British mercenaries who trained the contra

NEW BOOK ‘Keenie Meenie: the British Mercenaries who got away with war crimes’ by Phil Miller published by Pluto Press

‘Like its mysterious name, Keenie Meenie Services escaped definition and to this day has evaded sanctions.

Now explosive new evidence – only recently declassified – exposes the extent of these war crimes, and the Thatcher British government’s tacit support for the company’s operations.

Including testimonies from SAS veterans, spy chiefs and diplomats, we hear from key figures battle-hardened by the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the Iranian Embassy siege.

Investigative journalist Phil Miller asks who were these mercenaries: heroes, terrorists, freedom fighters or war criminals?’

According to a review of the book published in the Guardian ‘In Nicaragua, one of the company’s directors worked with US-backed Contra rebels. Documents seized from Colonel Oliver North, who oversaw the funding of US operations in Nicaragua, confirmed KMS’s involvement in the country.’

According to a 1987 NSC publication entitled ‘The British Connection’ quotes the Tower Commission Report into the Iran Contra Scandal revealed the role of KMS in both recruiting mercenaries to train the contra in Honduras and also in supplying arms. The report contains tantalising glimpses of almost certain UK government collusion but with the names of officials and the government concerned redacted.’

The Observer of 16 March, 1987, reported on a former RAF pilot who led a team of KMS mercenaries sent to Honduras to train the contra to fly missions into Nicaragua. However, he and his fellow pilots left in disgust at what they saw as the actions of gung-ho CIA veterans of the Bay of Pigs failed invasion of Cuba.

To order the book and find out more about the accompanying documentary

https://www.yardstickfilms.co.uk/keenie-meenie

To attend the book launch on Tuesday 28 January https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-talk-keenie-meenie-british-mercenaries-and-war-crimes-tickets-86509083999