On "Militias" - Hezbollah, Blackwater, British East India Co

[serious_fun]

While the Bush Administration calls for the immediate disbanding of what it has labeled “private” and “illegal” militias in Lebanon and Iraq, it is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into its own global private mercenary army tasked with protecting US officials and institutions overseas. The secretive program, which spans at least twenty-seven countries, has been an incredible jackpot for one heavily Republican-connected firm in particular: Blackwater USA. Government records recently obtained by The Nation reveal that the Bush Administration has paid Blackwater more than $320 million since June 2004 to provide “diplomatic security” services globally. The massive contract is the largest known to have been awarded to Blackwater to date and reveals how the Administration has elevated a once-fledgling security firm into a major profiteer in the “war on terror.”

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060828/scahill

Does this kind of activity by Imperial nations really surprise anybody? The article, (link above), on the Nation’s website, gives the impression of moral outrage…but this is nothing new. It is the “sepoy strategy”…used for centuries! Sikhs, Ghurkas, Montagnards, Tamils, Hmong, Amboinese, Cossacks, Northen Irish “Loyalists”, Central American “Contras”…all powers used, and still use, local militias to do the dirty work…and to die for them!

Hezbollah, a proxy army for Iran? Probably.

Lebanese Phalangists, a proxy army for Israel? Probably…(but never again…that was before the Israelis destroyed Phalangist neighbourhoods in this recent invasion of Lebanon)

Blackwater, Vinnel Corp., MPRI, KBR, DynCorp, SAIC, BDM International, Armor Holdings, Cubic Applications, DFI International, International Charter Inc, etc etc. as proxy armies/support groups for the American Empire? definitely.

British East India Co., Hudson Bay Co. as proxy armies for the British Empire? definitely.
(and a great model for the US Empire’s luxury bases around the world…just like Darjeeling and Shrinigar under the viceroy and the Raj!)
[and just as the Boer War marked the end of the British Empire, so does the quagmire in Iraq mark the end of the American.]

Dutch East India Co. as proxy army for the Dutch? yes…

and so it goes… :s

We should not be surprised, although US taxpayers may have a problem with it. They are shelling out billions to these private firms!

[bobl]

What kind of info do you have on Cubic Applications?
You have them listed in a group of “private armies”. I have worked for Cubic for 5 years and never have carried a gun.
Cubic is primarily an electronics firm that makes training systems using GPS and “laser tag” technologies.

I am not aware of Cubic doing the same thing as Blackwater.

[serious_fun]

[quote=“bobl”]What kind of info do you have on Cubic Applications?
You have them listed in a group of “private armies”. I have worked for Cubic for 5 years and never have carried a gun.
Cubic is primarily an electronics firm that makes training systems using GPS and “laser tag” technologies.

I am not aware of Cubic doing the same thing as Blackwater.[/quote]

Yes - Blackwater would certainly be on the martial side of things, while Cubic Corp. and its subsidiaries would be service providers…although Cubic Corp is listed as having sold $2.185 million worth of weapons to the Pentagon. (the types of weaponry are not listed…) I found that info. on the following site:

publicintegrity.org/pns/db.a … =008382293

I still see all of them as a part of the outsourced Pentagon, and so a part of the sepoy strategy which I mentioned…BUT- I apologise for having listed them all as “private armies”. I’ll edit that designation now. Thanks for pointing this error out.

[bobl]

I still see all of them as a part of the outsourced Pentagon, and so a part of the sepoy strategy which I mentioned…BUT- I apologise for having listed them all as “private armies”. I’ll edit that designation now. Thanks for pointing this error out.

Thank you. I don’t want to be labeled with the mercenaries.