rssPrivate Security Companies May Surge Into Afghanistan
Monday, July 27, 2009 at 9:11 am
- 4 Comments
The Washington Post’s Walter Pincus reports that the U.S. military command in Afghanistan is considering hiring private security contractors to post as guards at military bases. Danger Room’s Nathan Hodge contextualizes the move, and writes, “Private security firms should be mindful of Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s directive, which instructs the troops to “respect and protect” the Afghan population.”
The ones whom McChrystal hires surely will. But what about the firms hired to protect the new State Department personnel on their way to Afghanistan? State Department security contractors like Blackwater Xe, Triple Canopy and DynCorp have been tied to more population-alienating abuses than the ones who work for the Defense Department. And McChrystal and his boss, Gen. David Petraeus — who dealt with the complications posed by buck-wild State Department security contractors in Iraq — won’t have control over them. The next Worldwide Personnel Protective Services contract, awarded to firms pledging to protect U.S. diplomats, will be a test of Petraeus’s oft-cited new “wingman” partnership with Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the State Department’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
And this doesn’t say anything about security firms hired by private corporations doing business in Afghanistan. How to coordinate them into McChrystal’s battle plan?
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4 Comments
Comment posted July 27, 2009 @ 8:42 pm
“buck-wild State Department security contractors in Iraq “
That about sums it up.
The closet cases that run WPPS sure like to surround themselves with a lot of wild and dangerous “Beefcake”. And the “Beefcake” gets a kick out of putting on a Rambo show to prove they deserve the big bucks as well as the limp wrist-ed diplomats “doe eyed” gratitude.
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Comment posted July 28, 2009 @ 2:18 pm
Your journalistic “broad brush” shows a lack of research and knowledge on the subject. “tied to more population-alienating abuses”? While I grant you there are some who should have never been hired as security personnel – high speed / low drag / lower IQ; you throw them in with the thousands of other American contractors who are working every day with an Afghan counterpart to build their abilities and provide support. Then, to compare that group to the military / DoD personnel who never leave their secure compounds? Do some more reading… or better yet, come on over and get some actual facts for your work.
Comment posted December 5, 2010 @ 6:19 am
it is awful information on private company surges in the country. It seems rebel stink but what is truth about the Security Companies the time will tell. But govt should have to think about it. http://www.guardsecurity.ca/
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