Military, Inc.

As pirates off the eastern coast of Africa disrupt the international shipping industry, they simultaneously provide a huge source of potential revenue for private security firms already operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. This one situation highlights the gray area that has surrounded private companies (i.e. KBR, DynCorp, Triple Canopy, and Blackwater Worldwide) who offer security services in conjunction with traditional public (i.e. government) protectors.

The business strategy of one particular company, Blackwater Worldwide, is evident from CEO Erik Prince. "Our corporate goal is to do for the national security apparatus what FedEx did to the postal service."

Yet, this story pales by comparison to simultaneous headlines associated with the conduct and ventures of the same private military contractors in Iraq. Currently, such contractors feel threatened by a provision that would allow for Iraq to "have the primary right to exercise jurisdiction" over U.S. contractors and their employees. The agreement is part of a larger US-Iraq accord calling for deadlines for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq. The accord calls for final withdrawal by December 31, 2011.


As background — in 2004, "Governor" of Iraq, Paul Bremer issued Order 17, a directive granting immunity to all private contractors hired by the Department of Defense to provide security in Iraq. To this day, Bremer's decree protects military contractors from prosecution in any court of law (American, Iraqi, UN) despite incidents such as the 2007 Nisour Square massacre, when 17 Iraqi civilians were killed by contractors. The new security agreement, however, doesn't specifically prevent Iraqi officials from bringing criminal charges retroactively in cases such as Nisour Square.

The most ironic part of this story is that private contractors across the world come together to form the International Peace Operations Association.

While the security agreement is unprecedented in Iraq, the magnitude of this specific provision will prove essential to future relations between the US and Iraq. Nisour Square was not the first and certainly will not be the last situation where military contractors come under question.

In general, what worries me is this trend towards privatizing typical government functions (military action). I'm not arguing against the American system that encourages earning capital on just about anything, but by privatizing the military, we are jeopardizing our safety and our standing across the globe. First, private contractors cost taxpayers more than the average military officers — sometimes eight times as much. Second, they are held to standards that contradict US military policy. A sense of frustration is established between two forces with the same objective. In Iraq, the collective actions of private and "public" soldiers are the same. According to investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater — The Rise of World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, "scores of US soldiers have been court-martialed on murder-related charges in Iraq, [but] not a single Blackwater contractor has ever been charged with a crime under any legal system.

Corporate profits should not be linked to violence, but I suppose the world isn't always peachy.