The
Real Butchers of Baghdad
G.W. Bush and His Corporate Mercenaries
By Cheryl Seal
20 May 2004
The Bush administration is feigning shock and disgust over the revelations
of systematic torture of Iraqi prisoners. But there is no doubt
whatsoever in my mind that the White House was fully aware that
such crimes were being committed and by whom. Not only that, they
continually took steps to cover their own behinds should the matter
ever come up. I will make that case later. But first, let's take
a look at the group that is, I am certain, perpetrating, or engineering
the perpetration of, crimes against Iraqi civilians.
Soldiers of Misfortune
Mercenaries, of course, have a history that extends back into the
murkiest depths of human history. These are paid fighters -supreme
opportunists- whose only allegiance is to themselves and, more loosely,
to whoever signs their checks. Patriotism, honor, and democracy
don't enter into the deal. The primary focus of a mercenary is getting
the job done, by any means, and collecting their payoff.
In every war in the past 50 years in which mercenaries were deployed,
atrocities have been committed with an unfailing regularity. After
South Africa's apartheid government fell, thousands of former soldiers
and police were displaced -many of them brutal racists who had committed
torture and other abuses under Apartheid. Hundreds of these people
were hired to fight in various hotspots, from the Sudan and Zimbabwe
to Kosovo. Not surprisingly, many have since been charged with atrocities
committed while "fighting" in these places. In fact, the
problem of criminal activity by South African mercenaries became
such an embarrassment for the South African government that it passed
a law in 1999 banning South African citizens from acting as mercenaries
abroad. But most 'soldiers of fortune' and the companies that recruit
them consider themselves above any law and have simply gone underground,
working out deals via the Internet and thumbing their noses at such
laws.
Despite this dubious history, the use of mercenaries has become
increasingly popular in recent decades as western corporations (often
using the US military as their "point force") expand their
operations into resource-rich or strategically positioned nations
that are unstable and/or uncooperative. Many outfits, including
the UK's Sandline and Northridge Services Group or the USA's Blackwater
Security Consulting, act more or less as mercenary 'brokers,' recruiting
'manpower' from anywhere they can find it, including South Africa
-despite the 1999 law. UK-recruited mercenaries have been accused
of atrocities in Zimbabwe and the Ivory Coast, while Russian mercenaries
stand accused of participating in ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
While the Blair and Bush regimes try to play down the mercenary
theme, calling such people "civilian contractors," the
BBC reports that "one military source who wanted to remain
anonymous [states that] mercenaries were still very active and could
command $10-20,000 a month for their services." In fact, a
company called Erinys with offices in South Africa and the UK, which
is operating illegally -not even bothering to register with the
government- won a huge contract to protect the oil industry interests
of western corporations in Iraq. Mercenaries contracted by US corporations
like Halliburton are receiving a minimum of $100,000 per year. In
true corporate style, the accepted euphemism for mercenary brokers
in the US is "risk management companies." Makes it sound
almost like Morgan Stanley, eh?
The four "civilian contractors" ambushed and brutally
murdered near Fallujah were in fact mercenaries recruited by a Blackwater
Security Consulting. Blackwater operates a 2,400-square-acre training
facility in Moyock, North Carolina. Even if the four murdered men
were not guilty of any crimes against Iraqis themselves, they most
certainly may have been the victims of 'guilt by association' with
other mercenaries who had committed crimes such as torture. That
some Blackwater recruits could be capable of committing such crimes
is beyond doubt: many are veterans of some of the most repressive
regimes of recent history. Among Blackwater's contribution to the
Iraq war are at least 60 commandos who worked for Chilean dictator
Augusto Pinochet and an untold number of former apartheid South
African soldiers and police. At least 1,500 South African mercenaries
are now in Iraq -a situation that clearly flaunts the 1999 law.
Chile, alarmed by the situation, is now investigating the recruitment
of mercenaries. Add to the quality of recruits the sheer numbers
of mercenaries now in Iraq -an estimated 15,000-20,000- and you
have a recipe for humanitarian disaster.
But mercenary recruiters have thrived with obscene vigor since
Bush took office. Since 2001, Blackwater's profits have increased
by 300%. Last October, Blackwater landed a $35.7 million contract
to train at least 10,000 sailors from Virginia, Texas and California
each year in the fine art of guerilla warfare (the Blackwater folks
like to call this "force protection" training).
There are already many reports that mercenaries in Iraq routinely
act in violation of International and US military laws governing
rules of engagement and conduct in a war and post-war occupation
zone. For example, the Army Times reported that mercenaries were
using armor-piercing, limited-penetration rounds manufactured by
RBCD of San Antonio. These bullets were banned by the US military
because of the horrific, unnecessary suffering and damage they inflict,
such as shredding internal organs. "The bullet is so controversial
that if [the mercenary], a former SEAL, had been on active duty,
he would have been court-martialed for using it," says the
newspaper. "The ammunition is 'nonstandard' and hasn't passed
the military's approval process."
Since the prison torture scandal broke, it has, emerged that military
contractors -i.e., mercenaries hired by the Pentagon- have been
engaged in the torture of prisoners, including those at Abu Ghraib
prison. War crimes expert Gary Solis of Georgetown University says
the only reason he can think of that US military would use mercenaries
for such a 'delicate operation' is that there are too few real military
people available. Solis says that so many critical positions have
been eliminated from the military, that when they do need trained
specialists, they simply don't exist. All that are available, says
Solis, are "trigger pullers." Worse, the mercenaries hired
by the US military are not only being paid up to three times more
than honest US soldiers subject to military law, but are being paid
by taxpayers.
But while Solis suggests that the problem can be traced directly
back to Bush's failure to plan for any contingency in Iraq except
happy, warmly welcoming Iraqis, great weather, and no loss of basic
services (despite the targeted bombing out of water treatment and
power facilities) I say this is wishful thinking. Bush never planned
to use a larger military force in Iraq. He was no doubt assured
by Cheney, Rumsfeld, Kissinger, and other 'advisors' that 15,000
or so brutal mercenaries roaming the countryside as "support
personnel" would be more than enough muscle to keep Iraqis
in line. After all, that tactic had worked for Cheney in Burma,
for Kissinger in Indonesia and Chile, and for Rummy in the Iran-Iraq
conflict.
Bush's Premeditated Complicity in the Abuse
Since the scandal broke, observers have been calling for investigations,
for war crimes charges, for court martials. What most, in their
blissful ignorance don't know, is that Bush and Co. made sure well
ahead of time that its operations in Afghanistan and Iraq would
escape accountability. >From the day Bush and his pals commandeered
the White House and set their sights on Central Asian oil (simultaneous
events), they have worked to maneuver into place all the corporate-style
blocks to accountability available to them. First, to evade the
Geneva Convention in Afghanistan, Bush never formally declared war.
Instead, he claimed that the US bombing and invasion was part of
the "war on terror" and that the war on terror did not
constitute a "real war" under the Geneva Convention. This
twisting of international law and morality outraged many international
law experts and human rights advocates -an outcry kept conveniently
out of nearly all the US media.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch said, "to
say that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to a war on terrorism
is particularly dangerous, as it is all too easy to imagine this
'exception' coming back to haunt U.S. forces in future conflicts."
How right he was! Bush used this "interpretation": of
what constitutes war to justify the indiscriminate round up of Muslims
and their shipment to Guantanomo Bay's infamous Camp X-ray, where
they have been held, protected by no laws, regulations or basic
sense of "moral right" ever since.
Next came Iraq. Has no-one stopped to wonder, especially now with
20/20 hindsight, why, in July 2002, just as George Bush was first
publicly rattling his saber towards Iraq, he also announced that
he would not sign onto the International Criminal Court? This move
was designed to place the US beyond prosecution by the international
community for crimes such as those committed in Abu Ghraib prison.
It is quite obvious Bush anticipated the need for this preventive
measure. Even if he could dodge the Geneva Convention bullet, Bush
knew that there are several internationally recognized laws that
are supposed to be observed both during and after a war in an occupied
country. Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, and which the United States ratified in 1992, provides that
"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment." Also in force at all
times is the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the UN Standard Minimum
Rules on the Treatment of Prisoners to which the United States became
a party in 1994.
In addition, Article 3 of the International Convention states that
"A mercenary, as defined in article 1 of the present Convention,
who participates directly in hostilities or in a concerted act of
violence, as the case may be, commits an offence for the purposes
of the Convention." Knowing that mercenaries were going to
be on the scene, Bush knew he had to cover his ass. So what seemed
like an inexplicable act of arrogance back in July 2002 (his failure
to acknowledge the International Court) now clearly seems a simple
cynical act of "preemptive self defense."
To attack Iraq so soon after Afghanistan, Bush had to trump up
a sufficiently compelling pretext -thus he settled on WMDs. To rally
the American public and "coalition forces" behind him,
he also had to make it the war "official." However, he
made sure that the war's "official" status lasted as short
a time as possible. Thus, on May 2, 2003, before the heaviest fighting
had even begun, we find our vulture-in-chief parading the decks
of an aircraft carrier declaring an end to major conflict. As a
result, everything that is going on in Iraq today is beyond the
touch of the Geneva Convention. During an interview with NPR's Cheryl
Corley on May 2, 2004, war crimes expert Gary Solis of Georgetown
University stated that even the most horrific and systematic abuse
of prisoners, even those committed at a military run facility like
Abu Ghraib are not war crimes. Why? Because, says Solis, anyone
captured after Bush declared an end of major conflicts would automatically
lose their prisoner of war status under the Geneva Convention. They
would instead be classed as "insurgents."
There is no doubt that Bush knew that the Pentagon and US corporations
in Iraq were planning to use mercenaries extensively. Not only that
but, Bush and Co. knew what sort of means these mercenaries would
use to "quell resistance" and welcomed it. An extensive
report of abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison was sent to the Pentagon
in January. The Red Cross now says they had been in touch with the
Coalition over prisoner treatment at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere since
March 2003 at the war onset -not just calling attention to abuses
but recommending changes.
Yet Myers claims he never even saw the "official report,"
nor did Bush or Rumsfeld until much later. But again, this is merely
a slippery corporate ploy to elude accountability. Not seeing the
report and not being aware of its contents are two different things.
I am sure that it was prearranged by team Bush that any reports
like that were NOT to be acknowledged or passed on beyond a certain
point in the chain of command. Just as certain pieces of information
on terrorist activity before 9/11 were not passed on beyond a certain
"checkpoint," This way Bush, Cheney and the Bush cabinet
could later honestly claim they never saw them. That they knew the
contents, however, seems quite certain.
On May 7, 2004 Rumsfeld stated on record and under oath that as
soon as the Pentagon learned that abuses were going on that they
took "immediate steps" to correct the situation. Yet it
was not until May 8, 2004 -the day after Rumsfeld testified -that
Lynndie England, the soldier shown in several Abu Ghraib photos
abusing prisoners, was charged with any crime. This is "immediate
action"? Meanwhile, the 37 mercenaries who worked as interrogators
at Abu Ghraib and without doubt were the orchestrators of the abuses,
have yet to be charged. I am betting that at least some of these
mercenaries are 'graduates' of the Pinochet regime or some other
former dictatorship.
Need more evidence? Just days before the abuse of Iraqi civilians
became public knowledge, Bush nominated John Negroponte to be the
ambassador to Iraq. Negroponte, as Bush was quite well aware, was
widely believed to have Okayed and then systematically covered up,
the systematic torture and murder of prisoners in Honduras. (see
links to the Baltimore Sun investigative report below). What better
man to have on the job in Iraq if you are running a banana republic-style
operation? With all of the gifted seasoned diplomats around to choose
from, Bush chose a known accomplice to torture and murder.
The techniques being used on the Iraqi prisoners are disturbingly
similar to those used by the CIA in Central America -including Honduras
under Negroponte's watch. A CIA training manual declassified under
the Freedom of Information Act in 1997 details torture methods used
against "insurgents" in Central America in the 1980s.
Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual, 1983 and a CIA Vietnam-era
training manual called KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation,
July 1963 both taught the same method of torture being used in Iraq
by the US right now: stripping suspects naked and keeping them blindfolded.
Dark, windowless interrogation rooms with no toilet. The 1983 manual
advises an interrogator to "manipulate the subject's environment,
to create unpleasant or intolerable situations". The manual
suggests that prisoners be deprived of food and sleep, and made
to maintain rigid positions, that they be threatened with rape or
death and that their families be threatened. In its 1995 investigative
report on Negroponte in Honduras, the Baltimore Sun reported that
"Ines Consuelo Murillo was tortured by a secret Honduran military
intelligence unit called Battalion 316. Her captors tied the 24-year-old
woman's hands and feet, hung her naked from the ceiling and beat
her with their fists. They fondled her. They nearly drowned her.
They clipped wires to her breasts and sent electricity surging through
her body." Sounds sickening familiar now, doesn't it? (see
bibliography below).
Last but not least, evidence that Bush knew and promoted heavy-handed
tactics in Iraq can be found with just one glance at the people
with whom he has surrounded himself. Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld,
Richard Myers, Condolezza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz -all served in the
US government at the height of the power of some of the most repressive
US-backed regime, including Pinochet and Saddam. In fact, many of
the same crimes being committed in Iraq were committed by Halliburton
mercenaries in Burma while Cheney was CEO. The Institute for Public
Accuracy reports, "Cheney's Halliburton also profited enormously
from projects around the world that have been widely condemned for
horrendous human rights abuses and massive environmental destruction.
The numerous examples include doing business with the notorious
Yadana pipeline project in Burma -an environmentally damaging project
on behalf of which, according to a US federal court, egregious human
rights abuses were committed, including murder, torture, rape, forced
labor and forced relocation."
In short, the evidence that Bush knew about and condoned, if not
promoted outright, abuses of Iraqi civilians is screaming at the
American public, which has, alas, so far chosen to turn a deaf ear.
Copyright © 2003 by the News Insider and Cheryl Seal
News Insider columnist Cheryl Seal is a contributing essayist
to the recently released Big Bush Lies: 20 Essays and a List of
the 50 Most Telling Lies of President George W. Bush edited by Jerry
Barrett and available from White Cloud Press.
Bibliography and Online Sources
War Crime laws and Iraq: NPR interview by Cheryl Corely with war
crimes expert Gary Solis
Red Cross Statement on Repeated Warnings to US of Prisoner Maltreatment
Torture, Rape and Murder by Halliburton Mercenaries in Burma while
Cheney was CEO
Background Paper on Geneva Conventions and Persons Held by US Forces
Declassified Paper proves torture was taught by CIA
US Officials Misstate Geneva Convention Requirements
International Law, Article 7
Mercenaries in Africa's conflicts
Russian Mercenaries Accused of Kosovo Atrocities
Mercenaries 'R' Us
One-Shot Killer
Laws of War and War Crimes
A Survivor of Honduras CIA torture under Negroponte's Watch tells
her tale
Negroponte's coverup in Honduras
Copyright notice
The use of the editorials published on this site is free, as long
as News Insider is notified and referred to as the source of the
information cited. We believe in the free sharing of information,
but we do not encourage plagiarism. If our editorials are of use
to you, please contact us to let us know. Thank you for your cooperation.
Copyright © the News Insider 2000-2005. All rights reserved.
|
