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Private-Security Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan

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  • Private-Security Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan

    New dark revelations on these private-security contractors.

    Blackwater's dark heart
    21 Aug [Economist] New revelations about an American private-security contractor

    THE “war on terror” has left many blots on America’s reputation—weapons of mass destruction, Abu Ghraib prison, Guantánamo Bay—and one stain continues to darken with time. This week the New York Times reported that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had once hired Blackwater, a private-security contractor, to plot assassinations of al-Qaeda operatives. It was the latest in a string of controversial news. This month Erik Prince, Blackwater’s founder and chairman, was accused of facilitating or committing murder; he denies the allegations.

    Blackwater is not the only security contractor in the Middle East. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that America spent between $6 billion and $10 billion on the services of these firms from 2003 to 2007. But Blackwater is the most prominent. In 2004 insurgents in Fallujah killed four of its employees, burned them and hung two them from a bridge over the Euphrates. The sight of charred American bodies caused uproar at home. Marines stormed Fallujah days later. By 2007 Blackwater was accused of being a perpetrator. The company’s employees opened fire on a busy square in Baghdad, killing 17 Iraqis. The incident strained America’s relations with Iraq. Blackwater exemplified an American effort gone terribly wrong.

    The latest revelation is that the CIA hired Blackwater in 2004 for a multimillion-dollar plan to locate and kill members of al-Qaeda. In June a horrified Leon Panetta, the new director of the CIA, called an emergency meeting to brief Congress on the programme, which had been kept secret.

    According to the New York Times, Blackwater helped with training, planning and surveillance. It is unclear whether the CIA intended to use Blackwater to carry out the assassinations—no suspected terrorists were killed under the auspices of the programme. But the scheme adds to doubts over the role of private-security firms in the war and efforts to hold contractors accountable.

    A case in court in Washington, DC, may eventually shed some light on the way the company works. In December 2008 federal prosecutors charged five Blackwater employees with manslaughter for the Baghdad shootings in 2007. A sixth employee has already pleaded guilty. ....

    ... But many former employees of Blackwater are now working for the new holder of that contract, Triple Canopy. And Blackwater has rebranded itself as Xe Services.

    As the number of contractors in Afghanistan grows, the mistakes of Iraq may be repeated. Training for Afghanistan’s security contractors is weak and efforts to monitor them are disjointed, according to a report released in June by the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, a bipartisan group set up by Congress. Four Xe employees are under investigation for the death of an Afghan man in May. Critics may be gladdened to learn that there is at least some semblance of oversight. The main body charged with supervising contractors in Afghanistan is also a contractor.
    Last edited by Merlin; 21 Aug 09,, 16:02.

  • #2
    Yeah, generally not a fan

    I have covered this a few times on my own site, but it comes down to motivation. At its core, Blackwater (Xe) is motivated by profit. Soldiers are generally motivated by politics, nationalism or ideology. Say what you will about the latter motivations, they are immensely more reliable and stalwart than greed and desire for profit.

    It doesn't surprise me that revelations continue to emerge, and I have a feeling more will continue to do so in the future.
    Michael C

    On Violence Twitter

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    • #3
      OMG!

      Afghanistan Contractors Outnumber Troops
      22 aug [WSJ] Despite Surge in U.S. Deployments, More Civilians Are Posted in War Zone; Reliance Echoes the Controversy in Iraq

      Even as U.S. troops surge to new highs in Afghanistan they are outnumbered by military contractors working alongside them, according to a Defense Department census due to be distributed to Congress -- illustrating how hard it is for the U.S. to wean itself from the large numbers of war-zone contractors that proved controversial in Iraq.

      The number of military contractors in Afghanistan rose to almost 74,000 by June 30, far outnumbering the roughly 58,000 U.S. soldiers on the ground at that point. As the military force in Afghanistan grows further, to a planned 68,000 by the end of the year, the Defense Department expects the ranks of contractors to increase more.

      The military requires contractors for essential functions ranging from supplying food and laundry services to guarding convoys and even military bases -- functions that were once performed by military personnel but have been outsourced so a slimmed-down military can focus more on battle-related tasks.

      The Obama administration has sought to reduce its reliance on military contractors, worried that the Pentagon was ceding too much power to outside companies, failing to rein in costs and not achieving desired results. ....

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      • #4
        Not all "contractors" are alike

        Hey Merlin,

        Your link is actually pretty good as it describes the actual problems related to military contractors, ie the graft, corruption and fraud; and the military's over-dependence on outside groups. The article is epitomized by the phrase "functions that were once performed by military personnel but have been outsourced so a slimmed-down military can focus more on battle-related tasks." It is a dangerous road.

        My brother and I have written before about another problem with non-military contractors, and in short, it is that they create a bubble for American personnel to never have to leave the wire, never have to depend on or trust local populations. And this a is a dangerous road to go down.

        Finally, I still feel like "contractors" is a misleading words because it conjures up armed security forces, which they aren't. Even comparing them to soldiers seems ridiculous to me, or linking this post to one following an article on assassination squads.
        Eric C

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