RE: Merc Guild

I think this depends on what the black market is like.	If there is a
lot of traffic in military grade equipment, then the original
manufacturer doesn't mean much.  For instance, if you find someone with
an AK-47 or RPG, does that mean they are directly supported by Russia? 
Even if the serial number of that weapon can be traced to a factory
outside Moscow, the prevalence of Russian weapons is so great that
almost anyone can get one.

Who is to say that in the future the French (i.e. FSE) aren't willing to
sell arms to the highest bidder?  The French obviously have no problem
selling equipment to both sides of a conflict.

--Binhan

-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Bayan Schoonmaker [mailto:s_schoon@pacbell.net]
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2002 11:46 AM
To: gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu
Subject: Re: Merc Guild

I think that the deniability issue is still a difficulty. Setting the 
money tracking issue aside and concentrating on equipment:

Getting large quantities of another country's arms would probably be 
traceable, and mercenaries would probably be looking for newer designs 
rather than cheap knock-offs (i.e. M-4s instead of AK-47s).

While possession of the arms isn't positive proof, it's a pretty strong 
indicator that may provoke action anyway.

Schoon