Mercenaries in the Bosnian War

[Nick]

I was reading up recently some examples of Western European Mercenaries who fought in the War in Bosnia in the early nineties.

The more I read the more fascinated I have become into this chilling and bloody tale.

From German and Austrian neo nazi's who supported Croatian ethnic cleansing operations to the tale of Jackie Arkl?v a psychopathic black Swedish mercenary.

Jackie Arkl?v's story pretty well sums it up for me. He is a black Swedish National who went to Bosnia in 1993. He was captured in 1995 by the Serbs and he sentenced as a HVO war criminal and got 13 years for war crimes including rape, and torture. He was also a camp guard at the infamous Heliodrom concentration camp outside Mostar. He was sentenced to 13 years but under pressure from the Swedish government his sentenced was reduced to 8 years. He was regularly visited by the Swedish Government and they persuaded the IRC to get him exchanged as a POW under the DAYTON agreement. He served little over a year in prison. On return to Sweden he joined a neo nazi group (he had previously been a neo nazi with the White Aryan Resistance). His nazi ideals had led him to join a fascist wing of the Croatian army. In his diary he wrote that this fulfilled his `longing to experience the fascist dream'. He described how killing Muslims in Bosnia gave him feelings akin to orgasm. He was arrested in Mostar on 10 June 1995 by Muslim soldiers after he wandered drunk across the front line. He was tried on eight counts of torture and looting.

On his return to Sweden he turned to crime to fund his nazi party. He robbed a bank with two other neo nazi's in the town of Kisa, escaping with almost ?200,000 in a stolen Saab. The robbers opened fire first on a policeman who pursued them. He escaped into a marsh and hid. The men threw at least two hand grenades after him. Later they opened fire on a police car carrying two police officers Olov Bor?n, 42, and Robert Karlstr?m, 30. After a gunfight where both policemen were over whelmed by superior fire power Arkl?v made both officers kneel down and he shot them in the back of the head with one of their own revolvers.

Eventually Arkl?v was detained by German Police who "accidentally" shot him in the chest after he gave himself up. He survived and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

[John]

Sounds horrific. I have met a number of men who claim to have been 'mercs', but they always seem to have spent about 8 weeks in British military training camps before leaving.
This chap is obviously genuine , though. Interesting.

[Firefly]

Truly frightening. What the hell happens to a person to make them like that? And perhaps of greater concern is why his Government went to such great lengths to have him freed.
I never understand why Governments do this to 'protect their own'. It's like the British Government with the Camp X-Ray suspects. As far as i'm concerned they can rot there. Perhaps a subject for a different Forum...........

[John]

Oh, I don't know....Maybe its for the Lounge, but I'm with you on that one. Mind you, you might feel differently it had been YOU who had been kidnapped by the US army whilst out 'sightseeing' or on a solo 'Humanitarian' mission, after accidentally tripping over and accidentally picking up an AK47 and Taleban uniform....

[Firefly]

[Chris Boonzaier]

In 1996, Gouws submitted an amnesty application to the Truth And Reconciliation Commission in which he admitted involvement in a host of crimes.

Among the incidents for which he later received amnesty were:

Between 40 and 60 petrol bombings of political activists' houses in Mamelodi, Atteridgeville, Soshanguve, Oukasie , Pietersburg, Tembisa and Ekangala in 1986;

A car bombing in 1986 that claimed the life of KwaNdebele homeland Cabinet minister and ANC activist Piet Ntuli;

An arson attack on the home of Mamelodi doctor Fabian Ribiero in March 1986. No one was home at the time. Ribiero and his wife Florence were subsequently assassinated by a Security Branch death squad;

The deaths of at least nine young Umkhonto weSizwe recruits who were shot to death before their bodies were set alight in KwaNdebele in July 1986; and

The extrajudicial murders of five would-be bank robbers - among them a former driver for Winnie Mandela - who were lured into a trap by the Vlakplaas unit near Nelspruit on March 26 1992.

Down in South Africa there is a lot of talent, that just cannot get jobs in the country nowdays....

http://www.sandline.com/hotlinks/Chicago_T...erc_strain.html

http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exe...ew.cgi/37/10226

http://www.suntimes.co.za/2004/02/01/news/news07.asp

http://www.ocnus.net/cgi-bin/exec/view.cgi...ve=65&num=16946

[filupe]

... a black Swedish National ... joined a neo nazi group (he had previously been a neo nazi with the White Aryan Resistance).

I don't mean to be funny here, but isn't there a more obvious question ..???

[Chris Boonzaier]

I don't mean to be funny here, but isn't there a more obvious question ..???

In my experience, Neo Nazis are not usually from amongst the brightest members of the population. JAckie was probably able to use the Jedi Mind trick on them and convince them.

[Obergefreiter]

In my experience, Neo Nazis are not usually from amongst the brightest members of the population. JAckie was probably able to use the Jedi Mind trick on them and convince them.

Obviously this one in't the brightest bulb in the carton.

[army historian]

It is obvious that we are talking about "people" who are for whatever reasons fanatical sociopaths (sp) with rabbit minds, that are (In my option as dangerous and useless as a rabbit animals) and should be treated as such (exterminated.) If society would do that, and not tolerate them, then the world would be a better place. It does not matter what they themselves or we call them (usually incorrectly) - "Freedom Fighters, true believers, mercenaries, neo-nazis, supremest, etc. The truth of the matter is they are not "Human", they are neo-humans creatures. : violent: Cheers Captain Albert

Edited January 16, 2011 by army historian

[Chris Boonzaier]

"Freedom Fighters, true believers, mercenaries, neo-nazis, supremest, etc. The truth of the matter is they are not "Human", they are neo-humans creatures. : violent: Cheers Captain Albert

Well, technically Freedom fighters do not need to be baddies... and Mercenaries either... Western countries make rather extensive use of the latter...

I think what filupe was on about was how does a black guy lead a Nazi group and Aryan group?

[PKeating]

It is obvious that we are talking about "people" who are for whatever reasons fanatical sociopaths (sp) with rabbit minds, that are (In my option as dangerous and useless as a rabbit animals) and should be treated as such (exterminated.) If society would do that, and not tolerate them, then the world would be a better place. It does not matter what they themselves or we call them (usually incorrectly) - "Freedom Fighters, true believers, mercenaries, neo-nazis, supremest, etc. The truth of the matter is they are not "Human", they are neo-humans creatures. : violent: Cheers Captain Albert

Yes, well, that's an argument that has been used by all sorts of people down the ages. Not that I do not believe that certain sorts of people need killing. Some people need killing urgently. But we do not kill them because they are mad or bad. We kill them because we fear them.

There again, there are always exceptions to the rule. I would, for instance, kill any man, woman or child using powerful base speakers to inflict techno and other horrible noises on their neighbours. Not because I fear them. Because I hate them. So I suppose it is just as well that we have tough firearms legislation in Europe.

The black neo-nazi is interesting. Proves what a well-integrated, progressive society Sweden is. Much more so than the United States, where blacks can't be members of Aryan Brotherhood or the Hells Angels.

You spelt "sociopath" correctly.

PK

Edited January 17, 2011 by PKeating

[PKeating]

On a serious note, not all mercenaries are homicidal maniacs. Moreover, the Yugoslav Civil War or Wars of Secession of the 1990s, which were a continuation of the the conflict of the early 1940s, spawned a number of movements relying upon foreign volunteers, the Kosovar UÇK/KLA being one such group. It is true that some units of the nascent Croatian armed forces in 1991 were neo-Nazis and Soldier of Fortune-subscribing Walts but not all of them were. Many volunteers were brave men who went there out of a sense of principle. Some were there to earn their living, although it was not very well-paid much of the time. And then there were the mercenaries in Sierra Leone, which is an interesting story that somehow never made it into the mainstream press. Plus the PMCs in Iraq, some of whom behaved badly whilst others behaved impeccably. The West will always have a use for irregulars, even more so now that we are governed exclusively by politicians who are scared of being seen to get blood on their hands. Mercs come with a high level of deniability.

PK

[SasaYU]

So many of mercenaries like that one took their part in a secesionism from Yugoslavia. So may war crimes yet to be discovered.