US Private Military Contractors in Ukraine?Stephen Lendman Jeremy Scahills book titled Blackwater: The Rise of the Worlds Most Powerful Mercenary Army described the organization. He called it a shadowy mercenary company (employing) some of the most feared professional killers in the world accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences (and) largely off the congressional radar. It has remarkable power and protection (within) the US war apparatus. Its well funded. It operates extrajudicially. Its unaccountable. Its licensed to kill, terrorize, destroy and destabilize. It takes full advantage wherever its forces are deployed. Other private military contractors operate the same way. Theyre mercenaries. Theyre well-paid. Theyre well-trained. Theyre guns for hire. More on them below. Washington bears full responsibility for ousting Ukraines democratically elected government. EU partners share it. Neo-Nazi putschists were installed. They have no legitimacy whatever. So-called May 25 elections are scheduled. Theyll be sham ones when held. The battle for Ukraines soul continues. Expect hard times to get much harder. More on this below. The transition from one jurisdiction to the other is a complicated process, but I think in the case of a favorable outcome of the referendum, the Crimeans will be able to feel as citizens of another country within a month. Theyll benefit in ways Ukraine denies them. Grigory Ioffe is Crimeas parliament first deputy chair. He called the March 16 referendum historic. Itll be very democratic and open, he said. Itll fully comply with Ukraines constitution and international law. Independent observers and foreign media are welcome. Over 2.2 million ballots will be printed. About 1,250 voting stations will be ready. Russians comprise about 60% of Crimeas population, Ukrainians around 25% and Tatars 12%. Sevastopol hosts most of Russias Black Sea Fleet. It holds special status. Its not officially part of Crimea. Its residents will vote in the March 16 referendum. Theyll decide if they want to become part of Russia. On March 8, Itar Tass headlined Sevastopol to join Russia after referendum city administration head Dmitry Belik. We will hold one referendum with the rest of Crimea, he said. Constitutional changes will be made separately, he added. Two referendum questions will be asked: On March 8, Belik addressed an International Womens Day rally. The salaries of public sector employees, medical and social workers will be preserved at their current level as a minimum or maybe even increased, he said. We are now working in close contact with Russian officials over a new social system for the city. He thanked Putin and Russias parliament for their support. On March 8, Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov swore in the first group of self-defense forces. He called doing so a historic event. On March 16, theyll be deployed to assure things go peacefully. The Armed Forces of the Republic of Crimea have been created for defense, not for offense, Aksyonov stressed. They want all Crimeans protected. Many eastern Ukrainians reject Kiev putschists. Mass rallies were held in Donetsk and Lugansk. Residents want their own referendum. They want the right to declare independence or join Russia. Donetsk residents oppose Kiev appointing billionaire oligarch Sergey Taruta governor. They appointed their own peoples governor, Pavel Gubarev. He supports unification with Russia. On March 6, he was arrested. On Saturday, hundreds of city residents rallied for his release. Tensions remain high. Last week, Donetsks administration headquarters changed hands several times. Videos began circulating. Theyre disturbing. They showed several hundred unidentified well-armed men in military-style uniforms without insignia. Russias Rossiya 1 television believes theyre Washington-enlisted Academi mercenaries. Similar reports are circulating. Londons Daily Mail headlined Has Blackwater been deployed to Ukraine? Notorious US mercenaries seen on the streets of flashpoint city as Russia claims 300 hired guns have arrived in the country. Videos circulated. Donetsk residents were heard shouting Blackwater! Blackwater! Armed mercenaries were visible. Interfax cited a Russian diplomat in Kiev, saying: These are soldiers of fortune proficient in combat operations. Most of them had operated under private contracts in Iraq, Afghanistan and other states. Most (came) from the United States. Days earlier, Russian media said 300 strong men arrived at Kievs Boryspil airport. They carried military-style bags. On March 4, Voltairenet headlined US mercenaries deployed in Southern Ukraine. Russian political scientist Alexander Dugin was cited. He said Academi Greystone Limited mercenaries were sent to Ukraine. They arrived in groups. They wore civilian attire. They carried bulky packs. From Kiev, apparently they went to Odessa. Its in southern Ukraine. On March 2, Before Its News.com (BIT) headlined 300 Blackwater Mercs Land in Ukraine? According to our Ukrainian friendscharter flights began arriving(S)trong young men in ordinary civilian clothes disembarked. BIT called them Greystone Limited mercenaries. The only question iswho pays them? Who do you think? Certainly not Kiev putschists. Washingtons dirty hands are involved. Kiev-controlled Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) forces joined them. They conducted hit-and-run operations. They arrested Gubarev. City authorities lawlessly charged him with attempting to seize power. Other activists were arrested. Late Saturday, Donetsk residents attempted to storm local SSU headquarters. They demanded Gubarevs release. They toppled a truck carrying arrested activists. Donetsk security forces arrived. Resident shouted Do you remember those youre protecting? Those who mistreated you in Kiev? Lugansk is another hotbed of pro-Russian sentiment. Thousands rallied. They waved Russian flags. They chanted Russia! Ukraine! Belarus! Together! They chose their own peoples governor, Aleksandr Kharitonov. They confronted pro-Kiev elements earlier. They dont trust city police. They have their own self-defense forces. Kharkov is Ukraines second largest city. Its in eastern Ukraine. So are Donetsk and Lugansk. Theyre near Russias border. Kharkov residents held their own anti-Kiev rallies. Lots more in eastern Ukraine are likely. It bears repeating. The battle for Ukraines soul continues. Washington employs thousands of private military contractors (PMCs). Theyre mercenaries. Theyre hired guns. Peter Dale Scott once said theyre authorized to commit violence in the the name of their employers. Theyre predatory bandits. Theyre uncontrollable subordinatesrepresentingpublic power (in) remote places. They operate extrajudicially. Theyre unrestricted by US, international, or local governments laws. Theyre free from civil or criminal accountability. Under Article 47 of the 1977 Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions: A mercenary is any person who: (a) is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict; (b) does, in fact, take a direct part in the hostilities: (c) is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of the Party; (d) is neither a national of a Party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a Party to the conflict; (e) is not a member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict; and (f) has not been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces. Washington substitutes them for Pentagon forces. At multiples more in cost. Using them gives US authorities cover for whatever crimes they commit. Doing so avoids accountability. Theyre an integral part of Americas imperial agenda. Apparently theyre operating in Ukraine. Perhaps hundreds will increase to thousands.Maybe in other Ukrainian cities. Maybe covertly in Crimea. If not now, maybe later. Expect East/West tensions to escalate. Expect the risk for open conflict to increase. A Final Comment US-backed putschists usurping power in Kiev was phase one. Next comes forced-fed austerity. IMF and other Western loans demand it. Neo-Nazis in charge presented what they have in mind. Looting Ukraine began. Pensioner income was halved. It went from $160 to $80 dollars monthly. Expect other social benefits slashed. Expect it across-the-board. Ordinary people will be hardest hit. Kommersant-Ukraine (K-U) obtained an internal document. The Finance Ministry has prepared a plan for optimizing budget expenditures, which implies budget sequestration is to be in force before the end of March, said K-U. For this purpose, in particular, it has been proposed to reduce capital costs, eliminate tax schemes and preferences and to cut social benefits, for example, 50 percent of pensions to working pensioners. Putschists intend depriving ordinary Ukrainians to pay bankers. Theyre doing it straightaway. Expect much greater pain and suffering. Expect mass layoffs. Expect deepening poverty. Expect predatory Western corporations taking full advantage. Expect higher energy and food prices. In February, the UNs Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported the highest increase in a basket of food commodities since mid-2012. A statement said: The figures were released amid news reports of spikes in wheat and corn prices in response to recent developments in Ukraine, though the February increase in the Index cannot be entirely attributed to those events. Ordinary anti-Yanukovych Ukrainians may yearn for his return. They supported criminal elements. They did it unwittingly. How theyll react going forward remains to be seen. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.His new book is titled How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War.Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/ 