state."
Don't you dare calling them for war criminals and genocide troops.
The Modern Mercenary
Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order
In The Modern Mercenary , Sean McFate lays bare this opaque world, explaining the economic structure of the industry and showing in detail how firms operate on the ground. A former U.S. Army paratrooper and private military contractor, McFate provides an unparalleled perspective into the nuts and bolts of the industry, as well as a sobering prognosis for the future of war.
Cyber Mercenaries explores the secretive relationships between states and hackers. As cyberspace has emerged as the new frontier for geopolitics, states have become entrepreneurial in their sponsorship, deployment, and exploitation of hackers as proxies to project power.
#Russian mercenary force Wagner is changing its name to Africa Corps in
at least 5 African countries (src
بوابة الوصط ) « Right now, the number of regular Russian regulars in Libya is slowly increasing, but most of the Russian #mercenaries will remain #covert, and Wagner’s existing operations, including the group’s active involvement in #illegal activities, will not stop. » Jalel Harchaoui @libya
@SocraticEthics I hope that the nation of #Ukraine does not have the slightest doubt that the #Cuban#regime, in coordination with #Putin, decided to send Cuban #mercenaries to participate in the illegal and criminal #invasion of Ukraine. This action was discovered and as has happened on other occasions, the Cuban #tyranny has managed to wash its hands of it by making it appear that these mercenaries were acting behind its back.
Mercenaries, Private Military Companies, Drones, and the Future of War
The way war is waged is evolving quickly—igniting the rapid rise of private military contractors who offer military-style services as part of their core business model. When private actors take up state security, their incentives are not to end war and conflict but to manage the threat only enough to remain relevant.
""More than 50,000 pages of documents were recently made public after the company behind the Dakota Access pipeline lost a court case to keep them secret."
"Leaked documents and public records reveal a troubling fusion of private security, public law enforcement, and corporate money in the fight over the Dakota Access pipeline."
"A new business model for breaking down environmental movements was being hatched in real time. On Labor Day weekend in 2016, private security dogs in North Dakota attacked #pipeline opponents led by members of the #StandingRockSioux Tribe as they approached earth-moving equipment. The tribal members considered the land sacred, and the heavy equipment was breaking ground to build the Dakota Access pipeline. With a major public relations crisis on its hands, the pipeline’s parent company, Energy Transfer, hired the firm TigerSwan to revamp its security strategy.
"By October, TigerSwan — founded by James Reese, a retired commander of the elite special operations Army unit Delta Force — had established a military-style pipeline security strategy.
"There was one nagging problem that threatened to unravel it all: Reese hadn’t acquired a security license from the North Dakota Private Investigation and Security Board. Although Reese claimed TigerSwan wasn’t conducting security services at all, the state regulator insisted that its operations were #unlawful without a license."
'the vast majority of #mercenaries are very opposed to the idea of #Wagner being run by #Russia 's defence ministry. They specifically joined Wagner to not fight under the ministry's ranks. #Wagnerites seem to support a man known as Lotus, his real name Anton Yelizarov. Lotus is a wagner commander who was responsible for training of fighters in Molkino, in Krasnodar territory'
More info on the #WagnerGroup 's future (if any) on #TheGlobalJigsaw https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb
'for the #Kremlin to take this over means they have to consolidate their leadership and make sure that the #mercenaries are able to pledge allegiance to them.
in #Mali's case for instance they haven't acknowledged that they are working with the #wagnergroup as far as they're concerned, it's the #Russian government, so they might be more open towards moving in #Russia 's direction in determining the leadership of the group on a local level.'
'in the #CAR there would be a bigger stake and it felt as if the presidency was quite comfortable with the #mercenaries who are already present because they have already built up relationship with them. In some ways symbiotic, but also parasitic. These are people who have already known the terrain, what it is that these leaders want. its lucrative on both sides. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb #Wagner#prighozin#TheGlobalJigsaw
Lyft driver last night decided to tell me his life story. The guy was more than a bit unhinged, so I just let him talk.
Veteran, tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Starts talking about his domestic violence towards his ex-wife and children, laughing about how he had only jokingly threatened to break his children's legs, and when he stabbed his wife in the arm with a wire, it wasn't really a stabbing.
"I told the judge, if I had wanted to stab her, she'd be dead."
Complains in great detail about all the money she took from him, his prison time for the assault, and describes with glee hiding his assets in his vintage car. "New chrome, new hood, new tires - bitch wasn't gonna see that money!"
Continues on about how his new girl came from Iraq and knows what a war zone is like. Brags that he'll send her back if she doesn't marry him. Turns out he's never seen her in person, but has sent her over $7k through some online hookup site that charges per message. Goes off on how he helped her move from Canada to Chicago (we're in California), and complains about how each time he sends her money to come out west, she never shows up.
"I've bought the tux, the wedding dress - it's all ready to go - it's that or Iraq."
Note that all of this was punctuated with constant bouts of chuckling and provided completely unprompted - I said maybe three words the entire trip.
Why do I relate this story? First, it was watching bad karma in action, both the fuck around and find out phases wrapped up in a tidy taxi ride.
But I found myself wondering what he was like as a child... he was clearly struggling in the smarts department, but he had a natural friendliness that belied the horrible shit coming out of his mouth. It got me thinking to what this guy might have been like had the army not put a gun in his hand and sent him overseas to kill. He was in his forties, but his mind was that of a violent teenager - almost as if it had been frozen at the point in time when he was deployed.
I speak about this because I've seen the same pattern in other vets I've known, including some I went to high school with (1st Gulf War vets). Something gets permanently broken in them, keeping them in a state of constant angry adolescence that takes childish glee in abuse, cruelty and savagery as a way to normalize their experience.
And then they come home, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake as they try to integrate to a peacetime existence, unable to grow up, Peter Pan with a gun in hand.
I wish someone had made this clear to my friends who joined up. There's more than one of them who's too dangerous to be a friend to now.
@Arotrios I've meet people like this. They often end up as #mercenaries. Too broken to be #security. Many end up in organizations like #Wagner. The breaking up of #Wagner is putting many like this out on the streets looking for work. Yes, it has me worried.
Government considers recruiting ADF personnel from overseas (www.9news.com.au)
The government is considering recruitment from Pacific nations like Tuvalu, and from other countries around the world.
Resident Evil 4 - DLC Reveal Trailer | Release Date: September 21st, 2023 (www.youtube.com)
Separate Ways has been announced to release on September 21st, 2023...