|
|
| |
Security for
sale
By David Isenberg
On
August 13, the Voice of America was due to broadcast a
television show exploring "the role played worldwide by
mercenaries, and whether such private armies have a
legitimate place in the execution of policy".
It
is just the latest sign that private military companies
(PMCs) are playing an increasing role in the realm of
international security affairs, and the acronym PMC is
even listed in the US Department of State Office of
Contingency Planning and Peacekeeping's database of
acronyms. The web page states:
"These acronyms have
been selected based on their appearance in cable traffic
and/or documents utilized in the Office of Contingency
Planning and Peacekeeping. In general, therefore, they
relate to complex humanitarian emergencies, contingency
planning, regional conflict, conflict prevention and
resolution, civil-military operations, and peace support
operations."
While the doings of some PMCs have
received much publicity over the past decade, it has
usually been in the context of specific countries or
regions; first the South African firm Executive Outcomes
in Angola and Sierra Leone in Africa, then the US firm
MPRI in Croatia and Bosnia in Europe, and another US
firm, DynCorp, in Bosnia and in Colombia.
But it
is not well appreciated that PMCs now operate all over
the world. While no authoritative figures are available,
there are estimates that the PMC industry generate
US$100 billion in annual revenues and that PMCs operate
in more than 50 countries. According to a study
published last year by the International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists, since 1994, the US Defense
Department has entered into 3,061 contracts valued at
more than $300 billion with 12 of the 24 US-based PMCs.
According to Peter Singer of the Brookings
Institution, author of the recently published book
Corporate Warriors, " In the last decade, PMCs
have been active in zones of conflict and transition
throughout the entire globe. They have been critical
players in a number of conflicts, and in many the
determinate actor. They have operated from Albania to
Zambia, often with strategic impact on both the process
and outcome of conflicts. PMCs have been active on every
continent but Antarctica, including in relative
backwaters and key strategic zones where the superpowers
once vied for influence."
And Asia is no
exception. One example is Papua New Guinea, which was
the setting for the well-publicized aborted 1997
intervention by the UK firm Sandline. According to
Singer, other, lesser-known countries include:
Sri Lanka, where the government has hired PMC pilots
to fly gun ships.
Nepal, where ex-Ghurka soldiers have formed a PMC of
their own, Ghurka Security Guards. Incidentally, a
Ghurka working for a PMC was recently killed in Iraq. He
was working for a private security contractor, Global
Security, and was in a vehicle that had been delivering
mail for the United Nations. Another contractor employed
by Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of US company
Halliburton was killed when a remote-control bomb
exploded under the truck he was driving north of
Tikrit.
In Cambodia a French PMC provides de-mining
services.
In 1996, Executive Outcomes provided training and
support to the Indonesian special forces in hostage
rescue operations. The training was to aid the
Indonesian special forces in an operation in West Papua
(Irian Jaya).
In the Philippines the combined number of PMC
employees outnumber the police or the army. Grayworks
Security, a Filipino company, provides military training
to government forces. Control Risks Group provides
security planning for mine sites in the Philippines.
In Taiwan PMCs have also provided advisory services
to the military.
In the South China Sea PMCs like Trident have taken
on anti-piracy duties. Last year the Economist reported
on two PMCs - Marine Risk Management and Satellite
Protection Services (SPS) - that deploy airborne
mercenaries to deal with piracy. SPS even suggested
stationing 2,500 former Dutch marines in Subic Bay in
the Philippines - for a mere $2,500 per day per
combatant.
In East Timor Australian forces leading the UN
Transitional Administration peacekeeping force in 1999
were dependent on logistics outsourced to private
companies, while the UN employed private intelligence
and security firms to assist.
In Malaysia TASK International trained the Royal
Malaysian Police in close protection, hostage rescue,
defensive driving and crisis management for the
Commonwealth Games held September 1998 in Kuala Lumpur.
In the former Soviet Union and the Middle East,
a huge increase in PMC activity has taken place since
the end of the Cold War, with thousands of ex-Soviet
soldiers working in the industry. One example is the
Moscow-based Alpha firm, founded by former KGB Special
Forces personnel, which has a linkage with the
international Armorgroup firm. Contract soldiers have
been found alongside regular forces in Chechnya and have
defended facilities in Azerbaijan, Armenia and
Kazakhstan.
Given the unstable security
situation, a region like Central Asia, with oil reserves
that international firms want to exploit, is likely to
attract PMCs in a big way. Future pipelines slated to
run through conflict-ridden zones such as Chechnya and
Georgia will need to be secure. PMCs have long been used
to guard pipelines in other countries, such as Colombia.
In fact, British Petroleum hired a PMC to work with a
battalion in the Colombian army.
PMCs are also
notable in the Middle East. Israeli-based PMCs such as
Levdan, Ango-Segu Ltd and Silver Shadow have worked in
the Congo, Angola and Colombia. Some Persian Gulf states
are known to depend on PMCs. In Saudi Arabia, US-based
PMCs practically run the armed forces, with defense
contractor BDM, parent of Vinnell, providing logistics
and training and advisory services to the Saudi general
forces. Vinnell itself trains the Saudi National Guard,
while Booz-Allen Hamilton runs the military staff
college, SAIC supports the navy and air defenses and
O'Gara protects the royal family and trains local
security forces. In Kuwait, DynCorp supports the air
force.
Currently, as the Financial Times
recently reported, 150 employees of DynCorp are guarding
Hamid Karzai and other leaders in the US-backed Afghan
government against assassination attempts. Similarly, in
Iraq, DynCorp is recruiting and training a police force.
Kroll, the US security firm, may train a private
security force. Vinnell Corp is training the Iraqi army.
Clearly, making the military your business is
good business.
(Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online
Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for
information on our sales and syndication
policies.)
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
