The Most Notorious Mercenary alive

At least he's British

Here is a more general overview of the man's backstory and the campaigns he was in/waged

Overview
Lt. Col. Tim Spicer is a twenty year veteran of the British Army, a former Scots Guard officer, a Sandhurst graduate and a veteran of the Falkland's War, conflicts in Northern Ireland and Bosnia. He went from anti-war hippie in 1970 to returning to England to join up with the Special Air Service. His military career did not really take off and he stayed in the Scots Guard for most of his time.

He served as the Brigade Major in 11 Armoured Brigade, based in Germany. The commander of 11 Armd Bde was the then Brigadier (later Major General) Jeremy J Phipps (late Queens Own Hussars), a former commanding officer of 22 SAS, and who later became Director, Special Forces.

In 1992 Spicer applied for a job as military assistant for Peter de la Billiere whose job involved the disbursement of military services in the Gulf. This was Spicer's first entrance to the world of Special Forces. It was here that, according to Spicer, he brought fellow ex-Scots Guard and future senior director of Executive Outcomes Ltd (UK), Simon Mann, into their operation.[1]

Upon leaving the army in 1995, Spicer went into the private military workplace, first CEO of Sandline International which he left in 2000; then on his own with Crisis and Risk Management Ltd. which became Strategic Counseling International which later became Trident Maritime. He immediately ran into trouble for incorrectly registering the shareholdings and directorships because he had his publicist Sara Pearson, of PR company The Spa Way, register the company at her office's address.

She helped Spicer's image, which had been badly tarnished by his own doings, with the release of a book, An Unorthodox Soldier [2]. While stating his case for the role of hired soldiers in conflicts, parts of the book have been criticized by opponents for being grossly inaccurate on some key issues. [3]

Some time in the spring of 2003, Spicer started Aegis Defense Services, at the same place he ran Trident, with his friend Mark Bullough. This soon became a smart investment as the new company won a $293 million contract from the Pentagon to oversee the largest private army in the world.

Belfast
On September 4, 1992, two Scot Guardsmen under Spicer's command shot to death unarmed 18 year-old Peter McBride in the New Lodge area of Belfast. The two Guardsmen, Marc Wright and James Fisher were convicted of murder, however due to a vocal campaign that included Spicer, they were released early and returned to their assigned duty, fighting in Basra during last sping's invasion. The court ruling supported the murder claims and recognized the barrage of lies that accompanied the susequent investigation. Spicer, however, holds onto his story despite the evidence to the contrary.

The family of Peter McBride and the Pat Finucane Center are worried about the current history of PMCs in Iraq, and they see Tim Spicer's army as a frightening sign of the future. They have asked for people in the US to bring to Congress' attention Spicer's track record before going through with the contract. They insist that hearings should at least be had before granting him the power over such a large and sensitive enterprise.[4] [5]

Papua New Guinea
After discovering a vein of copper on the island of Bougainville, CRA, an Australian subsidiary of British Rio Tinto mining company, established by force and displacement, the Panguna Copper Mine that over twenty years has turned into 7km around and .5km deep. Besides the general ecological destruction that takes place making the mine accessible, it has created over a billion tons of waste that has been poured into the Jaba river valley. [6]

In 1988 the people of Bougainville revolted under the leadership of Francis Ona. The Papua New Guinea government, with the aid of the Australian government, spent ten years waging war against the people there using phosphorus bombs, blockades of medicines, murder, torture and rape to get their copper mine back.

This is the situation Tim Spicer's Sandline walked into when they were hired by the Papua Prime Minister Julius Chan. The $36 million contract was leaked to the PNG army by Brigadier Jerry Singirok. The members of the under paid, poorly fed army felt the money could be spent in better ways, and they revolted against the government and arrested and deported most of the Sandline employees.[7]

They, however, kept Spicer around for nearly a month and had a trial to show the corruption involved in the contract. Among the evidence presented by the prosecution was a suitcase found on his person with $400,000 in it. During the precedings he admitted the operation, codenamed "Operation Oyster", involved using attack helicopters and other methods to intimidate the people of Bougainville.[8].

Before he was let go, with help from the British government, it was clear his company had accepted as part of its job description, to develop and wage forms of psychological warfare, along with standard military operations, against the people of the island.

Sierra Leone
In 1998, Sandline was contracted by the ousted president of Sierre Leone, Ahmed Kabbah to oust the coup leaders. Despite an international embargo against the country, Spicer and an Indian banker, Rakesh Saxena, set up a deal to bring 30 tons of Bulgarian arms into the African country. They were also contracted to arm and train about 40,000 militia. Along with aid from the Nigerian army, the militia was able to overthrow the RUF. Payment for these services is said to be $10 million in diamond mine concessions, which makes sense due to Sandline's close relationship to Diamondworks, a company with diamond concessions in Sierra Leone.[9]

In 1995, Kabbah had hired Executive Outcomes to fight the same group keeping him from obtaining his elected post. They were successful and kept the peace for further elections, however, the International Monetary Fund pulled funding out of the country because of the EO's presence. With no money to pay them, they left and the opposition Revolutionary United Front rose up again to drive Kabbah from power.[10]

Despite what effect the arms shipment may or may not have had, what is clear is Spicer felt confident leading Sandline through an operation that was illegal by international standards. When questioned initially about it, he claimed he didn't know of the laws enforcing the embargo. The law specifically was UN resolution 1132 which had been past in October and incorporated into British law.

Go here for many more articles throughout the investigation.

Other points
Spicer was consulted by the British government concerning the coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea as described by Jack Straw, "considered the case and agreed the (Foreign Office) should approach an individual formerly connected with a British private military company, both to attempt to test the veracity of the report and to make clear the (Foreign Office) was firmly opposed to any unconstitutional action such as coups. A senior Foreign Office official did so within days. The individual concerned claimed no knowledge of the plans. The Sunday Times of Britain confirmed this individual was indeed Spicer, who was thought to pass the message along to Simon Mann and Greg Wales, former business associates and fellow coup plotters. [11]

Source: sourcewatch.org

Edited by Ponce de Leon - 01-May-2008 at 15:23

The West's answer to Arkan.

A biography from Tim Spencer's Aegis company website. I thought it would be interesting to read on what he has to say about himself

Tim Spicer OBE
Chief Executive Officer of Aegis Defence Services Ltd
Tim Spicer is the founder of Aegis and the primary force behind the company’s strategic development. Since leaving the British Army in 1994 he has had a broad exposure to industry and has defined Aegis’s business focus from lessons learned over the past 10 years.

During his 20 year military career he saw active service in Northern Ireland, the Falklands campaign, the Gulf war and Bosnia, as well as serving in the Far East, Cyprus and Germany. Tim’s key appointments included Chief of Staff of an Armoured Brigade, Instructor at the Army Staff College, Staff Officer at the Directorate of Special Forces, Military Assistant to General Sir Peter de la Billiere, Military Assistant to General Sir Michael Rose in Bosnia and Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion Scots Guards. In 1992 Tim was awarded the OBE for operational service in Northern Ireland.

During his military career he developed extensive knowledge of intelligence, counter terrorism, protective security and media relations. Since 1996 he has been at the forefront of the development of the private security industry worldwide and has been a very significant contributor to the debate over the industry’s global contribution to government security initiatives.

Since the formation of Aegis in 2002, Tim has overseen the rapid growth of the company. In addition to leading Aegis’s growth, Tim spearheaded the company’s bid in 2004 for the $300M prime US Government tender to provide core reconstruction security support services in Iraq. This contract was the largest ever US Department of Defense contract awarded in this sector. He has also developed a number of innovative aspects of support which have been adopted by the Coalition.

Tim’s strengths in the conceptual development of operations and planning, and his deep insight into the needs of the sector’s client base, have helped deliver increasing market share, constant customer satisfaction and the growing enhancement of Aegis’s reputation.

He created the Aegis Charitable Foundation in 2004, a registered UK charity which provides direct assistance to communities through low cost, high impact civil affairs projects. Tim’s effort and support of this charity not only significantly helps communities in great need having suffered from conflict, but has also enhanced the ability of Reconstruction Operations in Iraq to actually implement their programmes successfully. Tim’s concept for the charity has been to carefully target projects that communities need and also want. The Foundation has therefore concentrated its efforts on building relationships with local tribal leaders and communities to provide clean water projects, inoculation programmes, school and health clinic equipment and smaller items such as toys, clothes and shoes. Tim has now expanded the Foundation’s arena to include Afghanistan.

Tim is also a published author – ‘An Unorthodox Soldier’ – and a regular commentator and speaker on security matters.

source: aegisworld.com

looked at the FAQ part of Aegis' website. This particular question caught my eye because it contradicts a lot of other information sources I have come acrossed.



Some also claim that Aegis is the ‘second largest foreign force’ in Iraq. Is this true?

No. Aegis has approximately 1,100 contractors in Iraq. Some PSCs have more than this. The US, UK and South Korea all have more troops in Iraq than Aegis has staff in the country.

source: aegisworld.com

With 420 million dollars paid in contracts to Aegis, I believe there is good reason to believe there are more than 1000 Aegis soldiers in Iraq.


Edited by Ponce de Leon - 01-May-2008 at 17:18

I know quiet a lot of ex- Pakistani army officers who either own security companys (as the are called here) or work for them. Most of our guys work in Afghanistan.

Originally posted by Brian J Checco Originally posted by Zagros The West's answer to Arkan. Arkan wasn't all he was cracked up to be. Hamdu Abdic's "Tiger" Brigade and the Bihac 502nd  under Dudakovic gave him and his boys a shellacking around Sanski Most a few weeks before the Dayton Accord ceasefire in '95. I heard an anecdote via Anthony Loyd (journalist, London Times) that after the battle around the town, the 502 captured his headquarters in the hotel and had a party with captured beer and wine. Dudak and Abdic even argued over who had the honor of sleeping in Arkan's bedroom.  That was one ugly war, however. Anyone know what Arkan's been up to since '95? He sort of fell off my radar.

Looks like Arkan took the dive in Belgrade in 1990, assassinated, probably by the Milosevic regime. The wikipedia article says he probably "knew too much," seeing as the UN was starting to prosecute war criminals.
There's also some good details as to the nature of the beatings that Arkan's Tiger militia by the BiH and HVO in and around the Krajina in 1995.

Some corrections, if I may? Atif Dudaković commanded the 5th Corps of the Bosnian Army. The 502nd was a battalion attached to the 5th, and was commanded by Hamdu Abdić (no relation to Fikret Abdić). I have not been able to find any reference to their being referred to as the "Tigers." However, Arkan (aka Željko Ražnatović) commanded a paramilitary wing of the Serb army in the Republika Srpska. Perhaps you were confused?

Here is another article making an arguement that a few former SAS are making a profit for their "war-mongering" activities in Iraq.

Ex-SAS Men Cash in on Iraq Bonanza

by Pratap Chatterjee
June 9th, 2004




Many of the best-paid private security contracts in Iraq are managed by a small group of British ex-soldiers who served in the Special Air Services (SAS), an elite regiment of commandos that is considered one of the best special force units in the world.

Olive Security from Mayfair, London, was one of the first security companies on the ground in Iraq, arriving immediately after the troops in April 2003. Created by Harry Legge-Bourke, the brother of the former nanny to princes William and Harry, Olive draws off a pool of more than 100 SAS soldiers who are used as bodyguards and to prepare logistical reports on the security situation.


Two days after the invasion was complete in April 2004, the firm deployed 38 former SAS officers to set up operational centers for Bechtel. "This is crisis management in a hostile environment," Legge-Burke told reporters at the time. "You need people who know what they are doing."

But Legge-Bourke is a relative newcomer in the field of private security, following in the footsteps of two SAS veterans: Alistair Morrison and Richard Bethell, and Tim Spicer, who are now deeply involved in Iraq contracts.

Bethell has worked closely with Tim Spicer since the Falklands War in 1982, when the two men were first involved in planning to equip the soldiers that were sailing to Argentinia, and then eventually dodging landmines and fighting together in the battle of Tumbledown. Today Spicer has his own new start-up in Iraq called Aegis Defense Services (see Controversial Commando Wins Iraq Contract) with another ex-SAS man, Jeremy Phipps (see From Embassy Hero to Racing Disgrace).

Defense Systems Limited

For most of the 1990s, Richard Bethell and Alistair Morrison ran the profitable private security company Defense Systems Limited (DSL) in offices next to Buckingham Palace in London. In 1997, Major General Stephen Carr-Smith, a senior staffer, explained that the company's clients included "petrochemical companies, mining or mineral extraction companies and their subsidiaries, multinationals, banks, embassies, non-governmental organizations, national and international organizations--those people who operate in a very dodgy, hostile type of environment."

DSL has provided counter-insurgency training for security forces in Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea and Mozambique. Bethell, who is nicknamed 'Tarzan' because of his long blond locks, personally organized a training mission of the Colombian police's elite force in 1990. The two men tried to hire Spicer to come work for them in 1995, but he decided to set up his own company (see sidebar on Sandline).

Bethell (now known as Lord Westbury) and Morrison sold their stakes in DSL in 1997 and parted ways, setting up rival companies that eventually cashed in on the Iraqi reconstruction bonanza.

Hart Group

In July of 1999, Bethell established the Hart Group to provide security to media groups and engineering companies before, during, and after the invasion of Iraq. The company briefly gained the limelight last April, when Gray Branfield, a South African working for the company, was killed in Iraq in the town of Kut.

A couple days later, news reports revealed that Branfield was one of South Africa's most secret covert agents during the apartheid era. He was part of a death squad that ambushed and shot African National Congress chief representative Joe Gqabi 19 times as he reversed down the driveway of his Harare home on July 31, 1981. Branfield was also a member of South African Defense Force's secret "Project Barnacle," a precursor to the notorious Civil Co-operation Bureau (CCB) death squad. In 1985 he was involved in planning a raid on Gaborone in which 14 people, including a 5-year-old child, were killed.

Erinys

Morrison, on the other hand, helped Sean Cleary, another senior apartheid-era official from South Africa who was closely linked with Jonas Savimbi, leader of the UNITA rebel movement in Angola. Cleary and Morrison set up a company called Erinys, which was awarded an $80-million contract to provide security for Iraq's oil infrastructure in the summer of 2003. Today, Erinys has more than 15,000 employees and is the biggest employer in the private security business in Iraq.

Soon after this security contract was issued, the company started recruiting many of its guards from the ranks of the Free Iraqi Forces, an Iraqi army group formed by Ahmed Chalabi, an Iraqi political exile, with funding from the Pentagon, to fight against Saddam Hussein. This prompted allegations that Erinys was creating a private army.

Other Erinys employees, charged with training the local Iraqi guards, included two South Africans who served as secret police in the apartheid regime. One of the men, Francois Strydom, was killed earlier this year when a bomb exploded outside Baghdad's Shaheen Hotel. The other, Deon Gouws, was seriously injured in the same explosion.

Strydom was a member of Koevoet, a notoriously brutal counterinsurgency arm of the South African military that operated in Namibia during the neighboring state's fight for independence in the 1980s. Gouws, who was a former officer in South Africa's Vlakplaas, a secret police unit, received amnesty application from the Truth And Reconciliation Commission after admitting to between 40 and 60 bombings of political activists' houses in 1986; a car bombing that claimed the life of KwaNdebele homeland cabinet minister and African National Congress activist Piet Ntuli; and an arson attack on the home of Mamelodi doctor Fabian Ribiero.

Quiet and Very, Very Expensive

While the guards who monitor the Iraqi oil pipelines are mostly Iraqi, trained by South Africans, the high-level corporate executives from Halliburton and Bechtel prefer to use ex-Western commandos as personal guards.

John Davidson, who runs Rubicon International, a British security company that supplies guards to British Petroleum and Motorola executives, told the Scotsman newspaper that they mostly hire ex-SAS personnel to guard their clients. "The SAS are extremely well-trained, low-profile, not waving flags. They go about things in a quiet manner, they are the creme de la creme," he says.

These ex-SAS men don't come cheap. David Claridge, managing director of London-based Janusian Security Risk Management, told the Chicago Tribune that clients can expect to pay up to $10,000 a day for top-of-the-line service that would include four armed guards and two armored vehicles.

These men can earn as much as a $250,000 a year--about three times more than they can earn in Britain. Indeed, the boom in Iraq has even caused a small crisis for the British security forces. The Scotsman estimates that one in six SAS and SBS (Special Boat Service) men have asked for permission to quit their jobs to go to Iraq. The British government is alarmed by the trend because it costs as much as $3 million to train each of these men.

A similar crisis has also engulfed the South African Police Services' elite task force, a division of 100 men who accompany senior politicians like President Thabo Mbeki. As many as half of their employees have asked for early retirement in order to go to Iraq. The $5,000 monthly salary for these men is equivalent to about six months pay at home.

"What is alarming is that members of specialized units are resigning. It will have a negative effect to lose that experience -- it takes at least a year to train them," Henrie Boshoff, an Institute for Security Studies military analyst, told South Africa's Sunday Independent.

Secret Club

How do these men learn about these jobs? Well, the epicenter of Britain's thriving trade in private military service is rumored to be the Special Forces Club, an undistinguished Victorian house located at 8 Herbert Crescent, just behind the world famous Harrods department store in central London, where all of these ex-SAS men often gather for drinks and swap stories.

"Ex-SAS, British secret service, Central Intelligence Agency or U.S. Special Forces visitors who call can, for a moderate price for the district, check in to the Donovan Room, named for 'Wild Bill' Donovan, founder of the CIA's predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services," writes British investigative journalist Duncan Campbell.

According to Campbell, other club bedrooms are named for European resistance heroes and FANY (the acronym stands for First Aid Nursing Yeomanry), the female equivalent of the SAS. "From gaudy modern plaques, awarded by the CIA's Counter-Terrorist Center, past French resistance memorabilia and a portrait of Ronald Reagan's CIA chief Bill Casey, to fading pictures of the wartime founder of the SAS, Colonel Sir David Stirling, the halls and walls of the Special Forces Club are hung from floor to ceiling with the history of spooks, sabotage, and subversion," he adds.

source: www.corpwatch.org"

Thank you for that tidbit of information Mr. Chookie

Arkan was actually assassinated a couple of years ago, AFAIK.