The Securing of Sierra Leone: Tony Blair`s Good War
Part 2 of the series: The Right to Wage War, an in- depth look at the perpetuation of conflict on the continent of Africa.
This series of articles applies to the present : the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Nigeria, Mozambique,and the Sahel; where Africa is being kept at war with itself using the same program and the same players…
Part 1 Nigeria: Boko Haram: a Commercial Venture?
by PD Lawton 7 December 2025
Why does the United Nations which appears to be dominated by the Anglo-American network have such a track record of either `resolving `conflicts in favour of anti-government forces or of allowing conflict to continue and thereby favouring anti-government forces? Why do the anti-government forces have predictable links to mineral resources and certain multinational corporations? And how is it that the liberal media never fails to legitimize them in the name of political correctness?
image:current poverty in Sierra Leone. courtesy of cocorioko.net
Violence for Economic Control
“Clearly, the arms and diamonds industries have spawned a very profitable war economy, such that the diamond industry, which was the resource for the arms, has in turn generated an arms industry to protect the diamonds. It is a stalemate that has a high price: violence for economic control…”- Statement given by Ms. Lee of Singapore to UN Security Council , Feb 2001. – Page 440 Executive Outcomes : Against All Odds by Eeben Barlow
“I was sick and tired of the international hypocrisy that was so evident when it came to Africa and a few countries beyond it. Defeating the rebels, criminals, or terrorists in those countries was apparently considered to be bad form. As long as these forces of evil continued to operate, the UN had a reason for being in Africa, as did several NGOs. Similarly, certain governments, companies, and corporations were able to gain control over certain resources and then use those resources to fund anti-government forces.”- Page 664 Executive Outcomes: Against All Odds
In 1995 Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, was about to be overrun by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a terrorist group so depraved that they burnt out the eyes of little girls, amputated their hands and raped them. The City of London Anglo American network spear-headed by the Oppenheimer diamond kings of South Africa, De Beers, along with Muammar Gadhafi were the financiers of the RUF. It profited the black-market diamond trade for the wars in both Liberia and Sierra Leone to continue as long as possible. Sierra Leoneans and Liberians were the perpetrators of some of the worst atrocities the world has ever seen. Following the carnage and chaos, Tony Blair would set up office for his African Governance Initiative along with the Adam Smith Institute inside the carcass of the new government of Sierra Leone`s headquarters. Britain and the United Nations would take the credit for restoring peace in what became known as Tony Blair`s Good War.
The RUF`s insurgency created the chaos that preceded the UN`s first humanitarian intervention which set the template for the NATO invasions of Iraq and Libya. Tony Blair lied to the UK Parliament claiming Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Respected British bioweapons expert, Dr. David Kelly paid with his life in refuting these claims.
This is the story of the men who will always be remembered in Sierra Leone for their extreme courage and determination to rid the country of one of the vilest insurgencies Africa has ever experienced. It is the story of the multinational network that created the RUF from within Liberia and the network`s manipulations to get the RUF into government under United Nations auspices of peace keeping.
The most outrageous crime of this episode in modern day African history, is not the well-known story of foreign destabilization and nor is it the connection of the criminal networks to the highest positions of power. It is the simple fact that when the RUF insurgency was effectively challenged, the Western press, the ANC government in South Africa and the United Nations denounced those responsible for securing peace and stability. This had been the same reaction to the resolution of civil war in Angola previously and would be the same reaction in 2015 in Nigeria when Boko Haram was effectively wiped out within 4 weeks.
Professor of Global Conflict Studies, Christopher Blattman is an American political scientist working on conflict and international development. The unfortunate professor is singled out here as emblematic of the veritable sea of think tanks, institutes and academic departments that keep a rotten ship afloat with ceaseless pontifications. Blattman and his academic ilk exist as `chatter `, chatter for the City of London`s Chatham House. Their careers depend upon the continuation of war so that empty soundbites can resonate throughout the Ivory Towers, maintaining a constant chatter about the resolution of global conflicts. Unfortunately for him, a Sierra Leonean national, Kambale Mawa, responded to a written attack he made about the role of the South African private military company, Executive Outcomes, in Sierra Leone.
Mawa responded:
You sir, have no idea what you are talking about.For goodness sake, ….. You have as much life experience as a potato. You have seen nothing of the world but HBO and MTV, and heard of your cohort’s accolade.
You sir killed my family. You came and cut my father’s hands off, smashed his foot with a truck, and laughed about it. Then while he we were tied to posts my sisters and mother was raped repeated till they bled to death. Then they were burned alive.
You did that sir. I was there and watched you do it. Maybe you had a different face, and skin color – but might as well been you. It was your and your buddies’ words that let the beasts loose. You think you know better.
I will never forget those years I spent in slavery because of you and your ilk. Every day I wake up and do not look into the mirror. I scare little children on the street. You did that to me.
When EO was here, we were safe. They came through; they were real *gentlemen*. You sir, do not have the right to even mention their names without prostrating. Narcissism is an illness. You should have that looked at as it spreads.
Source:
https://eebenbarlowsmilitaryandsecurityblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/telling-it-like-it-is.html
The RUF insurgency originated in Liberia under the since convicted Liberian warlord, Charles Taylor. Taylor was a US intelligence protégé. The Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) admitted to this during his ICC trial. He was part of the coup d’état in 1980 under Samuel Doe that took power from President William Tolbert.
Taylor worked as a government minister under Samuel Doe but was accused of embezzlement of government funds. In 1984 Taylor sought asylum in the USA but having escaped the detention centre where he was being held whilst fighting extradition to Liberia, miraculously escaped the USA and ended up in Libya where he was trained in revolutionary warfare. He would lead a coup against Samuel Doe and wreak havoc on Liberia before becoming president in 1997. He had financial ties with the TV Evangelist Pat Robertson in gold and diamond mining. Robertson defrauded Americans out of millions.
Taylor`s revolutionary methodology terrorized civilians into `political action`. The RUF, under Fodah Sankoh, replicated his `politicization` technique.
image: Charles Taylor with the Khans and Naomi Campbell, welcomed by President Mandela
Some of the RUF were trained in Liberia by South African ex-military personnel under the auspices of training Liberia`s Presidential Guard at a training base in Gbartala, Bong County, Liberia, which provided training facilities for internal security organizations, including the unit that provided protection of foreign embassies and sensitive government installations. This was the conduit for the black-market diamond trade to South Africa and elsewhere. Once he became president, Charles Taylor was met with open arms by the International Community, and particularly in South Africa.
Africa`s anti-government Jacobin Forces
The French Revolution, inspired by its forerunner the American War of Independence of 1776, was hijacked by the City of London and turned into a bloodbath. The forces that London used were the mobs that were manipulated by liberation ideology. The ruthless radicals were known as the Jacobins who took control of the Republic and carried out a reign of terror. Mass killings were conducted in the name of liberty. Their leaders promised equality and freedom to justify their manipulation of political institutions but they controlled through terror.
West Africa`s version of Jacobin revolutionaries sought to form a regional power bloc with Cote D`Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Their ambitions were cultivated by the Anglo American network which seeks payment in gold, diamonds and minerals along with the ultimate goal, that of destabilization using the tried and tested City of London-Wall Street tactic of `Gangs and Counter Gangs. Those same forces were behind the `Death of Reason` during the French Revolution.
In 2006, journalist Philippe Diaz produced a classic disinformation documentary called Empire in Africa. Diaz painted the RUF in a favourable light. That he did so is shocking. It continues to mislead audiences.
The documentary is met with disgust and revulsion by Sierra Leoneans who do not see the RUF as ever having been freedom fighters.
The film claims that “the RUF only wanted one thing and that was to claim the riches of the land for its people”.
“The rebels who started the civil war in Sierra Leone 15 years ago wanted only one thing: to reclaim the richness of the country from foreign corporations in order to end the exploitation of its people. In response, the international community decided to wage a war on this country, with bombs, executions, torture, rigged elections and manipulation of the international media. This created one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the 20th century. (Cinema Libre Studio)”
At the same time Empire in Africa was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, Hollywood came out with Blood Diamonds directed by Edward Zwick. Blood Diamonds provided propaganda regarding the role of Executive Outcomes which the film portrays in a very poor light. The characters of `Colonel Coetzee` and `Danny Archer` are both based on Eeben Barlow. The film portrays Barlow and Executive Outcomes as `diamond-crazed , ruthless mercenaries equipped with state of the art air defence. The film portrays the Kamajors as rural fools and Tony Buckingham`s lookalike, Simmons as another diamond-crazed evil doer. As for the journalist, `Maddie Bowen`, the film portrays the media as playing a brave and positive role when in fact with the odd exception, it was the opposite. The South African and Western media lied barefaced about what was going on.
Hollywood would also give a `human face` to Victor Bout whose character was played in Lord of War by Nicholas Cage. It was Victor Bout who supplied the East German and Soviet ammunition, arms, and medical supplies to the RUF as he did in Angola.
image: President of Liberia Charles Taylor 1997-2003. source Wikipedia
The RUF made itself known in 1991. It numbered around 15 000 and was comprised of many Liberian rebels trained by Charles Taylor. Foday Sankoh, former corporal of the Sierra Leonean military, was the leader of the RUF within Sierra Leone however Sankoh was a sociopath with minimal intelligence. It was Taylor who gave the orders.
image: sociopath Foday Sankoh, leader of the RUF . source Wikipedia
By 2002 when the war finally ended, between 50 000 – 70 000 civilians had died out of a population of 4.5 million, At least half the population had been displaced and national trauma unleashed by acts of torture on a terrifying scale. The RUF took control of the “riches of the land” early on in the war that being the diamonds fields of Koidu which is in the eastern region, bordering on Liberia.
image: map of Sierra Leone showing Koidu in the east and capital city of Freetown in the south
The Koidu diamond fields were a key source of revenue for the government of Joseph Momoh. Mining of Sierra Leone`s very large alluvial diamonds was conducted under the National Diamond Mining Corporation and was the largest source of revenue. Due to mismanagement and the shrinking economy, the once mostly legal diamond industry degenerated further and further into the black-market trade. Unable to pay for the machinery of State, President Momoh was ousted in a bloodless military coup in 1992 led by his disgruntled and unpaid army, the RSLMF (Republic of Sierra Leone Military Force) . Captain Valentine Strasser took office after the coup. He was a 25 year old and had not wished for the role. The military had wanted to air their grievances rather than initiate a coup. Strasser was president until 1996.
The new government under President Strasser undertook to seriously wipe out the RUF which by 1994 had gained in strength occupying the eastern region thus restricting trade and safe movement from Freetown and to the Liberian border. The legal diamond trade as well as the rest of the domestic economy was grinding to a halt with RUF ambushes regularly attacking the roads and ever increasing widespread atrocities on civilians. By January 1995 the RUF were 30 km from Freetown on the point of over running the main Sierra Leone military training camp of Benguema. ECOMOG, the military peace-keeping deployment of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West Africa) had began assisting the Sierra Leonean military in 1994. ECOMOG was mostly comprised of Nigerian forces. Despite the assistance of ECOMOG, it was obvious that the RUF were about to take control of the country.
The British sent out a private military company called the Gurkha Security Guards Limited under command of former and well respected Rhodesian SAS operator, Lt Col. Robert MacKenzie with the mission to train the Sierra Leonean army command. During an operation soon after, Lt Col MacKenzie and a number of his force were killed by the RUF. Their bodies have never been recovered and their fate was mostly likely that they were eaten by the RUF given their cannibalistic practices.
Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone had been up until then a popular holiday destination for Europeans as it has beautiful beaches and a pleasant, if humid, climate but by 1995 everyone who could leave had left. With a mounting sense of dread, Sierra Leoneans were facing hunger, mass displacement and chronic fear of what would happen should the country be run by such an acutely barbaric force.
Sierra Leone`s infrastructure, state apparatus and education was on a par with Britain`s when colonialism ended. First Prime Minister Milton Margai led the country to peaceful independence in 1961. After his death only 3 years later, successive governments launched the state on a downward spiral.
South African PMC Contracted
Background to Executive Outcomes
Executive Outcomes was founded by Eeben Barlow, a Zambian born South African national who served in the 32 Battalion Reconnaissance Wing of the South African Defence Force. After 1994 and the end of Apartheid the military was scaled down. Hundreds of men, both black and white from the South African Defence Force found themselves with uncertain futures and no employment. Barlow`s founding idea of Executive Outcomes was to provide employment for retrenched servicemen doing what they were exceptionally good at – counter insurgency. Within their mandate, EO would work only for legitimate governments in supplying training to their armed forces, undertaking hostage rescues, countering insurgencies and ending civil wars.
Africa`s first private military company would prove far too effective in conflict resolution, far too inexpensive compared to United Nations Peace Keeping operations and within a few years it posed a formidable threat to the powers that be in our world who clearly profit from a destabilized African continent. The company would be slandered and its name dragged through the dirt with allegations made against its members created out of lies, on a shocking level. The lies largely played the racism card as the world had been propagandized into viewing white South Africans as less human. The media ignored the reality that EO had Angolans and black South Africans in its ranks selected on merit not to fulfill any diversity target!
The members of EO, contrary to the lies reported of atrocities against civilians, went way beyond any call of duty in alleviating the suffering of communities in Angola and Sierra Leone in supplying water sanitation and very large amounts of medical supplies at their own expense. In Sierra Leone they delivered that many orphaned and maimed children into the hands of the church and local orphanages that the Papacy of Rome wrote to them and thanked them. They were later asked to stop bringing the children in as facilities in Freetown were overwhelmed, so much for the behaviour of cruel, ruthless mercenaries.
image: EO attack helicopter pilot Neil Ellis “Gunship Ace” singlehandedly kept RUF from Freetown after EO team forced to leave. source; Wikipedia
When the company was made to leave Sierra Leone in 1997 one of its pilots, Neil Ellis, opted to resign from EO and remain working for the beleaguered Sierra Leonean forces. He continued flying the attack helicopter for a year without pay. If it were not for his actions, the RUF would have been able to slaughter its way through Freetown at will. When asked why he stayed he replied – “because I like these people.”
For those who were saved by, experienced working alongside and know about this company, respect and admiration remain to this day. The company`s founder, Eeben Barlow, having resigned and EO having closed its doors due to insurmountable external pressure, continued his work but as the Chairman of the international security company STTEP. Under his command Boko Haram were all but defeated in Nigeria in 2015 when the incoming president cancelled their contract and Joseph Kony`s LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army ) that terrorized Central Africa were on the point of being neutralized when the financer of the mission was forced to stop the funding.
continued in Part 2