It occurred to me that the false terror groups – ISIS, Al Queda, Boko Haram – tend to use a white circle against a black background, not to dissimilar to a the skull and bones flags of pirates. Boys clubs like the Skull and Bones retain the symbols of piracy which suggests one of several things:
1) a worship of piracy, akin to gangsta hip-hop stars using the names of notorious drug dealers or mafia bosses
2) an aspirational goal for amoral material success and recognition
3) a historical recognition of the incorporation of piracy and its wealth into the fabric of western society
As far back as the 16th century, we see piracy was encouraged by the Elizabeth I to weaken her then enemy the Spanish. George Bush Snr (ex CIA) and his son, Bush jnr a bonesman would be modern day pirates and are amongst the few known public faces. So what links the piracy of old with modern piracy? The corporation, as exemplified by the East India company.
Elizabeth I gave the East India Company a royal charter to trade, however it soon had its own armies and which dominated and ruled large parts of India. The corporation, the insatiable, psychopathic legal entity animated by human beings held captive by their belief in its omnipotence.
The corporation is an impotent and lifeless piece of paper, if it were not for living human souls working to manifest the singular “vision” of its CEO and shareholders. In this light shareholders are funders of the fleet of pirates. What will be their particular kind of looting? Banking, pharma, biotech, mining, oil, fighting (PMCs)?
The private military contractor is the enforcer of our modern pirate, the outsourced muscle. CEO Pirates of the Corporation of the United States, Bush Snr, Bush Jnr, Clinton and now Obama have now seen fit to release their frontline corp of pirates from the confines of any pretense of legality or social mores. It was evident in Iraq and we see its mark in Ukraine. Ukraine has exposed how PMC can profit from fostering a conflict, waging the conflict and also act as peace-keepers.
Executive Outcomes, Blackwater, Xe, we can see the trajectory. Create the failed state and then exploit its resources. The false terror groups also fit nicely into this, would Mali and Libya not be evidence of this?
The intelligence services are about maintaining the piracy under “national interests”. The victims in Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Mali, Ukraine, Venezuela can see the looting and robbing. The intelligence collection agencies you would have thought would subvert these obvious acts of piracy but actually fabricate the evidence in support if none existed.
NSA spying, PMC, torture, rendition, militarized police, “too big to fail”, TTIP, TPP unrelenting assaults on humanity.
To answer my question: Are mercenaries modern pirates? Yes but they are just the henchmen, the pirate masterminds are in board rooms. Without nation states at least turning a blind eye to the activities of PMCs, they would wither away.
This leads to another thought: Piracy central has to be the City of London, so Elizabeth II as a member of Knights of Malta, you are at least guilty of global piracy by association.
Updated 27/2/15
EbolaInfo 