This video is called Blackwater Mercenaries Murdering Unarmed Civilians – Testimonies Iraq.
From daily The Morning Star in Britain:
Use of mercenaries ‘out of control,’ warns watchdog
Wednesday 11 July 2012
by Our Foreign Desk
Watchdog Global Policy Forum warned on Tuesday that the United Nations is using too many private military and security companies.
The forum said that the increasing UN use of these companies is “dangerous,” may increase rather than reduce threats and attacks on UN buildings and personnel and suggests the system is “unaccountable and out of control.”
Even incomplete UN data shows a steady rise in the number of security contracts, with the value increasing from $44 million (£28.8m) in 2009 to $76m (£48.8m) in 2010, the latest data available.
UN spokesman Martin Nesirky claimed that it is appropriate to use armed private security contractors if the organisation ensures “due diligence” in its operations.
…
But the forum insisted that, “in the absence of guidelines and clear responsibility for security outsourcing, the UN has hired companies well-known for their misconduct, violence and financial irregularities – and hired them repeatedly.”
The forum said that the UN insists that most companies are used for unarmed security services, but warned that contractors are increasingly being used for risk assessment, security training and logistical support.
This effectively allows the companies to define the UN security strategy “and even its broader posture and reputation.”
It also urged a UN reassessment of its dealings with such firms to assess whose interests contractors serve and if they help the UN promote democracy, the rule of law and human rights.
Reblogged this on NonviolentConflict.
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Toronto security firm sued over fatal Afghanistan shooting
Tundra Strategies failed to report threats made by security guard, lawsuit alleges
The Associated Press
Posted: Jul 10, 2012 3:19 PM ET
Last Updated: Jul 10, 2012 4:48 PM ET
The family of a California soldier killed in Afghanistan has sued a Canadian military contractor for rehiring a security guard, an Afghan national, after he allegedly threatened to attack U.S. troops.
The wrongful-death lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles claims Tundra Strategies failed to document the threats made by Shir Ahmed and didn’t report the danger he posed to U.S. military officials.
Ahmed killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded four others at a Kandahar military base in 2011. Among those killed was medic Rudy Acosta, whose family along with three survivors, filed the suit.
Ahmed was killed after he opened fire. U.S. officials said Tundra records show Ahmed wasn’t flagged as a threat because the allegations against him were unsubstantiated.
A phone message left for Tundra was not immediately returned.
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Mercenary firm pays $7.5m fine
UNITED STATES: Security contractor Academi LLC — formerly Blackwater — agreed to pay a $7.5 million (£4.7m) fine on Tuesday to settle 17 criminal charges.
The company — which won massive no-bid security contracts from the Bush administration after the Iraq war — faced accusations of possessing unregistered weapons, lying to firearms regulators, smuggling body armour and passing military secrets to Denmark and Sweden.
http://morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/122431
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