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There has been a lot of political discussion recently about when US troops will pull out of Iraq and under what circumstances. But at the same time, the US government is negotiating an agreement with Iraq that would spell out terms for American troops to stay past the end of this year, when United Nations authorization expires.

2008-06-17

MALABO, Equatorial Guinea (AP) - Prosecutors are requesting a 30-year prison sentence for a British ex-officer accused of masterminding a failed coup plot in Equatorial Guinea.
Attorney General Jose Olo Obono has told the court that the charges against Simon Mann are serious enough to merit the death penalty. But an extradition agreement prohibits the death penalty

Part I - 07.06.08

 

Outsourcing is one of the givens of the 21st century global economy. This includes armed security services. No one realizes this more than the George W. Bush. In waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Bush administration relies to a large extent on private guards . Or, more to the point, on mercenaries.

Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

 

UNITED NATIONS, June 16 -- That the UN might pay mercenaries to do peacekeeping missions appears closer all the time. French private military firm Secopex has announced a contract with Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, worth 50 to 100 million Euros over three years, to patrol the coastline and to protect president Yusuf, whose plane is fired at every time it leaves or enters Mogadishu airport.

No matter who wins the White House, the security firm is shooting for lucrative work.
By Jeremy Scahill - June 16, 2008

 

From California to Iraq, business has never been better for the controversial private security firm Blackwater Worldwide. Company President Gary Jackson recently boasted that Blackwater has "had two successive quarters of unprecedented growth." Owner Erik Prince recently spun his company as the "FedEx" of the U.S. national security apparatus, describing Blackwater as a "robust temp agency."