conversation

Consortium of Investigative Journalists, since 1994, the US Defense

Department has entered into 3,061 contracts valued at more than $300
billion
with
12
of
the
24
US-based
PMCs.
According to Peter Singer of the Brookings Institution, author of the recently
published book Corporate Warriors, " In the last decade, PMCs have been
active in zones of conflict and transition throughout the While the doings of
some PMCs have received much publicity over the past decade, it has
usually been in the context of specific countries or regions; first the South
African firm Executive Outcomes in Angola and Sierra Leone in Africa, then
the US firm MPRI in Croatia and Bosnia in Europe, and another US firm,
DynCorp,
in
Bosnia
and
in
Colombia.
But it is not well appreciated that PMCs now operate all over the world. While
no authoritative figures are available, there are estimates that the PMC
industry generate US$100 billion in annual revenues and that PMCs operate
in more than 50 countries. According to a study published last year by the
International entire globe. They have been critical players in a number of
conflicts, and in many the determinate actor. They have operated from
Albania to Zacontext of the Gita is a conversation between Lord Krishna and
prince Arjuna, taking place in the middle of the battlefield before the start of
the Kurukshetra War with armies on both sides ready to battle. Responding
to Arjunas confusion and moral dilemma about fighting his own cousins who
command a tyranny imposed on a disputed empire, Lord Krishna explains to
Arjuna his duties as a warrior and prince, and explains different ways in
which the soul can reach the supreme being.
The Self is unmanifested, beyond all thought, beyond all change.
This is true knowledge, to seek the Self as the true end of wisdom always. To
seek anything else is ignorance.

Confucius
Confucius (traditionally 28 September 551 BC 479 BC) was a Chinese
thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Periods. His
philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of
social relationships, justice and sincerity. These values gained prominence in
China over other doctrines, such as Legalism or Taoism during the Han
Dynasty (206 BC AD 220). Confucius thoughts have been developed into a
system of philosophy known as Confucianism.
When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and
examine ourselves.

Drawing from earlier teachings, among which was the I-Ching,

Confucius established a set of moral principles by which a state could be
governed. This system answered the needs of his time, for China was in a
warring state period of disunity. Later Chinese dynasties would draw heavily
from his heritage and establish one of the most well-ordered empires in the
history of mankind.
A fundamental thread of Confucius precepts was that the government
of man and of a state we identical. Thus, a ruler could only govern a country
in so far as he could govern himself, and vice versa. Self-knowledge was
naturally an integral part of this teaching, alerting the ruler to both his own
human nature and that of his subjects.
The Forbidden City in Beijing stands as an architectural testament to the
ordembia, often with strategic impact on both the process and outcome of
conflicts. PMCs have been active on every continent but Antarctica, including
in relative backwaters and key strategic zones where the superpowers once
vied for influence."
And Asia is no exception. One example is Papua New Guinea, which was the
setting for the well-publicized aborted 1997 intervention by the UK firm
Sandline. According to Singer, other, lesser-known countries include:
Sri Lanka, where the government has hired PMC pilots to fly gun ships.
Nepal, where ex-Ghurka soldiers have formed a PMC of their own, Ghurka
Security Guards. Incidentally, a Ghurka working for a PMC was recently killed
in Iraq. He was working for a private security contractor, Global Security, and
was in a vehicle that had been delivering mail for the United Nations.
Another contractor employed by Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of US
company Halliburton was killed when a remote-control bomb exploded under
the truck he was driving north of Tikrit.
In Cambodia a French PMC provides de-mining services.
In 1996, Executive Outcomes provided training and support to the
Indonesian special forces in hostage rescue operations. The training was to
aid the Indonesian special forces in an operation in West Papua (Irian Jaya).

In the Philippines the combined number of PMC employees

outnumber the police or the army. Grayworks Security, a Filipino company,
pro Know Thyself was written on the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at
Delphi. Legend tells that the seven sages of ancient Greece, philosophers,
statesmen and law-givers who laid the foundation for western culture,
gathered in Delphi to inscribed know thyself at the entry to its sacred
oracle. The adage subsequently became a touch-stone for western
philosophers, and extended its reach as the influence of Greek philosophy
expanded. This site gathers its most profound expressions and elaborates on
their meaning.

Self-knowledge is all-encompassing. What is learned on one scale of

experience can be applied to all scales. It is the highest form of knowledge,
surpassing all other knowledge. Self-knowledge is also timeless, which
means that what is gained in one era, benefits all subsequent generations.
This compilation reveals the universal nature of mans quest for selfknowledge and further shows that no age of mankind was necessarily any
closer or farther from this quest than any other.
Although we may be technologically more sophisticated than our
ancestors, the age we inhabit is in the same relationship as previous eras to
this quest.
When asked what was the most difficult thing, Thales replied, To know
thyself.
When asked what was easiest, he replied, To give advice.
Since it is known that Solon, one of the seven sages, received his
education in Egypt, know thyself might well have been coined earlier than
commonly thought, when the ancient Egyptians took their first steps towards
civilization. Furthermore, the Hindus in the east developed their system of
philosophy before the Greek civilization, and knowledge of the Self took a
prominent position in their writings.
Wherever and whenever the adage originated, Know Thyself was
universally adopted and placed at the foundation of knowledge, the corner
stone on which, the temples of philosophy should be erected. The essence
of knowledge is self-knowledge, claimed the Greek philosopher Plato.
Centuries before him, the Hindu Upanishads confirmed, Enquiry into the
truth of the Self is knowledge. Leagues away and centuries later, the
Persian poet Rumi wondered, Who am I in the midst of all this thought
traffic? and the American poet Walt Whitman celebrated his Self, a simple,
separate person.
This two-word imperative traveled from antiquity and throughout
history to the present day. Like a golden thread in a multi-colored
fabric, Know Thyself wove its course through races and cultures, through
religious and secular traditions, spanning spiritual and scientific teachings
and appearing in art and literature. Indeed, the ancient adage was declared
in almost every medium on every continent and in every era.
Know thyself has often been a corner stone rejected. Can one know oneself
wondered the French poetess George Sand. Is one ever somebody? When
will I ever see that Am that I Am? lamented the poet Rumi. Scores of poets
and philosophers dedicated their lives to inquiring about the Self, seeking its
elusive mysteries, digging deep to unearth that hidden stone without which
all construction would be in vain. Some attained remarkable results, attested
to by the legacy of their works. Others never found an end to their quest. I
have an inner self of which I was ignorant, confesses the BohemianAustrian
poet Rilke in his diary, while the ninety-year-old art-historian Bernard

Berenson tells a different story:vides military training to government forces.

Control Risks Group provides security planning for mine sites in the
Philippines.
In Taiwan PMCs have also provided advisory services to the military.
In the South China Sea PMCs like Trident have taken on anti-piracy duties.
Last year the Economist reported on two PMCs - Marine Risk Management
and Satellite Protection Services (SPS) - that deploy airborne mercenaries to
deal with piracy. SPS even suggested stationing 2,500 former Dutch marines
in Subic Bay in the Philippines - for a mere $2,500 per day per combatant.
In East Timor Australian forces leading the UN Transitional Administration
peacekeeping force in 1999 were dependent on logistics outsourced to
private companies, while the UN employed private intelligence and security
firms to assist.
In Malaysia TASK International trained the Royal Malaysian Police in close
protection, hostage rescue, defensive driving and crisis management for the
Commonwealth Games held September 1998 in Kuala Lumpur.
In the former Soviet Union and the Middle East, a huge increase in PMC
activity has taken place since the end of the Cold War, with thousands of exSoviet soldiers working in the industry. One example is the Moscow-based
Alpha firm, founded by former KGB Special Forces personnel, which has a
linkage with the international Armorgroup firm. Contract soldiers have been
found alongside regular forces in Chechnya and have defended facilities in
Azerbaijan, Armenia and Kazakhstan.
Given the unstable security situation, a region like Central Asia, with oil
reserves that international firms want to exploit, is likely to attract PMCs in a
big way. Future pipelines slated to run through conflict-ridden zones such as
Chechnya and Georgia will need to be secure. PMCs have long been used to
guard pipelines in other countries, such as Colombia. In fact, British
Petroleum hired a PMC to work with a battalion in the Colombian army.
PMCs are also notable in the Middle East. Israeli-based PMCs such as Levdan,
Ango-Segu Ltd and Silver Shadow have worked in the Congo, Angola and
Colombia. Some Persian Gulf states are known to depend on PMCs. In Saudi
Arabia, US-based PMCs practically run the armed forces, with defense
contractor BDM, parent of Vinnell, providing logistics and training and
advisory services to the Saudi general forces. Vinnell itself trains the Saudi
National Guard, wh