By Cheryl Seal,
democrats.com
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 butts 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 the guy who 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 pay off.
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 aparthied government fell, thousands of former soldiers and police were displaced - many of them brutal racists who had committed torture and other abuses under Aparthied. 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.
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