Has the former head of Poland’s anti-terrorist unit, General Polko, started up the Polish equivalent of the Blackwater security firm, offering mercenaries to hire in the world’s most dangerous war zones?

General Roman Polko, the former head of Poland’s specialized military unit, GROM, has, according to the Dziennik, daily, started a firm to hire out Poland’s top soldiers who are no longer on active duty, much in the style of Blackwater, the controversial private military company. The Szturman foundation is an “organization for mercenaries,” accuses the daily.

But General Polko adamantly denies that his foundation will resemble Blackwater and adds that he is, and has always been, strongly opposed to the idea of mercenaries and ‘guns for hire’.

“I have always been an enemy of mercenaries,” responded the former head of GROM. “I will never take part in that kind of activity,” he said.

Polko maintains that his firm is meant to help soldiers find work - in places like the United Nations or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) - and not to send Polish mercenaries to the most dangerous conflict zones in the world, as Dziennik claims..

“Candidates must have experience from missions in Iraq or Afghanistan or have served in an anti-terrorist police unit. In exchange for protecting VIPs, company headquarters and convoys, [Szturman’s] employees can count on a high wage, up to 10,000 euro monthly,” writes Dziennik.

Polko, who served in conflicts in Yugoslavia, Kosovo and Iraq, and is a highly decorated general, stressed that his firm - which he opened last week with colleague and former GROM soldier Colonel Wieslaw Sloniewski - is intended to help former soldiers oriente themselves after they have left the armed forces.

According to the general, working for such firms as Blackwater can often lead retired soldiers into a dark world of crime.

“Working for such a firm, one never knows if you will accidentally become a member of an organized crime group,” stated Polko.

Dziennik writes that currently there are 1,000 Poles serving as ‘mercenaries’ in various private military security firms abroad, earning between 5,000 to 10,000 euros monthly.

One such soldier is Piotr, a former GROM officer, who is currently working for an American security firm in Iraq, patrolling the oil fields. Piotr told the daily that he is forced to shoot people regularly for his own safety and that he earns significantly less money than his colleagues from Western countries. (mmj/pg)