Karzai faces struggle to oust contractors
By William Fisher
NEW YORK - Charging that United States private security contractors are
"mafia-like groups" being financed by US taxpayers to carry out "terrorist
activities" with the support of the US government, Afghan President Hamid
Karzai has ordered a four-month phase out of all private security companies in
his embattled country.
Asserting his oft-challenged authority as the country's chief executive,
Karzai's move, if implemented, would likely change the security landscape in
Afghanistan. Critics are saying it would be likely to result in potential
delays of many foreign projects and undermine the strategy being followed by
the top US commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus.
Tens of thousands of private security personnel are employed by
international forces and foreign media outlets in Afghanistan. Economic
organizations such as the World Bank, and compounds of embassies, consulates
and non-governmental organizations would be exempted from the rule.
But it appears clear that Karzai's hostility toward US contractors is fueled by
their impact on domestic Afghan politics. Attacks by US drones and other forces
have resulted in the killing of many Afghanistan civilians.
This has not only turned into hostility by Afghans toward US and allied troops,
but it puts at peril the strategy announced by Petraeus. That strategy depends
on the military courting Afghan civilians by protecting them from the Taliban
and improving the government services they receive.
In a related development, Xe Services, the private military company formerly
known as Blackwater Worldwide, has agreed with the US State Department to pay
US$42 million in fines for hundreds of violations of US export control
regulations, after allegedly illegally sending weapons to Afghanistan and
training international civilians to be soldiers.
The latter charge includes making unauthorized proposals to train troops in
south Sudan and providing sniper training for Taiwanese police officers. The
company is said to be pleased with the settlement, which will allow it to
continue to get government contracts.
However, the settlement does not resolve other legal issues the company is
facing. Five former Blackwater executives are under indictment executives on
weapons and obstruction charges. In a related development, the Iraqi government
said it plans to seize weapons from foreign security firms and expel
ex-Blackwater contractors still in the country, according to Interior Minister
Jawad al-Bolani.
The decision was triggered by the Iraqi government's outrage over the dismissal
by a US court of charges against Blackwater guards who were accused of killing
14 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007. The guards said they shot in
self-defense.
The judge said there was evidence of prosecutorial misconduct. The US
government is appealing the dismissal of the court case. The Iraqi government,
which has prohibited Blackwater from operating in Iraq, has hired US lawyers to
prepare a lawsuit against the company. For many Iraqis, the killing of the 14
civilians became emblematic of the impunity from prosecution in Iraq enjoyed by
foreign security contractors after the 2003 US invasion. That immunity ended
last year under a US-Iraqi security agreement transferring sovereignty back to
Iraq.
Karzai took the challenge to US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
influence over his much-criticized government to the American airways over the
weekend. During an appearance on ABC's This Week, he pressed for the
removal of the vast majority of US private contractors by the end of this year.
He said their continued presence inside Afghanistan was "an obstruction and
impediment" to the country's growth, a waste of money, and a trigger for
corruption among Afghan officials.
He added, "One of the reasons that I want them disbanded and removed by four
months from now is exactly because their presence is preventing the growth and
development of the Afghan security forces - especially the police force -
because if 40,000 to 50,000 people are given more salaries than the Afghan
police, why would an Afghan ... man come to the police if he can get a job in a
security firm, have a lot of leeway without any discipline? So naturally our
security forces will find it difficult to grow. In order for our security
forces to grow these groups must be disbanded."
Karzai's proposal drew cautious support from Senator John Kerry, chairman of
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who was on a two-day visit to
Afghanistan. Kerry said a reorganization of the country's security was called
for.
"It is in [Karzai's] interest to build his own security capacity as fast as
possible," Kerry said, adding that it was also in the US's interest. However,
he said, the timetable would need to be worked out. But, according to US
officials, Afghanistan's army and police are not yet ready to take up the roles
now played by private security contractors. If anything, the corruption that
Karzai sees in the contractor corps could get worse if the Afghan army - itself
a reported haven for corruption - is now asked to take on an even larger role.
Yet Karzai said, "I'm appealing to the US taxpayer not to allow their
hard-earned money to be wasted on groups that are not only providing lots of
inconvenience to the Afghan people but are actually, god knows, in contract
with mafia-like groups and perhaps also funding militants, and insurgents and
terrorists with those funds."
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