Re: <nettime> PMCs or What Iraq and Liberia Have in Common AND Colombia Timor Cambodia and EVEN the internet

[auskadi <auskadi@tvcabo.co.mz>]

The PMC's have had a big role supporting US  involvement in UN 
Peacekeeping Missions for some time.
For example Dyncorp on of the leaders in the field had a large presence 
in East Timor during the period of the UN administration.
Soenke's posting also reminded me of the merging ot the tech companies 
with the PMC's as evidenced by the Wired article last Febraury 
regarding Computer Sciences Corporation, a California-based technology 
services company, purchase of DynCorp. Remember Dyncorp also has a 
fairly prominent role to play in places like Colombia and with this 
purchase and the emrging of info industry with military industry maybe 
the war against terror at home and abroad has joined forces with the war 
against drugs, and any other war they feel inclined to get involved with 
even now the war against a free net and code.....
See: This Gun for Hire:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.02/gunhire.html
Martin

Soenke Zehle wrote:

>"The war in Iraq could not have taken place without a network of for-profit
>contractors upon which the U.S. military has come to depend. Some 20,000
>employees of private military companies (PMCs) and of more traditional
>military contractors accompanied the U.S. forces in the buildup to war in
>the Middle East. They maintained computers and communications systems in
>Kuwait, Qatar and other locations, handled many aspects of logistics as the
>military's supply lines moved through Iraq and helped the Pentagon identify
>key targets in Iraq. As hostilities began, many of these PMC employees were
>integral to the American effort, keeping communications secure, assisting
>with the reopening of Iraq's southern oil fields and performing many other
>crucial tasks, often right behind the front lines" [1].
 <...>

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