In April 2015, four ex-Blackwater security contractors were sentenced to prison for,
what some have called, “an unprovoked massacre” on Iraqi civilians.
The non-military convoy fired sniper rifles, grenade launchers, and machine guns at a crowd
of people in Baghdad’s Nisour Square.
This prompted multiple investigations and indictments against the mercenary team.
In recent years, private security contractors have been widely criticized for their ambiguous
role in armed conflicts around the world.
So what exactly are these private militaries?
Private military companies, or PMCs, usually contract with governments to provide additional
security, training, and bodyguards in conflict zones around the world.
The practice of hiring private contractors, also called mercenaries, has been around since
at least 1294 BC.
However, since the end of the Cold War, the number of military soldiers worldwide has
shrunk dramatically.
The US in particular cut a third of their armed forces, while increasing their presence
in conflict zones.
This shift in both supply and demand opened the doors for highly lucrative government
contracts to fill in the gaps.
Private military companies have been said to generate as much as $100 billion dollars
a year.
However, according to both the Geneva Convention, as well as the 2001 United Nations Mercenary
Convention, the hiring of mercenaries in armed conflict is expressly prohibited.
And although 33 countries have ratified the UN convention, both the UK and the US refused
to sign, claiming that PMCs do not qualify as mercenaries because they act defensively,
not offensively.
Perhaps the most complicated aspect of PMCs is who they are responsible to, and who is
responsible for them.
In Iraq, over 100,000 contractors worked for the Department of Defense in 2006.
At the time, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, said that PMCs were exempt
from the code of conduct that the military must abide by.
Additionally, a 2006 provisional order issued by the US based transitional government of
Iraq, gave all PMCs immunity from Iraqi law.
Although by 2007, they were specifically included under the US Military Code.
The question of whether serving as a military force but not being bound to military conduct
standards is either moral or legal has long been debated.
Especially as PMCs outnumber soldiers in certain parts of the world, operating under little
oversight.
But with the Blackwater massacre pointing to the failure of having a private militaries
with guns, at the very least we should be cautious about this expensive and dangerous
practice.
The US still does have a very obvious military presence in Iraq.
To learn the difference between these private contractors, and our highly trained military
advisors there, take a look at my helpful explainer here.
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