triple canopy mercs in iraq

[nokhor]

if this has been posted before, my apologies. i know there are mercs in iraq, but i didn't know they were guarding high value targets. and that there might be so many of them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/14/magazine/14PRIVATI.html?ex=1281672000&en=a5a87737369edc56&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

[Reverend Joe]

Mercenaries really do fascinate me. They are the ultimate opportunists: not good or evil, merely seeking the best source of revenue via combat. This is also a sign of our times; it seems to represent to me a bizarre irony: that, even though we are in the midst of a technological revolution, we have also entered a dark age.

"And if the cloudbursts thunder in your ear, you shout and noone seems to hear; and if the band you're in starts playing different tunes, I'll see you on the dark side of the moon."

It just seemed appropriate.

[Divinus Arma]

My God, what a fascinating age we have entered. Corporate mercenaries...

Another company doing the same thing is blackwater.

http://www.blackwaterusa.com/

[Aenlic]

There are many more. The biggest is huge. I think it's called Aegis Defense or something like that. It's run by an ex-Scots Guard officer.

There's another called Erinys from South Africa which might not be able to return home wihout facing legal trouble. South Africa passed several laws restricting its citizens participation in foreign armies, conflicts and security services because of the negative image of South African mercenaries around the world.

[Azi Tohak]

Amazing. I had no idea such 'units' existed now. Makes sense though... if you have something to sell (skills for example) why not use them?

Azi

[Paul Peru]

My God, what a fascinating age we have entered. Corporate mercenaries...
Yeah, it's just like those dystopian SciFi-movies ~;)

[Papewaio]

But mercenaries began to fade from the battlefield around the Age of Enlightenment. Partly this was because of breakthroughs in the science of warfare. Better weapons demanded less skill from the fighter. The experience of the mercenary was needed less

But in the world of terrorism, small elite units is what is required.

So the rise of mercenaries (or whatever PC term you wish to label with) makes sense, there is a niche and they are filling it.

However what is their standing as far as Geneva Convention etc?

How do you guys in the military feel about military installations and personnel having merc bodyguards? Doesn't the last in particular reflect a gulf in the ability of military units?

[Papewaio]

The deployment of private gunmen grew and grew into a profusion that may be explained partly by the subtle shift in perception that had removed some of the old mercenary stigma, and partly by the emphasis on outsourcing that had been gathering momentum in the U.S. military since the early 1990's (but that had been focused on logistical, unarmed support). Most immediately, though, the explosive growth may be explained by the strength of the insurgency in Iraq and by the apparent fact that there weren't enough troops on the ground to fight it.

Another note, Rome failed because it 'outsourced' all its real fighting capacity to 'barbarians'... 25% of the corporate money going into the corporate mercs and this is being funded by the DoD.

So the USA military does not have enough armour for vehicles and people but it does have enough money to spend on Mercs... oh well corporations before soldiers.


Triple Canopy has come a long way from its haphazard beginnings. Its current contracts in Iraq, mostly with the U.S. Department of Defense and the State Department, are worth almost $250 million yearly. And having succeeded in Iraq -- Triple Canopy hasn't had a single worker or client killed -- it has just been named one of three companies that will divide up $1 billion annually in newly created protection work with the State Department in high-risk countries around the world.

...

Americans with Triple Canopy stay in Iraq for three-month rotations, working straight through. Then they're sent on leave for a month, returning if they wish. Depending on how much time they spend in the States over the course of a year, most of their income can be tax-free.