Dr. Alexander von Paleske ---- 13.04. 2007 --- British Prime Minister Tony Blair has with much fanfare recently announced, that part of the British army will be withdrawn from Iraq. What he did not mention was, that mercenaries will fill the gap.

And he is busy to secure the flow of them to Iraq. On 29th August 2006 the South African Parliament has approved a new anti-mercenary law with a vote of 211 to 28. The bill called "Prohibition of Mercenary Activities and Prohibition and Regulation of Certain Activities" compels South Africans to get authorization to enlist in foreign armies or mercenary companies. The bill seeks to close loopholes in the existing anti-mercenary law.


Did his level best: British High Commissioner to South Africa, Paul Boateng

The British High Commissioner to South Africa, Paul Boateng, did his level best to stop the bill or at least to get it watered down, unsuccessfully up to now, however South African president Thabo Mbeki has not signed the bill as yet.. The British Government continues with it's efforts.

What has the British Government to do with a South African anti-mercenary law?

The answer is simple. The British Government wants a continuous flow of mercenaries and regular soldiers from South Africa not only into it's own army, where already 800 South Africans are enlisted, but more so in all areas of conflict, where these mercenaries are most welcome to do outsourced duties of the British army, like in Iraq.

Mercenaries have been hired by so called Private Military Companies, like Aegis, MPRI, Erinys, Blackwater and others for mercenary- jobs in Iraq. They outnumber the British Army contingent there by far.The South African contingent is estimated to be around 10.000.

Aegis and Tim Spicer
Special mentioning deserves Aegis, headed by the top mercenary Tim Spicer, who was before CEO of the British mercenary company Sandline, that was in turn connected to the South African mercenary company Executive Outcomes.

Spicer, despite his mercenary past in Africa and Papua New Guinea got the top contract from the Pentagon to the tune of 290 million US Dollars to start with.

He is now overall in charge of all mercenaries, totalling more than 40.000.

Directors in his Aegis company are a grandson of Winston Churchill, also MP of the Conservative Party, Nicholas Soames and the former commander of the British Special Forces Forces, Jeremy Phipps.

A significant shareholder is an author by the name of Frederick Forsyth. He once wrote the book "Dogs of War", now he is getting money out of these "dogs", dog's food so to speak.

Not to forget Robert Mc Farlane, security adviser of President Ronald Reagan during those golden oldie days of the Iran-Contra Scandal, when Khashoggi, Oliver North and others were sending weapons to Iran via Israel and the profits were used to sponsor a right wing terror group in Nicaragua, the Contras. Everything illegal, of course. He is now adviser to Aegis, how wonderful.

Proven in Terror-Combat.
Many of South Africans are former members of the apartheid terror- and destruction gangs like Reconnaissance commandos (Recce), 44 Parachute Brigade, the 32 Buffalo Battalion, Koevoet and the death squad Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB)

They came for murderous excursions into neighbouring countries like Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho Angola , Swaziland and even Tanzania.

Botswana had tasted as well the brutality of these gangs. They came on 14 June 1985 and 20th May 1986 to Gaborone, killing at least 14 people, wounding several others and blowing up a number of houses afterwards.


Mourning the victims of the raid, Michael Dingake, Ex Robben- Island prisoner
Photo: Dr. v. Paleske



Some of these units used to eliminate captured freedom fighters with the help of poison, delivered allegedly by South Africa's Dr. Mengele by the name of Dr. Wouter Basson, and the bodies were thrown out of a plane over the Atlantic Ocean. The Geneva Convention was an unheard foreign entity.


Dr. Death or Wouter Basson: The bodies were thrown out of a plane over the Atlantic Ocean

Iraq - A legal Vacuum
The Iraqi Government has no jurisdiction over members of foreign armies as well as mercenaries. And unlike members of foreign armies, who fall under military law, no martial law is applicable for mercenaries. They virtually operate in a legal vacuum, something each and every criminal would highly appreciate. For the mercenaries an ideal environment to operate in, when the killing of innocent civilian rather a day-to-day event. Shoot first and ask questions later on, if at all.

The murderous trail of these companies came to light, when a disgruntled Aegis mercenary put a shooting video on the internet, with music from Elvis Presley.

The South African government, strongly opposed to the occupation of Iraq, tries now to put an end to this unwelcome export.

However, the British Government wants to continue with it's efforts, to get changes done to the bill even after it's approval, that shows, how much Tony Blair appreciates the mercenary service in the interest of Queen and Country.

The desire in Europe to serve for these "security" companies has despite the high salaries somehow watered down. Iraq turns out to be a walk into hell. This experience was also made by Gary Branfield, former member of the Civil Cooperation Bureau and architect of the attack on Gaborone in 1985.

Branfield alias Major Brian, who on 31 July 1981 killed with a death squad the ANC representative in Harare Joe Gqabi, by shooting him 19 times, found eventually his fate as mercenary in Iraq in 2004, where he was killed.

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