Disclaimer: I may have run down the good intentions of many great and noble people. It is not the intent on this site to defame or discredit but to provoke discussion. Any who are donating in good faith, or are trying to help whether it be by their influence, or otherwise, generally make the World a better place and it is definitely not my intent to discredit their ambitions. Sorry in advance.
Afrika the great. I love the place. It is full of drama and intrigue. The life of Simon Mann, I am sure will be either cut short or if it isn't... a source for one great movie.
So we have Scratcher, we have Smelly, and we have Simon, who are good friends. Simon Mann was schooled in Eton and accustomed to the finer things. He is the son of Engand's famous cricket captain George Mann. Simon went to Sandhurst, trained to be an officer, and was by some reports a fine leader, and a good soldier, as evidenced by his swift promotion through the ranks of the SAS up to commander. He served in Cyprus, Central America, and Northern Ireland. I spoke to a military man here once, when he remarked; a good soldier is never truly discharged from the military. There are not many who know the special skills and temperments needed to be a commanding officer or soldier. Huh, maybe that explains all the Rambo movies. It was no surprise that 10 years after finishing with the military he was sought for the first Gulf War.
While he worked extensively as a consultant, served as a computer technician I have to be honest with you. Simon Mann is, in my opinion simply a mercenary. He allegedly formed a company named Executive Outcomes with one of his friends, a Mr. Buckingham, (Smelly a former oil rig operator) when he saw an opportunity in Angola. Rebels had taken over the oil production for the country and they offered to uh, dispose of the rebels and defend the oil production when this was completed. The venture was successful and they continued in that vein. He has done well, but was rich before his newly accrued wealth. Simon Mann has run into a massive problem though, now currently jailed in Zimbabwe for an alleged attempt at overthrowing the dictator in Equatorial Guinea. He had 70 with him, a large amount of money, a cache of weapons, and an advance force stationed in the country of interest. Zimbabwe is preparing to extradite him to Equatorial Guinea. I think the plan was to stage the coup, install the former rebel leader as the new governor and then run the oil rich state as their own kingdom, with a profit sharing scheme for the new ruler.
The political side is interesting. South Africa who is investigating this debacle, has been criticized for not taking a lead role in the condemnation of the practices of Robert Mugabe. They have also not opened their doors to the thousands of refugees or displaced persons either. Zimbabwe though has many problems, which quite overshadow the criticism voiced upon South Africa. One of them is that they are in need of oil. Equatorial Guinea has oil. Both of the leaders are similar in that they have a certain style of government, which does away with any opposition. I will let you guess what that leadership style is. In short Zimbabwe wants to stay in good stead with their petrol pumping friends.
Now this piece of the pie gets a little bit juicier. A smuggled message from his Zimbabwean cell was to get a "large splodge of wonga" together and get him out. The message found itself in the hands of Scratchy, or was that scratch and sniff? Scratcher is none other than Sir Mark Thatcher who had a bit of acne in school. I would guess he did a lot of scratching. If you recall, he is the son of Baroness Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Britain. The Wonga list is the names of the people who financed this attempted coup. South African police are also supposedly interested in interviewing Lord Archer, author of bestselling books such as Not a Penny More Not a Penny Less and First Among Equals who may be a financier. If I was a man who liked to wager, I would think there are many on the list who would have their reputations tarnished if wonga was released to the world.
Now, a dash of salt and a pinch of speculation. One of the key figures in this failed plot was another ( will remain nameless at this point) who was involved in the Aristide coup. Sir Mark Thatcher allegedly has mining interests in Sudan, and inquired about some military helicopters. It is not clear how many, if any, he has operating at this present time. Do we have an elite group of individuals who are doing the work that governments deem too dirty? Aristide in Haiti has been ousted. Charles Taylor of Sierra Leone, has been deposed. The oil rich area in Equatorial Guinea is a target. Angola was a successful venture. Is Darfur next? The pieces are in place. Money is being collected in charitable donations by movie stars such as Brad Pitt and George Clooney for help in stopping the carnage in Darfur. Jean Chretien former Prime Minister of Canada was imploring heads of state in the G8 to "donate" money to causes in Africa. Bill Clinton has been focusing attention on the plight of AIDS sufferers in Africa. I have to admit, I don't trust Clinton or his motives. Oh wait, isn't his wife running for President? It is widely known that donations frequently go to soldiers and dictators. Is the only way to make things happen, to hire people who will remain in the shadows, and enforce the will of the World? Is Simon Mann a hero, who is overthrowing evil dictators or a rogue that reaps wealth where there is opportunity? Is he a pawn in a very large game?
One thing is for sure. The ending of the story will be interesting.
9 comments:
This story sounds quite similar to the one shown in the movie Blood Diamond in terms of racketeering military and exploitation of resources with extreme harm to the people that live in the exploited area.
It seems to me that there are a couple of lessons from this story that can be taken by anyone around the world who is saddened by it. Firstly, we need to use less oil. Our greedy massive demand for it is what creates the economic climate that puts the people that call oil rich areas home in mortal danger. Secondly, if you join the military, watch carefully, the people in the highest positions are the ones who have the easiest access to make a lot of money for themselves, and they use the "need to know basis" idea to force their troops to turn a blind eye to it. Never, ever put yourself in a position where someone says "jump" and you say "how high". Always question the motives of the people who have "authority" over you. It is the strict hierarchy of the military that makes it so easily corrupted. There are military forces that achieve great acts of protection and relief of oppression, but they are outnumbered by far. The sad part of it is, there are so many people in the world who believe they live in a "good country" on the side of the "good guys" so they don't bother to discern factions of their own military forces where corruption is taking a toll on their nation's exploits. Think about it. You are paying with your taxes for a lot of people to make themselves into powerful killing machines, and most of the time you don't have a clue who they're killing. All you have is some elected bimbo's word that they are donig things "in the nation's interest".
Thirdly, chankslee thank you for the free education. Your hours of work on finding these things out are appreciated.
i think the issue here is that this is not a nations military but a private force.
Psam you are once again out of touch. You must hate ameicans. Are the private contractors corrupt or are tehy doing what they are paid to do.
Caboolture
Why don't you try perhaps sometimes assuming it's possible that you haven't figured out all the details that led me to my conclusion instead of assuming that I'm the mental equivalent of a colostomy bag (actually an essential and life-saving device, come to think of it)?
For instance, in this case, of course I know that the issue is that this military is a mercenary force instead of a national force. But I'm pretty sure from things I've seen that national forces have the same sorts of corruption present, just not as universally. Also, it seems that most mercenary soldiers for hire have gotten where they are by initially being part of a national military force, and they go corrupt and find their way into a mercenary force. It's just that mercenary soldier forces are something I've never been exposed to, so I didn't have anything to say about it because I haven't compiled any thoughts on the subject. I figured out the closest relation I could in terms of conclusions I personally draw from this story and wrote it down, which is a lot more than either of my criticizers did, incidentally.
As far as mercenary soldier forces go, I have this to say: if you contribute to human suffering, loss of life, and degradation of the environment, you are a discredit to the world, whether you're being paid to do it or not, whether it's your job or not. "It's my job" is one of the top ten worst excuses in the world for justifying causing destruction and misery. So if private military contractors are trying to get paid for saving people from oppression, or taking out ruthless dictators, then they are perhaps not doing it in the most beneficial way possible, but at least they are doing something in good conscience, and they are considerate enough to themselves to make sure they are rewarded for their own efforts. This would mean they are not corrupt, and are acting in good conscience. However, if they are quite well aware that their actions are making them lots of money, destroying the homes of innocent people and forcing them into refugee camps, and exploiting the earth and its resources detrimentally, then they are corrupt and the world would be better off if their existence were erased, or if they learn the error of their ways.
Now let me just touch on this preposterous issue of me "hating Americans". Well it just so happens that there are a lot of Americans, possibly close to a majority, who agree with a lot of my views. I know this because I have learned a lot of the things I know from critical thinking Americans who understand the injustices of their own government, such as Bill Maher. What a guy. He never ceases to give me things to think about. And he's American. And I just love him. So no, I do not hate Americans. I believe their current administration has perpetrated atrocities and crimes against humanity for which they will never be brought to justice. I believe that there are plenty of Americans who are so unwilling to even consider the possibility that their own government might have some flaw in its warlike, colonialist, exploitatious manner, that they lend their blind support to these actions, proudly wearing their ignorance like a badge. I also believe that their are many nations that have perpetrated far worse atrocities than the current American administration. But I'd rather talk to the people closest, because they're most likely to listen. So I criticize those that are most likely to hear my words. I also believe that much of the things I do in my own life make me guilty of being a willing participant in the process of creating these destructive patterns of capitalist exploitation.
Now caboolture, you once declared that you are my nemesis. I must admit, many of the things you say make me very angry. However, I believe there's good in you just like anybody else. I just don't think you've learned to intelligently express it yet.
Here's a suggestion:
Every single time any company produces a weapon designed for combat between human adversaries, they must be legally required to add a registration to a universally publically accessible list, showing the kind of weapon and also the owner to whom it has been registered. This includes machine guns, handguns, grenades, armed aircraft, armed missiles, and a number of other weapons. Any company that can be shown to have defied this law would have its assets frozen and given to the winner of the next Nobel peace prize. Also, the people responsible within the company for this illegal action would be jailed indefinitely. This would help solve a lot of problems with violence perpetrated by indiscernible groups. It would make villains more visible.
just because they are mercenary does not mean they are corrupt psam. registration numbers. hmm. cant see that as a bad idea but highly unlikely
john in brizzy
Sorry but there are too many players in this one. Someone is going to get lost or over looked with none the wiser. Oh I wonder who will take the fall.
um it's too hot for my brain to actually think about what I just read.... but I am here really I am ;)
what? you mean you don't suport global military ocupationalism?
samuel i am shocked!
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