• Et voilà : nos mercenaires en Libye.

    La principale innovation des occidentaux pour contourner les limites de la guerre conventionnelle, depuis une vingtaine d’années, consiste à faire faire leur guerre par des mercenaires (pour lesquelles on trouvera autant de néologismes élégants que nécessaire). Plusieurs articles suggèrent désormais que les occidentaux, à nouveau, lâchent leurs chiens de guerre ; cette fois en Libye. On peut le tourner comme on veut : les mercenaires n’ont jamais amené rien de bon à aucun pays.

    À noter que, dans le cas libyen, le recours aux mercenaires permet instantanément de dépasser les limites du mandat de l’ONU : officiellement, on a un mandat limité ; officieusement, personne ne sait qui paie des mercenaires qui interviennent au sol et participent aux opérations offensives.

    Mercenaries joining both sides in Libya conflict | News by Country | Reuters
    http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFN0229488620110602

    The Guardian said contractors were helping NATO identify possible targets in the heavily contested city and passing this information, as well as information about the movements of Gaddafi’s forces, to a NATO command center in Naples, Italy. The newspaper reported that a group of six armed Westerners had been filmed by the Al Jazeera TV network talking to rebels in Misrata; the men fled after realizing they were being filmed.

    U.S. officials have said the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which oppose Gaddafi, are willing to back his opponents with money and weapons.

    One U.S. official said there are indications that Qatar may be paying outsiders to help the Libyan rebels. Qatar’s embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

    [...]

    The official played down the involvement of mercenaries with Gaddafi’s opponents, saying, “So far, we haven’t seen discernible foreign mercenary support on the rebel side.”

    À nouveau, l’« axe » Qatar-Arabie séoudite.

    Admirons le titre de l’article d’Al Arabiya, grotesque, qui permettrait tout aussi bien de justifier le recours à la torture ou au massacre des civils.

    Learning from Qaddafi, opposition hires mercenaries while Libyan turns to crooks
    http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/06/01/151367.html

    Former members of the Special Air Service (SAS) are among those gathering information about the location and movement of troops loyal to Colonel Qaddafi, British military sources told the paper.

    They are passing that information on to NATO’s command center in Naples.

    The former soldiers are in Libya with the blessing of Britain, France and other NATO countries, the sources told The Guardian.

    La principale source de ces articles est l’article du Guardian :

    Libya : SAS veterans helping Nato identify Gaddafi targets in Misrata | World news | The Guardian
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/31/libya-sas-veterans-misrata-rebels

    These private soldiers are reported to be paid by Arab countries, notably Qatar. British officials said they were not being paid by the UK government.

    Those countries in favour of the decision to impose a no-fly zone, and hostile to Gaddafi, would be strongly opposed to any direct – or official – link between western advisers and Nato commanders. The advisers are being kept at arm’s length, but their role is privately welcomed.