When it comes to the Geneva Convention and the use of Mercenaries most of the governments of the world at some time or other have blatantly and secretly ignored the convention and used them to their own advantage.
As has been mentioned on several occasions on this site while the Geneva Convention rules were being drawn up Countries like Britain, France and even the Vatican managed to manipulate the rules agreed upon to the advantage of their respective countries, allowing their own mercenaries to be left out of the final document.
Britain with its use of Gurkhas, France with its Foreign Legion and the Pope and his Vatican Swiss guards, all were allowed to be exempt.
Way back in Angola during late 1975 and early 1976 the American Government via the CIA were financing Holdern Roberto to recruit British mercenaries to fight for the FNLA and Britain turned a blind eye allowing it to happen. They even managed to enroll a couple of their MI6 agents to join up and go to Angola to get a first hand insight as to what was going on. I.e. if the British were winning they would back them up with other military aid. However, if they were losing as was the case then they would deny any involvement which is exactly what they did.
Even the Russians were up to the same sort of deals. Although they actually sent some of their own troops to Angola crudely disguised as Advisors. Funny but I thought Advisors were not supposed to actually fight. Many did and many were also killed. There is a list on this site if you are interested.
Advisors, contractors, or mercenaries they are all the same, depending on whether you are being honest or dishonest about the wording of the Geneva Convention, and what tricks the governments of the day did to manipulate that wording.
Let’s move forward to 2010 and an Australian A.B.C. news report that the Australians were employing Chilean Mercenaries/contractors to guard their Embassy in Iraq. See once again they are using somebody who as the Geneva Conventions says is illegal.
While the Americans have taken their recruitment to a whole new level. While using Chilean mercenaries to operate in an array of different roles, they suddenly sacked them all and replaced them with Ugandan mercenaries and the reason, they were cheaper. What deceitful money driven cut throat world we live in.
