CBS: American Slain In Saudi Arabia (Vinnell Employee)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/29/terror/main620280.shtml

An American citizen was shot and killed Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, according to a U.S. Embassy official.

"We can confirm that an American has been killed in Riyadh," a U.S. Embassy official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. He provided no further details.

Another diplomat in Riyadh, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the victim was a man and that he was shot and killed in the Khaleej neighborhood of eastern Riyadh.

Saudi security officials would not immediately comment.

State Department sources tell CBS News Reporter Charles Wolfson that the man, an employee of the Vinnell Corporation, was getting out of his car when he was shot near his home in the Saudi capital.

[bobthedrummer]

1. Another mercenary gone.

They really pay for the privilege too.

Campaign Contributions of Post-War Contractors (MERCENARIES)
http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/resources.aspx?act=contrib

[bluestateguy]

2. For any American civilian to still be in Saudi Arabia is sheer stupidity

Dumb.

[jmcgowanjm]

38. The Foreigners in Saudi are not vacationers

What if the Saudi spare production capacity itself is not
real? Credible sources have suggested that Saudi Arabia
can barely maintain its current output of around
8.5 million barrels a day, and that when it does increase
output, it is only briefly and mainly by means of using its
strategic reserve, which was only recently created, and may
be as large as 70 million barrels. If this is the case, it
could indeed maintain a 2-million-barrel-a-day increase
in output, but only for a month.


http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/060104_darley_saudi_summary.html

[daleo]

3. A BBC camera man was killed on Sunday as well

Definitely not a safe place for westerners.

[frylock]

4. so are we gonna light up riyadh like we did falluja?

gotta avenge the death of that mercenary.. errrrrrrrrrrrr civilian contractor.

[jmcgowanjm]

39. When we light up Riyadh, you will be seeing Peakoil

Because oil will be over $50/ bbl headed
for $100.

[CookieD]

5. Many of our contract workers, etc., are just trying to survive.

Most are not politically motivated. They're just trying to feed their families. The high pay these corporations (underwritten by we, the taxpayers) proves irresistible for some. Sadly, it can end in tragedy.

[bobthedrummer]

6. So they become mercenaries.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$:grr:$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[geek tragedy]

7. He could have been a truck driver.

Or is every westerner over there a mercenary who deserves to die, in your book?

[bobthedrummer]

8. Anyone that would go to a dangerous place to drive a truck or anything

else for "big bucks" is a mercenary, and Vinnell is next to GE in terms of political contributions.

Why some mercenaries had to be ordered not to charge OUR wounded GI's for their MEALS IN US MILITARY HOSPITALS
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=21368

Mercenaries are parasitical destructive SCUM.

MY VIEWS ON MERCENARIES ARE WELL KNOWN HERE, geek tragedy. YOU BROUGHT UP THE TOPIC OF PEOPLE DESERVING DEATH. CLARIFY PLEASE.

[geek tragedy]

9. Well,

that seems to be your take, given your "parasitical destructive scum" comment.

Of course, your definition of "mercenary" is nonsensical and absurd, so there's no point debating this with you.

[Zynx]

10. Mercenary...

The guy in Saudi Arabia wasn't a soldier or war profiteer civilian contractor-armed or otherwise. Probably just someone working for an oil company. We do need oil, you know...

I will however agree that he or any other Westerner still living in Saudi is dumb and making a very bad risk premium calculation regarding the jobs they do have there. In fact, anyone living there with dependents should be arrested for criminal negligence.

[geek tragedy]

11. Vinnell

does a lot of logistics stuff. They also train the Saudi military.

This guy could be a merc--from the Vinnell recruiting site:

http://www.vinnell.com/ArabiaRecruiting/recruiting.htm

Why Spend a Year or More in Saudi Arabia?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pros
Tax-free income
Pay off debts
Build a nest egg
College fund
Minimum in-country expenses
No taxes withheld from income
Professional workforce
Continue to do what you did in the military
Cons
Short tours away from family members
Harsh physical and cultural environment
No alcohol and few Western cultural amenities
Some items prohibited in the Kingdom

[bobthedrummer]

13. Now you appear to be pimping for mercenaries, geek tragedy.

But that's just my perception. Here's some links as to why mercenaries are loathed worldwide.
Campaign Against Arms Trade
http://www.caat.org.uk/information/issues/mercenaries.php

Grenada/Dominica
http://www.thegrenadarevolutiononline.com/page17a.html

[GermanDJ]

14. Wrong! Vinnell does not train the Saudi military / army

At least as far as I know. The Vinell Corporation (which belonged previously to the Carlyle Group and is now a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman) is training the Saudi National Guard. The National Guard belongs to Crown Prince Abdullah, who the current administration would rather not like to see as successor to king Fahd, who is very ill and will probably die in the near future.
The favorite in terms of proconsul for US foreign interests in Saudi Arabia is Crown Prince Sultan, who commands the army.

[bobthedrummer]

15. Click on Vinnell for an update on contracts (or any other mercenary)

Btw, Vinnell has subcontracted with MPRI, SAIC, Omega Training Group, Eagle Group and Worldwide Language Resources, Inc. in Iraq-bet they do the same in Saudi Arabia.

http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/resources.aspx?act=total

[geek tragedy]

17. What 's the difference

between the military and the national guard?

All together now . . .

"Ask George W. Bush."

Seriously, though, same difference regarding the nature of their activities.

I'm not going to debate people who make up their own personal definitions of "mercenary."

[bobthedrummer]

20. That's bullshit, I'm not alone in defining a mercenary as an entity

motivated solely financially-OUR military and OUR NG swear oaths to preserve, protect and defend OUR Constitution-which is US.
Deal with it.

[geek tragedy]

22. So, my local pizza joint

is run by mercenaries, since its only purpose is to make money?

[bobthedrummer]

24. Not in the context that your neighborhood is an occupied land or

dangerous warzone or under Islamic law. Just don't debate me. You promised you wouldn't do that.

Have the courage of your convictions.

[seemslikeadream]

29. What is happening in Fallujah was a result of the 4 mercenaries killed

The death of all the soldiers fighting in Fallujah is because of them



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic...

[jmcgowanjm]

37. virtually every aircraft carrier that can sail

Ships Underway (away from homeport):
169 (57% of total)
On deployment:
108 ships (37% of total) Submarines underway (away from homeport):
30 submarines (57% of submarine force)
On deployment:
8 submarines (15% of submarine force)

USS Enterprise (CVN 65) - Atlantic Ocean
USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) - Atlantic Ocean
USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) - Pacific Ocean
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) - Pacific Ocean
USS George Washington (CVN 73) - Arabian Gulf
USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) - Pacific Ocean
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) - Atlantic Ocean
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) - South Atlantic Ocean

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/news/.www/status.html

The US is forcing someone to do something.
This highly unusual.

[seemslikeadream]

19. Have you seen the new murals at Vinell Corporation Headquarters?

[GermanDJ]

31. ;-)

Though it's not really funny when you think of the victims.

I've seen a fair share of pictures of mercenaries and for sure I would not want to meet one of those guys ...
I had similar feelings when I followed a link on another thread about rumors that M-16s were being handed over to the Haitian "opposition" by the army of the Dominican Republic.
Just click on this link and you'll see what I mean (the picture at the bottom).

http://www.fuerzasmildom.com/english/armor13.php

[seemslikeadream]

32. My intention was not amusement and thanks so much for that link

The photos are incredible! Going back to look at more.


After the military conflicts in Panama, the Persian Gulf and Somalia, the need for a shorter version of the M16A2 again appeared. Colt engineers shortened the barrel back to 14.5", contoured the barrel to mount the M203 grenade launcher, and added a collapsible, sliding buttstock. They also created a new upper receiver using a modular sight mounting system for use on a sub-variant. In August 1994, both variations were adopted. The United States Carbine, Caliber 5.56mm NATO, M4 uses the new barrel and collapsible buttstock, but was first issued with the standard M16A2 upper receiver and sights to streamline production, though it now is made with the new modular upper receiver.

The M4 Carbine is similar in design and functioning to the M16 family of rifles, thereby greatly simplifying training, supply, and maintenance. Compared to the M16A2 rifle, the M4 Carbine is 1.3 pounds lighter, 6 5/8 inches shorter with buttstock extended, and almost 10 inches shorter with the buttstock collapsed.

By 2002 the Dominican Army’s antiterrorist unit received a limited number of the Israeli IMI Tavor Mini TAR-21 and a larger number of the modern Belgium futuristic looking FN P-90 submachine (350 in total).

By 2003 the common handguns used by officers and policemen are the Austrian Glock Model 17/18, Beretta M92F, Czech CZ75 and the veteran Colt M1911A1


Conclusive Evidence of U.S. Role in Kidnapping and Coup


PRESS ADVISORY
Monday, April 4, 2004
Media Contact: Dustin Langley 212-633-6646

As Bush Administration Scrambles to Shore Up Appointed Haitian Regime Commission to Present Conclusive Evidence of U.S. Role in Kidnapping and Coup

Date: Wednesday, April 7
Time: 6:30- 9:30 pm
Location: The Whitman Theatre at Brooklyn College

Panel to include: Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. Major Owens, Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Ossie Davis, Gil Noble, Amy Goodman, Ron Daniels, and other prominent activists and journalists

The Bush Administration is facing a growing crisis over its role in the coup in Haiti and the kidnapping of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who continues to speak out about his abduction by the U.S. The 15-member organization of Caribbean nations, CARICOM, has refused to recognize the U.S.-installed regime and has called for an investigation, despite intense pressure and threats from the U.S. The 53-member African Union has raised the same demand.

On Wednesday, April 7, the Haiti Commission of Inquiry will initiate a public inquiry of the role of the Bush Administration in the crisis in Haiti. Delegations that visited both the Central African Republic and the Dominican Republic will present conclusive evidence that U.S. Special Forces armed, trained, and directed the "rebels" and engineered the abduction of President Aristide.

The preliminary report from the Commission states, "two hundred U.S. Special Forces soldiers came to the Dominican Republic as part of 'Operation Jaded Task,' with special authorization from President Hipólito Mejia. We have received many reports that this operation was used to train Haitian rebels. We have received many consistent reports of Haitian rebel training centers at or near Dominican military facilities. We have received many consistent reports of guns transported from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, some across the land border, and others shipped by sea."

Johnnie Stevens of the International Action Center, a member of the delegation to the Central African Republic, said, "The U.S.-installed Prime Minister, Gerard Latortue, has hailed the paid mercenaries as freedom fighters, and had thus discredited himself among the Caribbean nations."

Secretary of State Colin Powell, in a desperate bid to lend some credibility to the Latortue government, is now visiting Haiti for the first time. This attempt to put U. S. weight behind the isolated colonial-style regime is a response to its growing isolation. Sara Flounders, of the International Action Center, said, "This visit by Powell is a sign of the Bush Administration’s growing isolation and disarray. The U.S. is desperately trying to shore up a discredited regime in the face of international opposition to the appointed government of Haiti after the stinging rebuke directed at the U.S. by the recent CARICOM meeting." Flounders is a member of the Haiti Commission of Inquiry and was part of the delegation to the Central African Republic, where she visited with President Aristide shortly after his kidnapping.

Kim Ives from Haiti Progres, who was part of the delegation to the Dominican Republic, told the media, "In the course of our investigation here, we met with many Haitians who were forced to flee Haiti following the coup d'etat of Feb. 29. Their testimony gave very concrete names and faces to the stories of violence which we have heard that the so-called rebels, trained and assembled in the Dominican Republic, have carried out in Haiti over the past month. We were also touched by the tears of refugees who told us of how they are apprehensive over the fate of their loved ones left behind in Haiti."

For more information, or to schedule an interview with a member of the Commission, call Dustin Langley at 212-633-6646.

Share this page with a friend


http://www.iacenter.org/haiti_0407press.htm


Operation Jaded Task


From 2/23/2003:
US Troopers Secretly Land in Dominican Republic
http://english.pravda.ru/world/2003/02/20/43514.html
The military training operation nicknamed Jaded Task took by surprise Dominican Foreign Ministry.

The US Army started today a training operation in the Caribbean country as part of routine maneuvers of the Southern Command. The landing had been kept so secretly that Dominican Foreign Ministry Hugo Tolentino was reported... by the TV.

As per the first reports, the US troops are training Dominican soldiers on anti-terrorism operations in the north of the island. When the national media started announcing the landing, country's Foreign Minister was having a lunch. Tolentino said that, as chief of the Dominican diplomacy, he should have been formally advised, as personally requested to the Dominican Army and the US Embassy to Santo Domingo.

(snip)

However, the most interesting thing, here, is that the Communist Party of the Dominican Republic did know about the operations. This correspondent had access to two formal communications issued by the US Embassy including details of these activities, during the Communist summit held in Buenos Aires in January. There, the US ambassador to Santo Domingo reported about 10.000 soldiers coming to the Dominican Republic to take part of the training.

Moreover, the communists and other leftist forces in the country made know such documents to the local media in November. According to the denounce, US soldiers can freely enter and leave the country without any kind of permission. Also, they can do it through owned means of conveyance.

(more at link)





EVERY DEATH CREATES NEW ENEMIES
MORE TERRORISTS
MORE DANGER
MORE DEATH
AND REMEMBER...
HE IS JUST GETTING STARTED...
BUSH'S PLAN FOR PEACE
IS THE PEACE OF THE COMMON GRAVE

http://www.bushflash.com/pax.html WATCH THIS VIDEO

[seemslikeadream]

34. Who owns the Royal Air Force?

Continuing U.S. military defeats in Vietnam from 1970 to 1974 brought near economic ruin on Vinnell, and the company filed a reorganization plan under California law in January, 1975. The company was saved from bankruptcy later that year when it landed a $77 million contract to train the National Guard of Saudi Arabia. The contract has been repeatedly renewed and expanded over the last 22 years and remains Vinnell's most profitable venture. The most recent incarnation of the Vinnell operation involves maintaining over 1000 employees in Saudi Arabia doing contract work for the Saudi National Guard and Royal Air Force. Although the Saudi royal family will pay the $819 million price tag for this project, it is clearly part of an ongoing effort by the U.S. government to shore up a politically moderate regime and strategic ally in the Middle East.

http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:fg1WyElFmIwJ:www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml%3Ftitle%3DVinnell_Corporation+Vinnell+Corporation+Saudi+military&hl=en

[jmcgowanjm]

40. Vinnell is DynCorp is CACI is National Endowment of Democracy

Is CIA is NSA is DoD.

[bobthedrummer]

12. ^

:hi:

[seemslikeadream]

18. This is the result of outsourcing war to Dogs

You could learn something here if you wanted to
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=125&topic_id=9558&mesg_id=9558&page=

[geek tragedy]

23. Sorry, but

those abuses started with the Department of Defense and ended with soldiers committing abuses. If there were non-governmental people involved, prosecute them too. But it wasn't mercenaries telling Bush he has the right to torture anyone he pleases.

[seemslikeadream]

26. I'm sorry but they started with the Department of the Interior

Gale Norton hired them.



Follow Torture Trail at Abu Ghraib

The actual interrogators accused of encouraging U.S. troops to abuse Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib jail were working for at least one company with extensive military and commercial contacts with Israel. The head of an American company whose personnel are implicated in the Iraqi tortures, it now turns out, attended an "anti-terror" training camp in Israel and, earlier this year, was presented with an award by Shaul Mofaz, the right-wing Israeli defense minister.

According to J.P. London's company, CACI International, the visit of London -- sponsored by an Israeli lobby group and including U.S. congressmen and other defense contractors -- was "to promote opportunities for strategic partnerships and joint ventures between U.S. and Israeli defense and homeland security agencies."

The Pentagon and the occupation powers in Iraq insist that only U.S. citizens have been allowed to question prisoners in Abu Ghraib but this takes no account of Americans who may also hold double citizenship. The once secret torture report by U.S. Gen. Antonio Taguba refers to "third country nationals" involved in the mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq.

Taguba mentions Steven Staphanovic and John Israel as involved in the abuses at Abu Ghraib. Staphanovic, who worked for CACI -- known to the U.S. military as "Khaki" -- was said by Taguba to have "allowed and/or instructed MPs (military police), who were not trained in interrogation techniques, to facilitate interrogations by 'setting conditions' ... he clearly knew his instructions equated to physical abuse." One of Staphanovic's co-workers, Joe Ryan -- who was not named in the Taguba report -- now says he underwent an "Israeli interrogation course" before going to Iraq.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0526-05.htm

"John Israel" from earlier posts

finecraft

Abu Ghraib civilian interrogator's diary online


From Billmon (http://billmon.org ) - "Bernhard, a Whiskey Bar reader in Germany, has made a spectacular catch - or cache, I should say, since it comes from the bowels of the Google data base.

What he stumbled across is the diary of one Joe Ryan, a frequent caller and on-air personality at station KSTP, a conservative talk radio station in Minneapolis. More recently, Joe has been serving as a military interrogator at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and KSTP has been posting his diary on their web site."

http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:XYYOCOWnu_8J:www.am1500.com/perso ...

orthogonal

Here's a bit of that diary that gives me pause

From that diary link: "CW3 Dan Adkins said to the television, 'kill 1,000 for every hostage killed. No need to discriminate either.'"

Much as I wholeheartedly support our troops, I have to be honest and say that this idea of mass reprisals -- and without discrimination, which apparently means just rounding up insurgents or civilians -- for the deaths of American troops reminded me of this:

In some occupied areas in which the Nazis had to contend with well organized and active guerrilla units, they applied a simple rule: they would massacre one hundred nearby civilians for every German soldier killed; fifty for every one wounded. Often this was a minimum that might be doubled or tripled. They thus killed vast numbers of innocent peasants and townsfolk, possibly as many as 8,000 in Kraguyevats, 1,755 in Kraljevo, and overall 80,000 in Jajinci, to name just in a few places in Yugoslavia alone. Most executions were small in number, but day by day they added up. From an official German war diary: 16 December 1942, "In Belgrade, 8 arrests, 60 Mihailovich supporters shot;" 27 December, "In Belgrade, 11 arrests, 250 Mihailovich supporters shot as retaliation." A German placard from Belgrade announced that the Nazis shot fifty hostages in retaliation for the dynamiting of a bridge. On 25 May 1943 the Nazis shot 150 hostages in Kraljevo; in October they shot 150 hostages in Belgrade; fifty hostages in Belgrade in August 1943; 150 Serbs at Cacak in October; and so on. In Greece, as another example, the Nazis may have burned and destroyed as many as 1,600 villages each with populations of 500 to 1,000 people, no doubt massacring many of the inhabitants beforehand. Overall, the Nazis thus slaughtered hundreds of thousands in Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Greece, and France; and millions overall in Poland and the Soviet Union.

(from: http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NAZIS.CHAP1.HTM )

if you'd like to read more of what our precious mercenaries said

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=584858

[bobthedrummer]

28. Yep!

Good point to drive home, the whole government IT being privatized and also in the hands of RW religious cultists thanks to The Carlyle Group and others, here's an article from 9-11-2000 by "coincidence" again
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2000/0911/news-fdc-09-11-00.asp

NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.

[seemslikeadream]

30. If you'd like proof

Interior Department suspends contracts for Iraq interrogators amid probe

By MATT KELLEY

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. army's civilian interrogators under scrutiny in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal are working under a contract designed originally for information technology services and overseen by the U.S. Interior Department.

Now Interior's internal watchdog is investigating the arrangement. The department, which normally oversees national parks and American Indian matters, has blocked the U.S. army from ordering new services under the contract. The confusing arrangement adds another layer to the uncertainty over who was in control of Iraqi prisoners and what rules governed treatment of the detainees. Army contract officials are supposed to keep contract workers in line and recommend punishment, Interior spokesman Frank Quimby said Tuesday.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.contractor24may24,0,1298454.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines

Some U.S. prison contractors may avoid charges
Interior Department hired Abu Ghraib interrogators; Loophole tangles prosecution; Army chain of command blurred in civilian abuses
By Scott Shane
Sun National Staff

May 24, 2004

The U.S. civilian interrogators questioning prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq work not under a military contract but on one from the Department of the Interior, a bureaucratic twist that could complicate any effort to hold them criminally responsible for abuse of detainees or other offenses.

The unexpected role of the Department of the Interior, usually associated not with wartime intelligence-gathering but with national parks, grew out of a government plan to cut costs. But in practice, it may have increased costs and reduced scrutiny, said Peter W. Singer of the Brookings Institution.

"You're placing a military interrogation task under Smokey the Bear," Singer said. "You can't have good oversight."

What's more, legal experts say, contractors for nonmilitary agencies such as the Department of the Interior may be able to escape prosecution for crimes they commit overseas because of an apparent loophole in the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act. The law, passed in 2000, applies only to contractors with the Department of Defense - a flaw some members of Congress want to remedy.

http://www.able2know.com/forums/about25477.html

[TolstoyAndy]

16. Anyone working for Vinnell is a mercenary n/t

[seemslikeadream]

21. Every Dog of War is putting our soldiers at risk

The Americans on the other hand - especially those looking after Bremer himself - were the polar opposite - loud, brash and arrogant. They wore a de facto 'uniform' which although it was of their own choosing, looked to have been formed by common consent from a depot of Banana Republic. They parade around wearing Oakley sunglasses, wearing flak jackets and vests laden with ephemera - radios, grenades, spare cartridges and magazines - curly wires trailing to their ears whilst they cradle automatic weapons aggressively in front of them. Beige cargo pants, held up by a gunbelt bearing a personal sidearm seemed to be the order of the day and their attitude made them no friends, especially amongst the soldiers and journalists who their work often brought them into contact with.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=125&topic_id=9558&mesg_id=9558&page=

[seemslikeadream]

35. only academic elites fret about pictures of collateral damage

"The torture pictures are absolutely irrelevant," Perlmutter said in a telephone interview. "Americans care about American soldiers, and only journalistic and political and academic elites fret about pictures of collateral damage ...

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=500...




They travel in armoured SUVs, ostentatiously carrying powerful weapons - assault rifles, sidearms, grenades - and they shoot and arrest people just as the soldiers do but minus the uniform and legal status. They're paid around $1,000 a day, considerably more than the regular soldiers or police officers which they used to be, work six weeks on and three off with paid flights home at the end of each tour. The advantage for the US is that their deaths and injuries don't show up on the figures for troop casualties. They are the bodyguards.

Jo Wilding said it best in her piece on the incident when four 'contractors' were killed, sparking off the siege of Falluja by US Marines.

"We arrived back just after the incident in Falluja where the contractors were shot, burnt, mutilated and dragged through the streets. The scenes themselves, on satellite TV in a friend's house, were shocking, all the more so because the dead men were described as civilians.

But what if they were soldiers, armed men who signed up for war and were paid to fight it? They were shot dead in an ambush - what was done to their bodies afterwards was distressing no matter what, but if they were soldiers, they were killed in action. The truth of course is that they were somewhere in between, mercenaries from US firm Blackwater Security, given a contract by USAID to protect contractors".


http://www.20six.co.uk/weblogEntry/x8ww81cjf0fa

[seemslikeadream]

25. Trying to survive on BLOOD MONEY

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=125&topic_id=9558&mesg_id=9558&page=

[JCMach1]

27. How anyone could work in Saudi is beyond me...

This is from someone who works in the Emirates...

The two places are light-years away from each other though... there is currently a mass exodus of workers going on from Saudi. Many simply will not return after Summer holidays.

[progressivebydesign]

33. A local self-described "soldier of fortune" makes 1k per day.

He gets it tax free. He plans to work two more years, having amassed 1 million dollars in salary by then, and retire to a "small central american country", where he'll "never have to pay taxes on the money", according to him. Oh.. and he says he and the others over in Iraq LOVE what they do.. it's all a dangerous game to them. The adreneline rush, playing with guns... etc. Now.. a guy like Thomas Hammill, who went over there to drive a truck to pay for his wife's heart surgery, that sounds like a guy.. just trying to get along.

I have no idea what the man murdered in Saudi Arabia did for Vinnell.. could have been an accountant. No one deserves to be murdered.

[saigon68]

36. They don't "DESERVE " to be MURDERED

It just happens when GREED overrides "COMMON SENSE"

[goforit]

41. I guess there are better companies than Vinnell to get your assassin

training. Since a Vinnell employee has been shot.