Mercenary receives Defense of Freedom medal at Fort Gordon

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.wrdw.com/homeandfamily/headlines/6113471.html

Civilian worker wounded in Iraq honored at Fort Gordon

FORT GORDON, Ga.---An American contractor was among those killed in today's bomb blast at the US military headquarters in Afghanistan. That points up the dangers for civilians in war zones.

Today at Fort Gordon, a civilian from Augusta who was wounded in Iraq was honored by the Army. snip

Linda and her mother have spent months nursing John back to health, and now he receives the Defense of Freedom medal that honors those killed or wounded on duty. It's the civilian equivalent of the Purple Heart.

[Divernan]

1. Mercenaries/Pinochet trained torturers paid up to $1,000 per day - from Pentagon's military budget

I have no sympathy for mercenaries. Their exorbitant salaries suck the life out of the "war" budget. They are not subject to the rules of engagement. They are reported to dash around the country flashing their state-of-the-art weaponry, behaving brutally and generating massive amounts of hate and resentment against the U.S., which is then directed at the underpaid, poorly equipped U.S. soldiers.

This general topic of the role of mercenaries in Iraq could use a lot more discussion on DU. Here's an interesting link to start educating readers. I've included just a few snips to give the flavor
of the content.

www.kathryncramer.com/kathryn_cramer/2004/03/iraq_the_secret.html

Meanwhile, Blackwater USA is hiring Chilean guys who trained under Pinochet to help us out in Iraq: US contractor recruits guards for Iraq in Chile

"We scour the ends of the earth to find professionals - the Chilean commandos are very, very professional and they fit within the Blackwater system," he said. Chile was the only Latin American country where his firm had hired commandos for Iraq. He estimated that "about 95%" of his work came from government contracts and said his business was booming. "We have grown 300% over each of the past three years and we are small compared to the big ones. "We have a very small niche market, we work towards putting out the cream of the crop, the best."

The privatisation of security in Iraq is growing as the US seeks to reduce its commitment of troops.
Lisa Ashkenaz Croke wrting for the Yellowtimes.com elaborates: Mercenaries Hired to Keep Order in Iraq. USA Blackwater isn't the only security firm hiring ex-military of disturbing origin. Last month, The Forward's Marc Perelman reported that contractor Erinys International utilized "former henchman of South Africa's apartheid regime" to guard oil facilities and train new Iraqi police.

"Francois 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," wrote Perelman.

Who would have thought that Iraq needed to import torturers!