Talking Points about Iraq Reconstruction Contracts and the Occupation (cont.):

Private Military Contractors

Q. What are private military corporations and what are they doing in Iraq?

Private military contractors (PMCs) perform much of the work normally performed by the military. Most PMC personnel are not involved in tactical or combat operations. Nevertheless, most are armed.

At least 10,000 PMC personnel are estimated to be working in Iraq. They are contracted to perform a range of activities, including guarding the CPA and other government personnel, as well as governmental facilities (including oil production facilities), protecting contract personnel, training the Iraqi military and police, and managing the military's supply train.

Peter Singer, author of Corporate Warriors, estimates that there are at least 20 security firms operating in Iraq. Some big ones include Dyncorp (contracted to train an Iraqi police force), Global Risk, MPRI, Vinnell, Kroll, and KBR (a Halliburton subsidiary). Other security companies doing business in Iraq include AD Consultancy (UK), AKE Limited (UK), ArmorGroup (UK), Control Risks Group (UK), Custer Battles (US), Diligence Middle East (US), Erinys Iraq Ltd. (S.Af.), Genric (UK), Group 4 Falck A/S (India), Hill and Associates (Hong Kong), ICP Group Ltd. (UK), ISI (US/UK), Meteoric Tactical Solutions (S. Af.), Meyer & Associates (US), Olive Security (UK), Optimal Solution Services (Austral.), OSSI Inc. (US), RamOPS Risk Mgt. (US), Sumer International, Triple Canopy (US), and Wade-Boyd and Assoc's (US).

Blackwater USA -- whose four employees were killed on 3/31/04 -- was contracted to provide security for Paul Bremer and the CPA.

Q. Are the PMCs mercenaries? How accountable are they for human rights violations?

A. According to one report, "these soldiers-for-hire are veterans of some of the most repressive military forces in the world, including that of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and South Africa's apartheid regime."

The Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act prohibits South African citizens from direct participation as a combatant in armed conflict for private gain. But according to Robert Fisk and Severin Carrell, "Many South Africans are in Iraq illegally - they are breaking new laws, passed by the government in Pretoria, to control South Africa's booming export of mercenaries. Many have been arrested on their return home because they do not have the license now required by private soldiers." ("Occupiers Spend Millions on Private Army of Security Men," Independent/UK, March 28, 2004)

Q. What other problems does the use of PMCs create?

A. Contractors are not able to buy firearms from the U.S. military (and can't easily ship them from the U.S. to Iraq), so many buy them on the black market. Nor does the U.S. government issue clear instructions on when contract personnel are allowed to use weapons. If a U.S. soldier shoots someone under unclear circumstances, the Army's Criminal Investigation Division will usually investigate the case. But CID has no authority over civilians off base. The much higher salaries and the freedom from certain forms of discipline make the career jump to PMCs an attractive option for enlisted personnel and may pose a problem for morale and recruitment.

Q. What oversight of PMCs is required by law?

Although PMC personnel are armed, they do not have to conform to the Code of Military Justice. Federal agencies are required to notify Congress when they contract with PMCs only when the contracts are above $50 million in value, and even then, there are easy ways to get around that requirement. Observers of the industry suggest that Status of Forces Agreements (which establish the law pertaining to PMC personnel) should be made public, the number of personnel specified and reported, and an oversight system established to watch for contractor misbehavior. In addition, a better system of vetting is needed for those contractor personnel who carry weapons.

Q. Where else besides Iraq are PMCs being used?

A. PMCs are also active in at least 50 other countries. The push for privatization of military operations has led to an explosion in the use of PMCs over the past decade. Private military contractors earn about $100 billion in revenues each year -- the stock of PMC firms has skyrocketed since 9/11.

"The US military have never outsourced resources on this scale," says the Defense Contract Management Agency's Colonel Damon Walsh. "If it weren't for this service support we would have needed at least 20,000 more troops." (Financial Times, 10/14/03)

Ever since then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney hired Halliburton to conduct a study of outsourcing certain military operations in 1992, the use of PMCs has been justified by claims that it would save the government (and therefore taxpayers) money. The U.S. military has outsourced and estimated 3,000 contracts to the private military industry since 1994, without adequately enough to establish whether or not those savings have been realized.

Suggested experts:

Peter Singer, Brookings Institution, author of Corporate Warriors
and War, Profits and the Vacuum of Law: Privatized Military Firms and International Law

Deborah Avant, Associate Professor, Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University, (202) 994-6703, email: avant@gwu.edu

Sanho Tree, Institute for Policy Studies, stree@igc.org, (202) 234-9382

William Hartung, World Policy Institute, author of How Much Are You Making in the War, Daddy?, (212)229-5808 ext.106, hartung@newschool.edu

Other sources:

Corpwatch USA has regular news reports from Iraq.
Taxpayers for Common Sense analyzes contractor accountability questions.
The Institute for Southern Studies is organizing a Campaign to Stop War Profiteers

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