NEPALESE GURKHA MERCENARIES IN IRAQ TODAY

Mercenary Nepalese personnel are being recruited in droves for security work in Iraq guarding Baghdad Airport, the former palace of Saddam Hussain in Baghdad now serving as the US Embassy as well as providing escort duties. These personnel are formerly serving soldiers of the British Army Gurkha Regiment, most having completed 22-years of service. What is alarming is the fact that the Nepalese security personnel are taking part in a situation purely for the purpose of financial gain, carrying lethal weapons, H&K MP5 machine guns, 9mm pistols as well as an array of precision killing tools on the streets in most towns and cities of Iraq. How many Nepalese security personnel have lost their lives is a well kept secret since it does not serve the purpose of the coalition nor the private mercenary companies that hire them to advertise the real nature and number of casualties, the families of the dead mercenaries are simply paid off to remain silent about this, again a financial incentive behind the silence. Who said loyalty is earned, well it is true, loyalty is a commodity that is bought and paid for in this world, contrary to popular myths. Alarmingly, the fact that the Nepalese mercenaries are willing to work for financial gain in support of what is an illegal occupation of Iraq is really a short sighted one simply because if one is to believe in Karma or ying-and-yang, then what the concept of what goes around comes around would at some point would apply here. The Nepalese state is facing serious insurgency as well as civil strife, the King is highly unpopular and his removal from power is imminent, don’t just take my word for it, 2006 is going to be a decisive year for the power struggle in Nepal, watch and learn. But what of the Iraqis who have been killed by these mercenaries, Iraq's interior ministry have tried to impose legal boundaries on the private security business operating in Iraq but to no avail, the now defunct Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) head, Paul Bremner upon departure from Iraq gave blanket immunity to Private Security Companies and mercenary personnel, as a result, not one prosecution has been brought against these mercenaries despite reports of mismanagement of a large chunk of the US$ 18 Billion having being misappropriated by the CPA and overcharging by and for the Private Mercenary Security Companies in Iraq since the illegal invasion. What is even more surprising is the fact that these Nepalese Mercenaries are being paid much less than their British, American, South African and South American counterparts, even the Fijian Mercenaries are being paid much, much more.