U.S. Must Investigate Aegis & Tim Spicer

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Saturday December 03, 2005 01:05

by Daithí Mac Lochlainn

…from The Times (UK):

“Colonel Barry Johnson, the United States military spokesman in Baghdad, said the US military is reviewing the video ‘to see if an investigation is warranted and whether to open one’. Colonel Johnson, added: ‘They [the US military] are assessing it to determine if there is any evidence that warrants an investigation. The first indication I had of this case was some days ago.’

Foreign contractors are required to obey the same rules as the military in warning civilian motorists not to approach convoys by waving them away and firing warning shots. Part of the video footage appears to show a civilian car accelerating towards the convoy vehicle.”

Please urge your American acquaintances to write to their Senators and Congressional Representatives and demand an independent investigation of this tragedy.

A few points should be made. (The may copy-and-paste to their own correspondence, if they’d like!):

1.) Aegis Defence Services, the company in question, secured a contract with the United States Department of Defense.

2.) The Chairman and Chief Executive of Aegis is Lt Col Tim Spicer.

3.) Spicer’s past history in Northern Ireland, especially with regard to the death of Peter Mc Bride, has long been a matter of concern.

4.) Information regarding these issues is easily accessible, even by means of a Google search.

5.) A civil rights organization, The Pat Finucane Centre in Derry, maintains files on these issues which are accessible to all.

6.) Father Seán Mc Manus of the Irish National Caucus in Washington, D.C. has made every effort to bring these concerns to the attention of the Dubya Administration.

7.) The U.S. Government’s own intelligence apparatus is even better equipped to vet potential contractors.

8.) Hence, it is absolutely impossible that the Department of Defense was not aware of these human rights and legal concerns.

9.) The retaining of Aegis’ services in Iraq is clearly indicative of informed and deliberate disregard for the human rights and even the lives of Iraqi civilians.

10.) The motives of the Defense Department, and of the Dubya Administration as a whole, must be thoroughly investigated.

11.) The potential impact of the more recent events on “Route Irish” must be examined.

12.) What crimes may have been committed in contracting with Aegis Defence Services?

"Mark my words, this contract is going to come back and bite them." ~ Rev'd Father Seán Mc Manus.

http://gaelicstarover.blogspot.com/2005/12/investigate-spicer.html

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Comments (2 of 2)

US envoy to meet McBride family on Aegis

by anon

Sat May 20, 2006 22:45

The Pat Finucane Centre have issued this press release today:

US Special Envoy agrees to discuss Iraq contract with Mc Bride family

Private security firm tries to gag whistle-blower over Iraq shootings

As controversial British private security/ mercenary firm Aegis Defence Services prepares to take legal action to gag a whistle blower the US Special Envoy to the North has agreed to meet the Mc Bride family to discuss the role of Tim Spicer in the company. Spicer, former gun-runner and mercenary, was the commanding officer in 1992 in Belfast when soldiers under his command murdered Peter Mc Bride. Though convicted of murder the soldiers remain the British army. Spicer has repeadedly lied about the circumstances surrounding the murder and has sought to justify the incident where Scots Guards opened fire on a youth they knew to be unarmed. On leaving the military Spicer was involved in mercenary activities and attempted coups in Africa and Asia and the Pentagon decision to award his company a $293 million contract in Iraq has been widely opposed in the US and elsewhere. When allegations surfaced recently that Aegis employees were involved in the murder of civilians in Iraq, incidents caught on so-called trophy videos, Jean Mc Bride again called on the US authorities to cancel the contract, a call echoed by a number of US Senators and members of congress.

Speaking today Jean Mc Bride said,

"The last thing the poor people of Iraq need is a man who tries to justify the murder of unarmed civilians which he has done in Peter's case. Isn't it about time that someone told the US public where their tax dollars are going? This is one foreign fighter that the Iraqis should definitely expel. That is what I intend telling Mitchell Reiss when I meet him in May. "

via http://tomgriffin.typepad.com/the_green_ribbon/2006/04/....html

Pentagon clears Spicer Aegis in Trophy video without interviewing merceny-cameraman/occupants

Fri Jun 16, 2006 01:24

In recent days, Reiss has been informed in an email letter by the PFC that it was contacted by an individual "who wishes to provide vital information to the trophy video investigation" being carried out by the Pentagon.

"Mr. Stoner has also informed us that it is his understanding that none of those present in the vehicle have been contacted by the Pentagon, or indeed by any official investigating the video. If true this would suggest that a cover-up has taken place of matters concerning serious criminal wrong doing, including murder," the letter to Reiss added.

http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=17970

Unedited clips from Rod Stone former Aegis mercenry who took the video

http://www.channel4.com/more4/news/news-opinion-feature...d=214
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U.S. Must Investigate Aegis & Tim Spicer

Comments (2 of 2)