Ten million bucks for one thousand Russian mercenaries. theafricareport.com/127421/mali-ru…
"The Company" as Wagner is actually called tries to hire non Russian citizens and pays a measly $5k a month. They are a proxy tool to insert Russian influence and usually are linked to investments or geostrategic interests. newamerica.org/international-…
Its misleading to show the entire nation as being controlled but Wagner is expanding into the backbone of Africa. Chad is next. Their paymasters are often the UAE/KSA or private deals to mix things up a bit. dailysabah.com/world/africa/r… 
They often just squat on assets and in key contested areas. Not really making headlines but frustrating attempts to rid regions of Russian influence. Like sitting on Libya's largest oil field "For it's protection", bringing in Mig-29s and deciding to stay. al-monitor.com/originals/2020…
The international community squawks about the spread of Wagner, but there is no plan or strategy on how to remove PMCs or mercenaries from contested areas. There is also no US or EU plan to defeat freebooters. ohchr.org/Documents/HRBo…
The UAE and KSA and even Turkey are committed to use mercenaries in their foreign policy. Again nothing is in place to stop the insidious flow of adventurers in shutting down or deterring self rule and democracies In Africa and other regions. europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes…
What might help is some brutal reckoning for reckless incompetent mercenaries, aging warlords and family dictatorships who know there are no penalties for stealing entire nations or frustrating democracies. theintercept.com/2021/02/26/eri…
Even the UN has determined that it is totally ineffective in stopping the flow of weapons and punishing mercenaries and fuckerists who adventure in places like Libya. news.un.org/en/story/2021/…
We hear about these misadventures in the news: Venezuela, Haiti, Egypt, Somalia, Equatorial Guinea, etc etc. But these forces are at work all the time at various levels of operational tempos, confident there are no penalties. except if they really fuck up. nymag.com/intelligencer/…
My argument is that America is at risk from this constant pressure by various groups to degrade democracy. As Trump fades, certain individuals are desperate to return a right wing authoritarian, perhaps criminal administration into power. news.wttw.com/2021/08/09/mil…
The news tends to focus in on the singular acts of angry dimwits who support a cause or leader. Even if that leader insists that his dog whistling is erased by periodic denials. But that is not the threat to democracy. abcnews.go.com/Politics/blame…
The threat comes from wealthy individuals who work to destabilize the democratic process. They hire the people in this country to wreak havoc on public perception and create divisions. The same military psyops and intel tactics used against terrorist. prwatch.org/news/2020/01/1…
The same playbook used in the world's poorest countries by Russia is used here by oligarchs to defeat democratic processes. Cyber ops, propaganda, infiltration, bribery etc All here. Right now. Americans just don't believe we can be fooled like the Congo. nytimes.com/2019/09/30/wor…
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