the Middle East
In East Timor Australian forces leading the UN Transitional
Administration peacekeeping force in 1999 were dependent on
logistics outsourced to private companies, while the UN employed
private intelligence and security firms to assist. In Malaysia TASK
International trained the Royal Malaysian Police in close
protection, hostage rescue, defensive driving and crisis management
for the Commonwealth Games held September 1998 in Kuala Lumpur.
In the former Soviet Union and the Middle East, a huge increase
in PMC activity has taken place since the end of the Cold War, with
thousands of ex-Soviet soldiers working in the industry. One
example is the Moscow-based Alpha firm, founded by former KGB
Special Forces personnel, which has a linkage with the
international Armorgroup firm. Contract soldiers have been found
alongside regular forces in Chechnya and have defended facilities
in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Kazakhstan.
Given the unstable security situation, a region like Central
Asia, with oil reserves that international firms want to exploit,
is likely to attract PMCs in a big way. Future pipelines slated to
run through conflict-ridden zones such as Chechnya and Georgia will
need to be secure. PMCs have long been used to guard pipelines in
other countries, such as Colombia. In fact, British Petroleum hired
a PMC to work with a battalion in the Colombian army.
PMCs are also notable in the Middle East. Israeli-based PMCs
such as Levdan, Ango-Segu Ltd and Silver Shadow have worked in the
Congo, Angola and Colombia. Some Persian Gulf states are known to
depend on PMCs. In Saudi Arabia, US-based PMCs practically run the
armed forces, with defense contractor BDM, parent of Vinnell,
providing logistics and training and advisory services to the Saudi
general forces. Vinnell itself trains the Saudi National Guard,
while Booz-Allen Hamilton runs the military staff college, SAIC
supports the navy and air defenses and O'Gara protects the royal
family and trains local security forces. In Kuwait, DynCorp
supports the air force.
Currently, as the Financial Times recently reported, 150
employees of DynCorp are guarding Hamid Karzai and other leaders in
the US-backed Afghan government against assassination attempts.
Similarly, in Iraq, DynCorp is recruiting and training a police
force. Kroll, the US security firm, may train a private security
force. Vinnell Corp is training the Iraqi army.
Clearly, making the military your business is good business.
(Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please contact [email protected] for information on our sales and
syndication policies.)Hubungannya dengan Tuhan Agama adalah factor
yg mempengaruhi, bukan penentu. Jika menjadi penenti maka akan
represif (IK, 65)Peninjauan kembali isi agama: sifatnya reaktif dan
sifatnya inheren dalam tubuh ajaran sendiri (IK, 75)
Dinamisme adaptif dthd kemajuan di luarnya pesantren (IK,
94)
Setiap agama memiliki watak transformative, yaitu berusaha
menanamkan nilai-nilai yang baru dan menggantikan nilai-nilaiyang
lama yang dianggap bertentangan dengan ajran-ajaran agama (IK,
77)Persuesaian antara pandangan hidup agama dan cara hidup yg
rasional
On August 13, the Voice of America was due to broadcast a
television show exploring "the role played worldwide by
mercenaries, and whether such private armies have a legitimate
place in the execution of policy".
It is just the latest sign that private military companies
(PMCs) are playing an increasing role in the realm of international
security affairs, and the acronym PMC is even listed in the US
Department of State Office of Contingency Planning and
Peacekeeping's database of acronyms. The web page states:"These
acronyms have been selected based on their appearance in cable
traffic and/or documents utilized in the Office of Contingency
Planning and Peacekeeping. In general, therefore, they relate to
complex humanitarian emergencies, contingency planning, regional
conflict, conflict prevention and resolution, civil-military
operations, and peace support operations."
While the doings of some PMCs have received much publicity over
the past decade, it has usually been in the context of specific
countries or regions; first the South African firm Executive
Outcomes in Angola and Sierra Leone in Africa, then the US firm
MPRI in Croatia and Bosnia in Europe, and another US firm, DynCorp,
in Bosnia and in Colombia.
But it is not well appreciated that PMCs now operate all over
the world. While no authoritative figures are available, there are
estimates that the PMC industry generate US$100 billion in annual
revenues and that PMCs operate in more than 50 countries. According
to a study published last year by the International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists, since 1994, the US Defense Department
has entered into 3,061 contracts valued at more than $300 billion
with 12 of the 24 US-based PMCs.
According to Peter Singer of the Brookings Institution, author
of the recently published book Corporate Warriors, " In the last
decade, PMCs have been active in zones of conflict and transition
throughout the entire globe. They have been critical players in a
number of conflicts, and in many the determinate actor. They have
operated from Albania to Zambia, often with strategic impact on
both the process and outcome of conflicts. PMCs have been active on
every continent but Antarctica, including in relative backwaters
and key strategic zones where the superpowers once vied for
influence."
And Asia is no exception. One example is Papua New Guinea, which
was the setting for the well-publicized aborted 1997 intervention
by the UK firm Sandline. According to Singer, other, lesser-known
countries include: Sri Lanka, where the government has hired PMC
pilots to fly gun ships. Nepal, where ex-Ghurka soldiers have
formed a PMC of their own, Ghurka Security Guards. Incidentally, a
Ghurka working for a PMC was recently killed in Iraq. He was
working for a private security contractor, Global Security, and was
in a vehicle that had been delivering mail for the United Nations.
Another contractor employed by Kellogg Brown & Root, a
subsidiary of US company Halliburton was killed when a
remote-control bomb exploded under the truck he was driving north
of Tikrit. In Cambodia a French PMC provides de-mining services. In
1996, Executive Outcomes provided training and support to the
Indonesian special forces in hostage rescue operations. The
training was to aid the Indonesian special forces in an operation
in West Papua (Irian Jaya). In the Philippines the combined number
of PMC employees outnumber the police or the army. Grayworks
Security, a Filipino company, provides military training to
government forces. Control Risks Group provides security planning
for mine sites in the Philippines. In Taiwan PMCs have also
provided advisory services to the military. In the South China Sea
PMCs like Trident have taken on anti-piracy duties. Last year the
Economist reported on two PMCs - Marine Risk Management and
Satellite Protection Services (SPS) - that deploy airborne
mercenaries to deal with piracy. SPS even suggested stationing
2,500 former Dutch marines in Subic Bay in the Philippines - for a
mere $2,500 per day per combatant. In East Timor Australian forces
leading the UN Transitional Administration peacekeeping force in
1999 were dependent on logistics outsourced to private companies,
while the UN employed private intelligence and security firms to
assist. In Malaysia TASK International trained the Royal Malaysian
Police in close protection, hostage rescue, defensive driving and
crisis management for the Commonwealth Games held September 1998 in
Kuala Lumpur.
In the former Soviet Union and the Middle East, a huge increase
in PMC activity has taken place since the end of the Cold War, with
thousands of ex-Soviet soldiers working in the industry. One
example is the Moscow-based Alpha firm, founded by former KGB
Special Forces personnel, which has a linkage with the
international Armorgroup firm. Contract soldiers have been found
alongside regular forces in Chechnya and have defended facilities
in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Kazakhstan.
Given the unstable security situation, a region like Central
Asia, with oil reserves that international firms want to exploit,
is likely to attract PMCs in a big way. Future pipelines slated to
run through conflict-ridden zones such as Chechnya and Georgia will
need to be secure. PMCs have long been used to guard pipelines in
other countries, such as Colombia. In fact, British Petroleum hired
a PMC to work with a battalion in the Colombian army.
PMCs are also notable in the Middle East. Israeli-based PMCs
such as Levdan, Ango-Segu Ltd and Silver Shadow have worked in the
Congo, Angola and Colombia. Some Persian Gulf states are known to
depend on PMCs. In Saudi Arabia, US-based PMCs practically run the
armed forces, with defense contractor BDM, parent of Vinnell,
providing logistics and training and advisory services to the Saudi
general forces. Vinnell itself trains the Saudi National Guard,
while Booz-Allen Hamilton runs the military staff college, SAIC
supports the navy and air defenses and O'Gara protects the royal
family and trains local security forces. In Kuwait, DynCorp
supports the air force.
Currently, as the Financial Times recently reported, 150
employees of DynCorp are guarding Hamid Karzai and other leaders in
the US-backed Afghan government against assassination attempts.
Similarly, in Iraq, DynCorp is recruiting and training a police
force. Kroll, the US security firm, may train a private security
force. Vinnell Corp is training the Iraqi army.
Clearly, making the military your business is good business.
(Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please contact [email protected] for information on our sales and
syndication policies.)Hubungannya dengan Tuhan Agama adalah factor
yg mempengaruhi, bukan penentu. Jika menjadi penenti maka akan
represif (IK, 65)Peninjauan kembali isi agama: sifatnya reaktif dan
sifatnya inheren dalam tubuh ajaran sendiri (IK, 75)
Dinamisme adaptif dthd kemajuan di luarnya pesantren (IK,
94)
Setiap agama memiliki watak transformative, yaitu berusaha
menanamkan nilai-nilai yang baru dan menggantikan nilai-nilaiyang
lama yang dianggap bertentangan dengan ajran-ajaran agama (IK,
77)Persuesaian antara pandangan hidup agama dan cara hidup yg
rasional
