I also found it funny that to some of the people commenting, "American mercenaries" automatically means "Blackwater". Blackwater was a private military company - in fact they no longer exist as Blackwater - and what they do is legitimate security work, highly regulated and overseen by the US Government.
You've got to figure - we've had almost 15 years of continual war ... before that we had a professional military the likes of which the world has never seen, with a lot of continual experience in places like Grenada, Lebanon, Panama, Kuwait, Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Libya and the Mahgreb . . . and so of course it is inevitable these days that guys are "freelancing" - in two places specifically: Ukraine and Iraq.
The American warrior class is firmly established and quite distinct and visible . . . we are also the most misunderstood class of American society . . . and it is an honor to be included as a member of it . . .
STORMBRINGER SENDS
He's American. If I had to bet, I'd say he's from our upper east coast.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is you do not see him speak, his hand is in the way. Could a savy media person splice that visual with a separate audio?
ReplyDelete"Freelancing"? Somebody is paying. Ukraine is broke and has its own indigenous special forces. So who hires US PMCs besides the US government? Assuming the film clip isn't fake, it's clear from the uniform and equipment that the individual isn't trying to be clandestine or covert which probably means contractor and plausible deniability. Qui bono?
ReplyDeleteMaybe he is an American Ukrainian who returned home to fight. If he came to U.S. as child than he would have all likelihood picked up an American accent. This is the most likely answer.
ReplyDeleteUkrainian-American volunteer? Why hide his face then? It's not a violation of US law to join another country's military as long as you are not fighting against the US or it's Allies. Why not reply to the reporter in Ukrainian (even rudimentary Ukrainian would be necessary to operate in a Ukrainian military unit)? The Ukrainian volunteer battalions are on the front lines. His uniform is clean and neat and plenty of spring in his step..... no recent combat exposure.
ReplyDeleteHe would be violating the neutrality act actually!!!!
ReplyDeleteHere's a quote from Wikipedia on the Neutrality Act: "The end of neutrality policy came with the Lend-Lease Act of March 1941, which allowed the U.S. to sell, lend or give war materials to nations the administration wanted to support." Bay of Pigs ring a bell? Also, the Defense Minister of Estonia is a retired US Colonel of Estonian decent.
DeleteAlexsander Einseln 1993-1995. Google it.
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DeleteHave ever heard of the Patriot Act?
DeleteAlso your facts are wrong on the Neutrality Act, Not everything on Wikipedia is correct!!!!
http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2008/08/neutrality-act-and-case-vang-pao
This is the current incarnation of the Neutrality Act under U.S. Code:
Delete18 U.S. Code § 960 - Expedition against friendly nation
Whoever, within the United States, knowingly begins or sets on foot or provides or prepares a means for or furnishes the money for, or takes part in, any military or naval expedition or enterprise to be carried on from thence against the territory or dominion of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or people with whom the United States is at peace, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
Sanctions against another country are not acts of peace and in certain circumstances can be considered acts of war (i.e. naval blockade). Therefore, by Executive Order, we are not in a state of peace with the Russian Federation. Furthermore, by legal precedent US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy made a finding on the legality of covert operations in Cuba (Para#3 in link) that "Second, the neutrality laws were never designed to prevent individuals from leaving the United States to fight for a cause in which they believed." http://research.archives.gov/description/193990
DeleteDoes you Title 18 USC include PMCs working for the CIA? Remember the Raymond Allen Davis incident in Pakistan in 2011?
DeleteDoes not include action taken by the government only individuals!!!
DeleteA simple ..."Ich weiss nicht" would have been a more appropriate response..
ReplyDeleteI'm a Brit and I think he sound like a Brit from the South of England.
ReplyDeleteHaving listened to it several more times I do agree it could be American.
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