Private contractors once again destroy the US image abroad

Xe(formerly known as Blackwater-perhaps you've heard of them?), Triple Canopy, DynCorp, and ArmorGroup are all private contractor groups used in Iraq and/or Afghanistan.They've also virtually become household names...and usually for pretty nefarious reasons. Another reason their names have become so mainstream is because the magnity of their current usage is without precedent. According to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report: as of March, contractors made up 57 percent of the Pentagon's Afghanistan personnel->it is important to note that not all of these are actually armed soldiers and they include construction workers, cooks, etc.


This is a large percent, but given the recent expansion of military actions and facilities in Afghanistan, more boots on the ground is imperative. In all honesty, Afghanistan is a very tricky situation. It is a large country and in the past as soon as we've moved out of an area, the Taliban comes right back and harshly punishes those who cooperated with us. People are afraid. It becomes necessary then to hold positions- this simply requires more troops.



The problem comes however when these private security contractors undermine the greater mission by abusing and even killing the local people(as Blackwater did in Iraq). The Defense Department had been under a lot of scrutiny recently but it has only been in the last few days that the State Department has been under the same fire: The US embassy in Afghanistan says it has fired eight security guards who were photographed taking part in lewd acts during alcohol-fuelled parties at their living quarters in Kabul after the Project on Government Oversight group sent a letter to the US secretary of state alleging that guards had held abusive rituals.



Not only were these men peeing on each other or taking shots(alcohol is supposedly not even allowed to any embassy employee while in Afghanistan) and eating chips out of each other's asses, they were apparently also abusing Afghan nationals. How does this make us look to the people of a conservative Muslim country like Afghanistan-let alone the Muslim world or global community at large?? Is this what we are paying ArmorGroup $189 million over the next few years to do?



The State Department will also soon re-award its contract of $1.2 billion to Xe(Blackwater)- which is presently the only security company hired by The State Dept. to protect diplomats in Afghanistan. I have to applaud the State Dept. for cracking down on this behavior, but using these "soldiers for hire" requires constant vigilance as private contractors don't need to necessarily adhere to such niceties as the laws of war. If we are going to continue to outsource our military engagements to these groups, then we must not just write checks and assume all will be taken care of. In contracting these groups, we assume responsibility for their actions as they are considered by the people of the "host" country to be a reflection of us. I give Props to Project on Government Oversight for living up to their watch-dog reputation. As for the embassy employees, they should be less focused on hazing each other and more focused on actually securing the compound. According to the NY Times, last month the embassy was hit with "at least eight rockets" as well as a suicide bomber attack.