Colonel Tim Spicer, OBE, is back in the news with some disturbing video of his employees tail gunning civillian cars in Baghdad. Spicer is involved in running Aegis – Specialist Risk Management, one of the many private companies making a killing in the chaos of post-invasion Iraq. But this business not new to the Colonel. A brief CV does indeed indicate a well connencted and travelled person:

1. “Executive Outcomes” (Angola, + allegedly DRC – Tim worked alongside Simon Mann, later jailed for the Equatorial Guinea Coup attempt which also implicated Mark Thatcher) – to 1997

2. “Sandline” (Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea) – to 1999

3. “Crisis Risk Management” (?) – to 2000

4. “Strategic Consulting International” (allegedly counterinsurgency for the Nepalese government) – to 2001

5. “Trident Maritime” (counterinsurgency in Sri Lanka) – to 2002

6. “Aegis” (Iraq)

Craig Murray came across him before, back in the days of Sierra Leone as this article from 1998 expains.

Jack Straw must also be familiar with Colonel Spicer as he was instrumental in attempts to legalise private mecenary companies back in 2002.

“In developed countries, the private sector is becoming increasingly involved in military and security activity,” Mr Straw said in a foreword to the green paper. “It is British government policy… to outsource certain tasks that in earlier days would have been undertaken by the armed forces.” He added: “Today’s world is a far cry from the 1960s when private military activity usually meant mercenaries of the rather unsavoury kind involved in post-colonial or neo-colonial conflicts”.

At the time of the green paper Menzies Campbell, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman said “This is an area where we need transparency, control and parliamentary scrutiny”.

Indeed!

For a full narative of events go here