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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: mercenaries

mercenaries stories: 8 news summaries

 Blackwater Waging 
 'Secret War' 
 in Pakistan 

Mercenaries doing CIA dirty work, plotting killings

Nov 24, 09 4:55 AM CST
(Newser) - An elite team of Blackwater operatives have been doing the CIA's dirty work in Pakistan, a Nation investigation finds. The team plans operations, including "snatch-and-grab" assassinations and drone strikes from a secret base in Karachi run by US Joint Special Operations Command, according to a senior source with... More »

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CIA • Pakistan • Blackwater • mercenaries • security contractors • spy drones • Joint Special Operations Command • Xe Services • Blackwater Select

Zelaya: Israeli Mercenaries Trying to Kill, Irradiate Me

Witnesses report strange apparatus

Sep 24, 09 12:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - Manuel Zelaya says “Israeli mercenaries” are planning to assassinate him, and in the meantime are torturing him by pumping toxic gases and high-frequency radiation into the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. “We are being threatened with death,” he tells the Miami Herald, but “I prefer to... More »

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Israel • mercenaries • Honduras • Manuel Zelaya

 Blackwater Guards 
 Keeping Iraq Jobs 

Loss of contract means many guards will just change uniforms

Apr 4, 09 5:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - Blackwater is getting kicked out of Iraq but not all of its workers will be leaving with the shamed company, the New York Times reports. The Iraq government refused to renew the security firm's license after its guards were repeatedly accused of using excessive force but many, if not most,... More »

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Iraq • State Department • Blackwater • mercenaries • Triple Canopy • security contractors

US Can Turn 70% of Afghan Taliban: Biden

Largest group of insurgents just hired mercenaries, VP says

Mar 10, 09 1:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - A majority of the Taliban fighters in Afghanistan are just hired guns whose loyalties could be bought by the US, Joe Biden said today. “Five percent of the Taliban is incorrigible, not susceptible to anything other than being defeated,” the vice president said. “Another 25% or so... More »

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Joe Biden • NATO • Taliban • mercenaries • Anbar • Bill Maher • Sunni insurgents • NATO summit • Obama administration • Bill Maher Grid

Blackwater Ditches Name, Attempts to Change Image

Firm renames itself Xe; will focus on training and logistics support

Feb 13, 09 2:58 PM CST
(Newser) - Private security firm Blackwater Worldwide is hoping to shed some of the controversy that has dogged it since its bloody tenure in Iraq by renaming itself Xe (pronounced “Zee”), the AP reports. Besides the name change, the firm has altered the focus of its business from contracting out... More »

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Iraq • State Department • Blackwater • training • mercenaries • security contractors • logistics

 A-Team Bound for Theaters 

Joe Carnahan tapped to direct

Jan 28, 09 1:11 PM CST
(Newser) - The A-Team is coming back! Fox has tapped director Joe Carnahan, of Smokin’ Aces fame, to direct a big-budget update of the hugely popular '80s action show, Radar Online reports. Few plot details have emerged, except that it will keep the core story of veterans—now of Iraq, not Vietnam—... More »

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television • film • mercenaries • Fox • Twentieth Century Fox • action movie • Iraq war • Mr. T

 Africa Crushes Comoros Coup 

20th time unlucky for Indian Ocean rebels

Mar 26, 08 3:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - The latest renegades to seize power in the Comoros Islands have been defeated, reports the Independent. Government and African Union troops regained control in an amphibious assault at sunrise yesterday. The island nation in the Indian Ocean has been rocked by more than 20 coups or coup attempts, many... More »

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Africa • African Union • Indian Ocean • Comoros • mercenaries • coup d'etat

Blackwater Guards on Steroids: Suit

Shooting victim's kin accuse security firm of fostering lawless culture

Nov 28, 07 4:29 AM CST
(Newser) - Private security contractor Blackwater fosters a "culture of lawlessness" among its guards, who are revved up on steroids and other "judgment-altering substances," claims a lawsuit filed by families of Iraqis killed by the guards. Plaintiffs include two survivors of a September shooting when the guards opened fire... More »

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Iraq • Blackwater • lawsuit • mercenaries • Iraq contractors

8 Stories


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