In A Blaze Of Glory

News breaks that the leader of the Wagner Group may have died in a fiery plane crash…..

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is believed to be dead following the crash of a private jet in Russia’s Tver Oblast. Russian authorities told the media that Prigozhin was listed as a passenger of the plane and that all 10 people onboard were killed in the crash.

“The Embraer plane was flying out of Sheremetyevo to St. Petersburg. There were three crew and seven passengers on board. They all died,” Russia’s Emergencies Ministry told TASS.

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said that “an investigation of the Embraer plane crash that happened in the Tver Region this evening was initiated. According to the passenger list, first and last name of Yevgeny Prigozhin was included in this list.”

A video circulating on social media purports to show the plane falling from the sky, and other videos show a devastating wreck. A Wagner-linked Telegram claimed Russian air defenses downed the plane, but nothing is confirmed, and other Russian channels speculated a bomb may have been planted onboard.

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency published the list of all the passengers who were also on the plane. The list includes Dmitry Utkin, a Wagner commander who is believed to be a co-founder of the mercenary group.

The incident occurred just two days after a video of Prigozhin was posted on Telegram, where he appeared to be in Africa. In the video, he vowed to make Africa “more free” and “Russia even greater on every continent.”

Before the video, which was posted on Monday, Prigozhin had stayed relatively out of the public eye after his short-lived mutiny against Russia’s military establishment was put down in June.

The downing of the plane came after reports surfaced that Gen. Sergei Surovikin, who is suspected of having foreknowledge of Prigozhin’s uprising, was removed from his position as the head of Russian Aerospace Forces.

When asked by reporters about the news, President Biden said he didn’t know what happened but that he was “not surprised.”

(antiwar.com)

And I bet you thought that all was forgiven by Putin, huh?

At least this opponent did not fall out a window.

Is he is or is he ain’t?

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Americans To Provide Russian Propaganda

If this report is true then those trigger happy Americans that had to dash off to Ukraine to the new partisans will provide Russia/Putin a wealth of new propaganda for the folks back home.

Two US military veterans from Alabama are thought to be the first Americans captured by Russia while fighting for Ukraine. Alexander Drueke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, formerly of the US Army, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, from Hartselle, formerly of the Marine Corps, volunteered to assist in the war effort but are now missing and feared to have been taken prisoner, according to family members, who are in contact with US congressional offices and the US Embassy in Ukraine, per the Guardian and Washington Post. “If it’s true, we’ll do everything we can to get them safely back home,” says John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications.

Family members tell CNN that the men haven’t been heard from since June 8, when they said they would be spending a few days on a mission. Another fighter, who provided CNN with photos of the men’s passports and entry stamps into Ukraine, said both vanished during a battle near the town of Izbytske, northeast of Kharkiv, on June 9, while under the command of Ukraine’s 92nd mechanized brigade. He described the battle as “absolute chaos,” with “about a hundred plus infantry advancing on our positions. We had a T72 firing on people from 30, 40 meters away.” The man said searches failed to turn up any sign of the men but a Russian propaganda channel on Telegram later claimed “two American mercenaries” had been captured, per the Telegraph.

Drueke’s mother, Lois “Bunny” Drueke, said her son told her he would be training Ukrainians on how to use US-made weapons, per the Post. He said “if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is not stopped there he is not going to be satisfied, he will become emboldened and eventually Americans will be threatened,” she told CNN’s AC360 on Wednesday, appearing with Huynh’s fiancee, Joy Black. Huynh “really had this gnawing at his heart and this big burden on him to go and serve the people however he can,” Black said. “I’m still very proud of him. I just want to see him back safely.” (Russia has sentenced three foreign nationals to die for fighting on behalf of Ukraine, in what UK officials say is a violation of the Geneva Conventions.)

Like I said…..if true Putin just got boost to his war propaganda machine.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Mercenaries To The Right…Mercenaries To The Left

I have written many times about the modern use of mercenaries. I do not approve of using mercs to fight wars. If the war is necessary and for the right reason then man up and use the military…….do not use thugs masquerading as “security specialists”.

Like I stated I have lots to say about the use of mercs……pick on or read them all…..

https://lobotero.com/2018/02/13/the-dogs-of-war/

https://lobotero.com/2017/01/03/rise-of-the-american-mercenary-2/

https://lobotero.com/2016/03/11/those-security-contractors/

https://www.your-poc.com/the-private-military-industrial-complex-extending-conflict-duration-and-quality-the-cost-of-using-private-military-contractors/

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/outsourcing-war/

https://lobotero.com/2019/11/27/curb-your-mercenaries/

Now you know how and why I feel that way about the use of mercs in today’s world.

Occasionally I get to read some of the papers that grad students are writing on international relations and conflict management…..this one is very interesting…..

The roots of the mercenarism can be traced back to the sixteenth century, argues Janice Thomson in one of the most comprehensive studies dedicated to this issue, in her book entitled “Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sovereigns: State-Building and Extraterritorial Violence in Early Modern Europe”. Countries like Switzerland were the main suppliers and France, one of the main beneficiaries of mercenary troops in the 16^th and 17^th century. By the 18^th century, armies could be considered truly multinational. “Frederick the Great recruited all over the Holy Roman Empire (…) At the onset of the Seven Years War he attempted to incorporate the entire Saxon army into his own”, argues Thomson. Large scale mercenarism began to fade in the 19^th century, and by the 20^th century the citizen-army became the norm with the employment of foreign fighters beginning to be regarded as an anomaly, representing either the remnants of imperialism or an ad-hoc response to a shortage in fighting forces. Janice Thomson argues, and her view is consistent with Barry Posen’s, the fading of this practice can be seen as a corollary of the evolution of state authority claims.

The practice of mercenarism is sanctioned under Humanitarian and Public International Law, under Article 47 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, the 1989 International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries and under a regional convention sponsored by the African Union. The 1989 Convention describes a mercenary as “any person who is especially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight an armed conflict” who is “motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain”. The convention entered into force in 2001 and was signed only by 36 countries – with notable absentees like the US, Russia, Turkey or the UK. Arguably, these states have not ratified it because they use Private Military Contractors (PMC), who are of a different kind from mercenaries. However, the distinctions are more often hard to make – it is hard to find out whether foreign fighters are hired in a registered organization – which is what defines a PMC.

Opinion – The Rise of Mercenarism: Avoiding International Accountability

Let’s not forget that failed merc operation to kidnap Venezuela’s Maudro…..of course this was not in any way sanctioned by the DoD.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Bring The Mercs Home

Recently there was a failed kidnap attempt by some American ex-SF troops……and as usual I had something to say about this botched action…..https://lobotero.com/2020/05/04/venezuela-trumps-bay-of-pigs/

This is what the rest of the world woke up to in the news……

Venezuela’s government has said it foiled a marine incursion by “terrorist mercenaries” who attempted to enter the country on speedboats from neighbouring Colombia, adding security forces killed eight of the fighters.

The group landed early on Sunday on a beach in the port city of La Guaira, about 20 miles (32km) from the capital Caracas, Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said in a televised address.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/venezuela-killed-foiled-invasion-sea-200503162349161.html

And as normal the SecState is distancing himself from this situation…declaring that it was not a US plan….

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday distanced the Trump administration from what Venezuela has characterized as a coup attempt reportedly orchestrated by a former Green Beret, and he called into question Nicolas Maduro’s claim to have two Americans in custody.

“There was no U.S. government direct involvement in this operation,” Pompeo told reporters Wednesday morning at the State Department. “If we had been involved, it would have gone differently.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/secretary-of-state-mike-pompeo-distances-us-from-botched-venezuela-raid/ar-BB13H4xB

But yet Pompeo has stated that he will do everything to get these men back…..why make such a deal out of it if they were not under the direction of the US?

US officials continue to try to distance themselves from the failed incursion into Venezuela, which led to the arrests of several people, including two Americans. Venezuela has blamed the US, while President Trump denied any knowledge of it.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is certainly adding to speculation that this is a US plot, saying that the US will “use every tool” to get the Americans back. He says this is a responsibility, but it only seems to be so if this was a foiled American plot.

Pompeo went on to add further to this speculation, saying that he will not share further information about who financed and drove the plot at this time. Further, the State Department accused Venezuela’s President Maduro of using this to deflect from trouble at home.

With those involved portraying this as a US-driven coup plot, the administration seems to be acting exactly how one would expect them to act if that was the case. The US has repeatedly tried to impose regime change in Venezuela, and this seems to be just the latest failed bid.

(antiwar.com)

A failed coup/kidnapping…..just what I would expect from an incompetent admin is an incompetent situation….probably tried to succeed with bargain basement mercs.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Curb Your Mercenaries

Closing Thought–27Nov19

Speaking of Mercenaries…..

It is not secret that I do not think that the country needs to use mercenaries….my bad….security consultants…..that is why we spend so much on our military so we do not have to go elsewhere for our soldiers.

The US has its Blackwater or whatever they are calling themselves these days and other such “security firms”…they are being used in Afghanistan and Iraq and probably every other country in which we have a fight going on……

I bring this up because of something our Congress did…..they chastised Russia for using mercenaries in Libya….

My first reaction was…SAY WHAT?

Congress is preparing bipartisan sanctions on Russian mercenaries and other suspected human rights violators in Libya, Al-Monitor has learned, as the Donald Trump administration looks to use the recent entry of Moscow-linked paramilitaries into the conflict to reinvigorate a long-dormant American strategy in the war-torn country.

Foreign relations committee member Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are set to introduce legislation codifying Treasury Department sanctions to limit Russian proxy activity. The bill would require President Trump to slap visa bans and freeze US property for arms traffickers, those illegally exploiting Libya’s vast supplies of crude oil and human rights abusers.

Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Chris Murphy. D-Conn., are also expected to sign onto the legislation, sources familiar with the bill say. The legislation also would require the United States to work with humanitarian organizations to ensure that aid be delivered in the country. “We just wanted Congress to weigh in and give a carrot-and-stick approach,” a House aide told Al-Monitor.

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/11/congress-move-sanction-russia-mercenary-surge-libya.html

Now that is the height of hypocrisy……condemn a nation for doing what we are doing….

If it is wrong in Libya then it is wrong every fucking where!

Must prepare for the day tomorrow……lots of cooking ahead.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Those Private Armies

I have written many times of my dislike for private armies…oh my bad……security consultants….a rose by any other name is still a mercenary.

What got my creative juices flowing was the news that an ex-Blackwater operative has been sentenced to life in prison…..

A former Blackwater security contractor was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for his role in the 2007 shooting of unarmed civilians in Iraq that left 14 people dead, the AP reports. Federal judge Royce Lamberth issued the sentence after a succession of friends and relatives requested leniency for Nicholas Slatten, who was found guilty of first-degree murder by a jury in December. Prosecutors charged that Slatten, 35, was the first to fire shots in the September 2007 massacre of Iraqi civilians at a crowded traffic circle in Baghdad. In all, 10 men, two women and two boys, ages 9 and 11, were killed. The defense had argued that Slatten and other Blackwater contractors opened fire only after they saw what they mistakenly thought was a potential suicide car bomber moving quickly toward their convoy.

Defense attorney Dane Butswinkas described Slatten as “a person of high integrity” whose family members had served in the US military for four generations. Several of Slatten’s supporters openly accused prosecutors of scapegoating an innocent man in order to placate Iraqi public opinion. The shootings strained US-Iraqi relations and focused intense international scrutiny on the extensive use of private military contractors in Iraq. Slatten himself told the judge that he was a victim of an “unjust prosecution” and that government lawyers cared more about producing a conviction than uncovering the truth of what happened in Baghdad 12 years ago. But Judge Lambert, in issuing the life sentence, dismissed much of the family’s claims that Slatten was a scapegoat for international political considerations. “The jury got it exactly right,” he said. “This was murder.”

AS I said I do not think these people should be fighting our conflicts…..that is the job of our military…..but there is an assassment of the industry…..

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan required the support of the private military industry. However, the United States government’s increased reliance and dependency on private military firms has not been without controversy. In fact, the lack of accountability that has allowed certain sectors of the private military industry to act with impunity have arguably complicated the U.S. military’s already difficult missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2019/08/05/an_assessment_of_the_private_military_industry_and_its_role_in_the_iraq_and_afghanistan_wars_114638.html

This is the armies of the future…mostly civilians with guns…..time for the military to depend on themselves to fight these wars if they truly need fighting.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Closing Thought–02May19

I am not a big fan of the use of mercenaries to do our bidding in the implementation of our foreign policy…..that said the biggest merc has been Erik Prince and his Blackwater (among others) and now he has a new patron…..China……

Blackwater founder Erik Prince’s new company is reportedly operating in Iraq, a country from which his former company was banned for killing civilians.

A subsidiary of Frontier Services Group (FSG), a security and logistics company Prince founded in Hong Kong, has set up shop in Basra, Iraq, BuzzFeed News reported Saturday, citing official documents. The subsidiary, the Dubai-based Frontier Logistics Consultancy DMCC, has officially registered as a foreign company with Iraq’s Ministry of Trade, an official document from last year shows.

In March, Prince told Al Jazeera that he hoped to see FSG supporting oil operations in countries like Iraq. Their subsidiary is operating out of Basra, which is located in the oil-rich southern region.

https://www.businessinsider.com/blackwater-founder-erik-princes-new-company-operating-in-iraq-report-2019-4

Now here is where my problem arises……if China is fronting him the cash and he has access to sensitive info….will he share it with his masters? Does that not mean he needs to register as a foreign agent? Has he done so?

News has come out that Prince is offering a merc army to fight against Maudro……

Erik Prince – the founder of the controversial private security firm Blackwater and a prominent supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump – has been pushing a plan to deploy a private army to help topple Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicholas Maduro, four sources with knowledge of the effort told Reuters.

Over the last several months, the sources said, Prince has sought investment and political support for such an operation from influential Trump supporters and wealthy Venezuelan exiles. In private meetings in the United States and Europe, Prince sketched out a plan to field up to 5,000 soldiers-for-hire on behalf of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, according to two sources with direct knowledge of Prince’s pitch.

One source said Prince has conducted meetings about the issue as recently as mid-April.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-erikprince-exclusi-idUSKCN1S608F

Keep in mind that Prince has offered up a merc army to takeover in Afghanistan…..

This is a despicable person in my opinion……plus I would not trust this toad as far as I can spit him.

I think Prince is a crimminal….and I apparently am not the only one who thinks this……

The chairman of the House intelligence committee is making a criminal referral to the Justice Department for the founder of the security firm Blackwater, with Adam Schiff alleging Erik Prince lied to his committee in 2017. Prince testified to the panel that a meeting in the Seychelles islands with a Russian with ties to Vladimir Putin was a chance encounter. He said, “I didn’t fly there to meet any Russian guy.” That’s directly contradicted by the special counsel’s report on the Russia investigation, which says the meeting was set up ahead of time and that there were communications about it with Trump campaign adviser Steve Bannon. Questions have long surrounded the mysterious meeting, reports the AP, which has more:

Prince met with Kirill Dmitriev, who headed a Russian sovereign wealth fund, as Trump was preparing to take office and the Russian government was seeking contacts with the incoming administration. Dmitriev reported directly to Putin, according to special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. Prince told Mueller’s investigators that he had briefed Bannon on the meeting, but Bannon told them they never discussed it. The report says investigators couldn’t iron out the “conflicting accounts” by reviewing communications, in part because text messages between them were missing. Phone provider records showed that Bannon and Prince had exchanged dozens of messages, including two that Prince sent within hours of the meetings with Dmitriev, but the investigators could not find the messages on their phones. Prince denied deleting messages and Bannon said he did not know why the messages were missing. Schiff said Tuesday there is strong evidence that Prince, a prominent supporter of President Trump, “willingly misled” the intelligence committee as it probed connections between Trump’s campaign and Russia. “The evidence is so weighty that the Justice Department needs to consider this,” Schiff said.

One potential wrinkle, from the Washington Post: Schiff and his committee do not yet know what Prince’s arrangement with Mueller was. If the men arranged a deal that saw Prince give information “under the condition it not be used against him, then being able to prove” Prince lied in his congressional testimony “might be problematic,” says Schiff. The Justice Department didn’t have immediate comment on the referral. Prince is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

To use a meme of our Dear Beloved Supreme Leader…..

Lock Him Up! Lock Him Up!

Any thoughts?

Afghanistan: A New Year’s Conspiracy

I would like to wish my readers a very and prosper New Years….I will try to make this year, 2019, as good if not better than last year….thanx for your visits and your support.

Down to business.

I begin my year with a conspiracy theory…..

As I was eating my New Years meal of corned beef, cabbage, peas and corn bread I was talking with my son-in-law and we were voicing our thoughts and opinions of the troop draw down…..as I was telling him why we should bring our troops home from these adventures I was struck by a blinding light of a conspiracy theory.

A little background……

I am opposed to mercenaries used by the US to fight our wars…..oh so I do not hurt their feelings….they like to be called private security firms…..if it smells like sh*t it usually is…..

Pres. Trump employs the sister of the chief mercenary, Erik Prince, as his SecEd…..so the chief mercenary has the president’s ear….to the point that he float a plan to use Blackwater to privatize the war in Afghanistan….

https://lobotero.com/2017/08/11/dont-privatize-the-afghan-war-just-end-it/

The plan was shelved and we heard no more after that…..

Afghanistan?

Wait!

Did not Trump announce a draw down of US troops for Afghanistan?

Do you see where my thinking is going?

…..(Pause here for some to catch up)……

Now that Trump has managed to remove most of the generals from his administration, people who would have opposed using mercenaries to fight the war, could the plan come off the shelf and dusted off?

After finishing the meal I decided to hit the reference button in my brain and see if there could be any validity to the fear that gripped me……

My research produced some evidence in favor of my fear…..

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis is out.

Mattis’ resignation comes amid news that President Donald Trump has directed the drawdown of 2,000 U.S. forces in Syria, and 7,000 U.S. forces from Afghanistan, a U.S. official confirmed to Military Times, a story first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

This month, in the January/February print issue of the gun and hunting magazine “Recoil,” the former contractor security firm Blackwater USA published a full-page ad, in all black with a simple message: “We are coming.”

Is the war in Afghanistan — and possibly elsewhere ― about to be privatized?

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/12/21/mattis-is-out-and-blackwater-is-back-we-are-coming/

Trump and Prince have a relationship and he, Trump, can look like he is keeping a campaign promise about our troops while making billions for Prince and whatever he names his near enterprise.

Here is his “pitch” for Afghanistan…….

Prince’s plan…..

Prince’s plan would see troops replaced with private military contractors who work for a special envoy that reports directly to the president.

“Right now, there are 15,000 US troops and another 30,000 contractors. All I need is … my plan would say 2,000 special forces remain and about 6,000 contractors. That is by any stretch a severe reduction in manpower and spending,” Prince told MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell Friday, adding later that his whole plan would only cost around $3.5 billion, much less than the tens of billions of dollars the US spent in Afghanistan last year

https://www.businessinsider.com/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-aims-to-privatize-us-war-in-afghanistan-2018-8

In depth plan……

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/09/05/heres-the-blueprint-for-erik-princes-5-billion-plan-to-privatize-the-afghanistan-war/

His, Prince, one selling point…it will be cheaper…..that is a LIE! Let me repeat that…IT IS A LIE!

But don’t believe me……

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2017/08/08/Five-Things-You-Need-Know-About-Plans-Privatize-Afghan-War

It is NO secret that I am antiwar and I am a staunch opponent to the privatization of war and the corruption and profit that is brings.

The Mercs Are Coming!

By now everyone that cares about our status in the world knows that Russia and Ukraine are in a basic stand-off with tensions running high and emotions on the edge of ignition…..

Allow me to backtrack a bit……my regulars know how much I read and as it were write……I read something awhile back about using private mercs to fight insurgencies…..

The use of mercenaries and private military contractors (PMC’s) to provide operational support and fight in combat in conflicts worldwide has expanded tremendously since 9/11. The most notorious of these shadow armies, Blackwater, has put PMC’s in the public eye – for all the wrong reasons, when, in 2007, four employees were convicted in the U.S. court for killing 14 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, Baghdad.

Granted, incidents of this nature are definitely not limited to PMC’s. Atrocities against civilians in combat by government and allied forces have been well-documented. The most notorious examples are Robert Bales, who went on a killing spree in Kandahar that ended in the deaths of 16 Afghan civilians, the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War, the Maywand District murders in Afghanistan, and the Haditha killings in Iraq.

https://theantimedia.com/job-classified-contingency-operations-ukraine/

Granted the article is more about the Middle East but it could be expanded to bring in the world….

Now back to the Ukraine/Russia thing…..

It has been uncovered that the US is looking for a few good mercs to work on classified missions…..

The geopolitical analysis site SouthFront has unearthed from the pages of LinkedIn an incredible public job offering by a US defense contractor which reveals potentially sensitive information. The job posting mentions “classified Contingency Operations” in Ukraine and was posted a mere 15 days ago — just prior to last Sunday’s incident between the Russian and Ukrainian navies in the Kerch Strait.

Writes SouthFront,the US-based defense contractor company “Mission Essential” accidentally revealed a US military specialist deployment in the combat zones in Ukraine via a Job Advertisement on LinkedIn.

Crucially, it’s yet further evidence which disproves the years-long claims by Washington that the United States is not directly involved militarily in the Ukraine conflict. The public posting suggests US special forces operations are indeed active and ongoing as tensions with Russia soar.

https://theantimedia.com/job-classified-contingency-operations-ukraine/

So all you chest thumpers can prove your worth by putting your life where your mouth is located.

I have never been a fan of mercs being used by private contractors……

Have Gun Will Travel

As long as I am writing about assassination…….

Does anyone remember the Western from the 60’s? Paladin–does it ring a bell? Never mind….don’t hurt yourself it was a TV western about a hired gun and weekly he made the decisions of life and death…..Richard Boone played probably the first anti-hero hero….

But I digress!

I bring this up because of something that is being reported……there seems to be an hired American hit team operating for the UAE……

It’s “almost like a murder squad,” an incredulous former CIA official told BuzzFeed News. The site had called him for comment as it dug into a potential bombshell of a story: that former elite US special operations fighters were assassinating high-profile figures in Yemen, but not as part of a military operation. Rather, the targeted killings allegedly came at the request of the United Arab Emirates, which had engaged the private US company the former fighters now work for. The CIA official told BuzzFeed this simply wasn’t possible. Then he asked around and called back: “There were guys that were basically doing what you said.” So what is BuzzFeed saying? Aram Roston centers much of his lengthy piece around what he says was a planned Dec. 29, 2015, hit, staffed by employees of the Delaware-incorporated Spear Operations Group.

Spear’s founder is Abraham Golan, “a charismatic Hungarian Israeli security contractor who lives outside of Pittsburgh,” whose employees—a former Green Beret and former Navy SEALs among them—were to kill Anssaf Ali Mayo, a key figure in a political party the UAE sees as having terror ties (critics counter this). Roston recounts Golan and his team flying to the UAE and receiving a 23-person hit list while on board; Golan viewed the targets as “legitimate,” as Roston puts it, because the UAE selected them, and the US backs the UAE’s military efforts. Things went awry with Mayo; they managed to bomb the party’s HQ, but had no proof Mayo was dead, and he seems to still be alive. But Roston sees the attempt on his life as an opening salvo, with “members of Al-Islah, and other clerics in Aden [subsequently] dropping dead at an alarming pace.” Golan says his team was behind a number of those hits. Read Roston’s full piece, which explores the “surprisingly unclear” question of whether Spear’s alleged actions are illegal under US law.

The excuse for this rings hollow but also is used to justify the murder of Khashoggi…..

Once again mercs being used to do the dirty work that governments want to keep their hands clean….plausible deniability.

The report made me think of the TV show but it also lead me to something that was a secret until recently……Murder Inc…..when I was in the service of my country there was a group operating internationally their title was “Service 7″….it was an assassination squad from Bulgaria…..

“The Bulgarian state security services had a super-secret special bureau responsible for the eradication, kidnapping or discrediting of Bulgarian émigrés around the world long before the notorious assassination of Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov in London in 1978.

The SMERSH-style Cold War clandestine structure was called ‘Service 7’. It began operations in mid-1963 and by 1972 was engaged in at least 10 cases against Bulgarians who escaped to Italy, Britain, Denmark, West Germany, Turkey, France, Ethiopia, Sweden and Switzerland before 1989.

https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/opinion/murder-bureau-department-of-murders-existed-in-bulgaria/

In Saner Thought

"It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error"..Thomas Paine

Tag: Mercenaries

In A Blaze Of Glory

Americans To Provide Russian Propaganda

Mercenaries To The Right…Mercenaries To The Left

Bring The Mercs Home

Curb Your Mercenaries

Those Private Armies

Closing Thought–02May19

Afghanistan: A New Year’s Conspiracy

The Mercs Are Coming!

Have Gun Will Travel