This spring, the Arab Spring, as it is called in the media, has shown the will of the people and the violence of regimes to retain power….Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, et al……the one country that has had very little violence or even protests for that matter has been the United Arab Emirates (UAE)……even Saudi has had its minor uprisings….but the UAE must be concerned that the “Spring” may be headed their way….they are preparing to retain their power grip…..but how will they do this?
In an article written by Eamonn McCann……
United Arab Emirates has paid $529 million to a company set up by Blackwater boss Eric Prince to recruit and train a mercenary army to undertake “special missions” against the oil state’s enemies, defend oil pipelines, crush internal opposition and so forth.Emirate dictator Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan has also agreed to pay more than $100 million a year to meet running costs and supply weapons and equipment–including rifles, mortars and armored vehicles.
A training camp, complete with living accommodation, mess halls, firing ranges and a motor pool, has been built behind thick concrete walls topped with tangles of barbed wire in the desert. More than 500 of a projected 800 troops are in position, many recruited from Central and South America and paid $150 a day.
Their trainers, mostly veterans of U.S., British and German Special Forces and the French Foreign Legion, earn up to $200,000 a year.
………there is good reason to believe that elements of the Obama administration gave the plan nod-and-wink approval, the exposure by Times’ journalists may spark political controversy in Congress, which would please al-Nahyan and other Gulf rulers not at all.
You remember Blackwater? My bad! They changed their name to Xe after the killing of all those Iraqi civilians…..you know that mercenary army that is headquartered in the US? It seems that our Founding do-dahs would have frowned on the fact that anyone within the borders of the country had a standing private army….but apparently it is okay this day in time….but tell that to Aaron burr….
I remember back ion the day when mercenaries were looked down upon….but I guess when you change your title to security consultant you become a fine upstanding citizen…..a contract killer by any other name is still…..Americans need to be watching this group closely…..did anyone see “7 Days In May”? If not you may want to rent it and see what I am rattling on about…..
Hmmm… shades of 24 season 1-7 (I think).
Good post. However, I’m not quite sure what the difference is between a “regular” and a “mercenary” army – one is paid for and controlled by the state (if you’re lucky), but relatively few elite in fact run what happens – and the other is paid for and controlled by a relatively small elite according to what the customer (the state) requires… er… sounds pretty similar to me.
The only thing that occurs to me is that it might be a whole lot cheaper to pay the Mafia directly in both cases – it would probably be more efficient too… 🙁
Blackwater is a privatized army…they have armed carriers, choppers, lots of heavy artillery and lots of guns; they even have an intel unit all which the government uses for reasons that do not need to be explained…..Blackwater is owned and controlled by a guy named Prince who hires out to do the work of our military……and if I am not mistaken, it is against the law for a private citizen to fight in another country’s war…all in all…this is NOT a good thing.
I don’t entirely disagree, but you do not really explain yourself – WHY is it not a good thing?
A private standing army……sorry, but I see it as a violation to the Constitution….I realize that all wars are for profit but ta private army smacks of the early days of the 20th century….
Well, I’d have said the early days of the seventeenth century. My point is that I can’r see any more likelyhood of corruption at the top of a private army and possibly a whole lot less ineptitude.
The only real danger I see is that an efficient private army might threaten the state that spawns (or even employs?) it. Other than that, I can’t see that there’s any more or less control on either – but then you’re a vet and I’m not, so I guess we have different perspectives.
We are looking at this the same but from different angles…..I guess I was not clear and I apologize……I think that it could be used for some sort of coup….is it likely…probably not but the option is there….any time a private company has an equal footing with the private one then I can foresee a problem…
Yes, I agree with that and that is the real problem to my mind – like I said, shades of “24”!
But then, if the any government doesn’t want to, or can’t, maintain efficient and effective armed forces sufficient for all perceived eventualities, then what is that governemnt to do?
I would, though, have thought that the US would approve entirely of this approach since “all power to the highest bidder” seems to be the principal driving force and belief there.
I will agree with you somewhat…….but think about that for a minute….apparently the US cannot maintain or effectively arm our military if there is a spot for a private army…..As far as the UAE….they just want someone to do their fighting for them and if the USSR were still in existence the US would be there in a flash…..
Oh, very true.
But that’s the point, isn’t it? What you say IS true, but also very, very predictable…
The UAE (and many others) would prefer to have someone else do their fighting for them; you are always saying the US should afford welfare before the military being put to use and… well, if the USSR still existed then I would be amazed. However, it IS also true everyone’s attitude would be different, but it was the most inefficient political attempt at social engineering (superficially at its inception until it was hijacked by a new set of megalomaniacs) that the world has ever seen and doomed to failure from the start…
It’s ALL a huge game and we are the pawns, the haystack that the elite search for needles within, the piles of mucky sand that builders sift to use in their mortar. We are, in short, expendable and often no more than an irritating hinderance to those who actually run things THEIR way for THEIR benefit!
I doubt that will change – ever…
Yep….a game….but isn’t everything governments basically a game?