The Military Industrial Complex Comes To Colombia And The Sudan

For over two weeks now we have been waiting for the "slavery" in Sudan crowd to admit that the US government is providing military and logistical support to the Sudanese People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA), the rebel group that assists Christian Solidarity International (CSI) in the so-called "slave redemptions". We have heard nothing. That is not surprising considering that much of that crowd is woefully ignorant of how their efforts to heighten awareness of "slavery" in Sudan and throughout Africa is providing a cover story for US intervention on the continent. Now, thanks to some in the media we are able to link the US government's most recent covert efforts in Sudan with those already in effect in Colombia.

Thanks to two stories that ran a couple of weeks ago in the Washington Post and CorporateWatch.org we are now able to demonstrate that the US government is using a private military contracting firm in the Sudan to provide support for the SPLA and that this same firm is being used by the US in a very questionable manner in the supposed war on drugs in Colombia.

The firm is DynCorp, a company that is based in Virginia and which has some incredibly cozy relationships with the U.S. Pentagon and State Department. They are an outfit that exhibits an array of abilities ranging from manning flights to establishing whole communications networks as well as performing electronic surveillance. We have been told that they can do anything from flying a fighter jet through a jungle to running a political campaign. Some refer to them as private contract mercenaries.

It appears that the service that DynCorp provides is more than just technical in nature. Since they are not officially members of the United States Armed forces they provide the US military with plausible deniability - allowing the US to be involved secretly in wars and political campaigns in foreign countries without allowing the US government to officially admit such. By "outsourcing" to private contractors like DynCorp, if something goes wrong the U.S. can claim ignorance.

Already, the doublespeak has begun. On Colin Powell's recent trip to Africa, the Secretary of State called for peace and reconciliation in Sudan. Powell de-emphasized the issue of "slavery" and spoke to the larger problem, that of the civil war. We would have been impressed with Secretary Powell's statesmanship had we not already become aware of the fact that his State Department had already granted a $3 million contract to DynCorp to provide logistical support to the SPLA.

How, we wonder can the US have any credibility with the Sudanese government, as a mediator of sorts, if it is paying some of the bills and providing assistance to the very group that wants the government overthrown. How is that for becoming an "honest broker"?

For a full month now we have been warning people about taking a headfirst leap into the "slavery" in the Sudan issue where the motto is "talk first and ask questions later". With President Bush using "slavery" in the Sudan as a cover to increase US AID (a known CIA conduit) activity in Sudan and now, with the State Department backing the SPLA through DynCorp, there should no longer be any doubt as to what is going on in Sudan.

Whether they like it or not, the anti-"slavery" in the Sudan crowd is now in lockstep and working in the service of the U.S. foreign policy objectives in Africa and Latin America.

We imagine some may not mind that fact but maybe, just maybe, some will.

Please Read: U.S. Slates $3 Million for Sudanese Opposition - Washington Post

Please Read: DynCorp In Colombia: Outsourcing the Drug War - Corporate Watch

Cedric Muhammad

Monday, June 4, 2001