War for hire

The U.S. State Department recently made public some of the newest contracts they have agreed to with private contractors for the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, including a contract with a company “International Development Solutions.”

The company name might not seem familiar and sounds about as harmless as large scale private military groups can be, but in reality, this company is another wing of Blackwater.

After murdering innocent civilians, pointing guns at and holding up U.S. troops and acting as though they were above international law, Blackwater was facing a crisis of confidence from the U.S. government and was actually banned by the government of Afghanistan.

But now, under a different name, the company founded by Erik Prince, a self proclaimed “Christian Crusader”, is free to continue their reign of unregulated, unchecked, for-profit warfare.

There’s no chance of victory in Afghanistan without the support of the citizens. As long as this group — led by sociopaths like Prince who commit wanton murder and circumvent the law — is operating in a Muslim country, the war will continue.

War is horrible on all fronts and for all parties. The effects of this war have been devastating to both countries, but selling the war off to private companies does nothing but distract the citizenry from the actual costs and burden of war while taking billions of dollars away that could be given to our actual troops — those who volunteer to take on and accept the burden of war because they genuinely want to help the country.

By taking money away from our own troops and giving it to what are essentially paramilitary groups, the U.S. has hired thugs covering what should be national responsibilities. Even if the United States is able to “win” this war, if it involves leaving these hired goons behind in embassies or adviser roles, those who seek to attack the United States will not differentiate between official U.S. actions and those of private mercenaries.

The United States was attacked on Sept. 11, not because the attackers hated our freedom, but because of opposition to U.S. policy in the Middle East. When fanatics need justification to convince others to
commit atrocious acts toward Americans, it doesn’t matter whether the negative action was committed by the U.S. military,
Blackwater/Xe or any other independent contracting group.

Potential terrorists will be able to associate any action by these groups with the United States.

By privatizing war, the United States is giving weight to the idea of privatizing profit while socializing risk. In his final address as president, Eisenhower spoke of “the acquisition of unwarranted influence ... sought or unsought ... by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”
The actions of private contractors in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have only, unfortunately, proven the concerns of the five-star general true.

Private military groups that repeatedly break the law of the country they claim to serve are as big a threat to United States safety and sovereignty as any Islamic terrorist cell, and the continued funding of these groups only gives them a carte blanche to continue circumventing U.S. and international law in the name of war profiteering.


E-mail: mrstraw@indiana.edu