About Me

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I saw active service in conventional, clandestine and covert units of the South African Defence Force. I was the founder of the Private Military Company (PMC) Executive Outcomes in 1989 and its chairman until I left in 1997. Until its closure in 1998, EO operated primarily in Africa helping African governments that had been abandoned by the West and were facing threats from insurgencies, terrorism and organised crime. EO also operated in South America and the Far East. I believe that only Africans (Black and White) can truly solve Africa’s problems. I was appointed Chairman of STTEP International in 2009 and also lecture at military colleges and universities in Africa on defence, intelligence and security issues. Prior to the STTEP International appointment, I served as an independent politico-military advisor to several African governments. Until recently, I was a contributing editor to The Counter Terrorist magazine. All comments in line with the topics on this blog are welcome. As I consider this to be a serious look at military and security matters, foul language and political or religious debates will not be entertained on this blog.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

“EXECUTIVE OUTCOMES” AND THE DARK NET


Almost two decades after closing its doors due to international pressure and concerns at its successful activities in support of legitimate under-siege African and other governments, Executive Outcomes (EO) continues to be used by conmen and criminals alike to serve their purposes – and deflect blame in my/our direction.

I have written about and exposed numerous of these conmen and criminals on countless occasions yet they seem to continually pop-up somewhere and by virtue of their actions, seem to imply that EO still exists and was/is involved in criminal activities – something the company never entertained. 

My attention was today brought to a company calling themselves “Executive Outcomes” who claim to be the biggest gun retailer on the Dark Net. ‘Our shops and warehouses are located in Midwest U.S. and our international re-shippers are located in the following countries...

The Dark Net, also known as the Tor Project has some interesting funders and backers who purport to campaign for “liberty and free speech”. It is a pity these organisations don’t campaign for honesty and truth as well. See https://www.torproject.org/about/sponsors.html.en


Also see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/15/bitcoin-guns_n_3070828.html for more on this company.

I can only shake my head at these wannabes and conmen.

I suspect that it is no coincidence that they claim to be “Executive Outcomes”.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Clumsy counter intelligence at work.
Bandy the EO name around with suspicious companies and immediately the "reporters" will tie you and EO to everything from child porn to the illicit trafficking of Lego.

The intelligence community really need to find a new angle of attack as this is becoming lame.

Try buying said guns from the website and see just how legitimate their claims are. I suspect some boob from the ATF is manning the telephone hotline.

Very unprofessional attempt at counter intelligence in my very limited knowledge of such affairs.
Mike

Eeben Barlow's Milsec Blog said...

Operations such as the Tor Project hold immense intelligence value Mike, and its role cannot be underestimated.

However, the use of EO is, in my opinion, more of an attempt to keep the company’s name going to continue with the creation of perceptions. I suspect the use of the name will, in their feeble minds, create suspicion re the company and therefore attempts to link it to criminal activities continue. It also smacks of poor journalistic research as any journo worth his/her salt would have done some very basic research and discovered that EO no longer exists.

African governments have long seen past this deception.

Very unprofessional as you rightly point out.

Rgds,

Eeben

Unknown said...

Spot on Eeeben,

I was actually thinking the same thing, essentially because EO surpassed its reputation in the field, others are attempting to attach themselves to a pedigree to obtain instant credibility. Unfortunately it further detracts from capacities against such pests as the RUF. Very unfortunate indeed.

Unknown said...

Your post mentioning Bitcoins and the deep/ dark net was posted just ahead of a sudden craze that exploded in the purchasing of Bitcoins and saw the price sky rocket.

The morning show on KFM here in Cape Town were discussing it on air on Tuesday but were blissfully unaware of the cyber currency and the types of illegal things that can be purchased with the peer to peer bitcoins.

Mike.

Eeben Barlow's Milsec Blog said...

Sadly the industry appears to be littered with con artists and bull-dusters Wareight Machine. But, sooner or later they do get caught out and compromised.

Rgds,

Eeben

Eeben Barlow's Milsec Blog said...

It seems to me you can buy and hide anything out there, Mike. It does seem to also be a great place to spread disinformation as well as pose as something you are not.

Rgds,

Eeben

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Eeben Barlow's Milsec Blog said...

I don’t usually post comments with foul language Richard but I can understand your frustration at these conmen.
I have been warning for years on conmen referring to themselves as Executive Outcomes. Unfortunately, they seem to be popping up all the time and defrauding many hundreds of people.
I am sorry to hear of the ambush they laid for you.
Rgds,
Eeben

darktourist said...

IMPORTANT - READ THIS!

EXECUTIVE OUTCOMES (calling itself the number one weapons store on the dark net).

ADDRESS: 5zkfuvtrpotg2nzd.onion

We can verify that this company is indeed a scam/con job/fraud.

DO NOT make a purchase from them.

This verified after having several email exchanges with the 'seller' whereby a price and item were agreed, and once payment was submitted, NOTHING was heard back.

The email they use is: execumes@safe-mail.net.

The website has a lot of info as to how they will deliver the item, payment options, and a modest selection of mainly handguns, listed with dollar ($) prices.

So again, this is a definite scam/con/fraud - do NOT purchase from them.

Eeben Barlow's Milsec Blog said...

Thanks for your posting Darktourist.
That was exactly why I posted this as I am sick and tired of conmen, liars, thieves and cheats masquerading as EO.
Rgds,
Eeben