Singer: Blackwater and Counter-Insurgency

I've been following the controversy over Blackwater in Iraq the same as other people, and reading scathing commentaries by Arab pundits like Fahmy Howeydi, Naji Hussein, Faisal Jalloul, and others.  But I don't pretend to know very much about the details of private security contractors.  Luckily, I do know Peter Singer of Brookings, author of the excellent Corporate Warriors and someone with real perspective on the full scope of the problem.   Singer has just published a timely and deeply interesting report called "Can't Win With Them, Can't Go To War Without Them" (warning: link is to PDF) which argues forcefully that "the use of private military contractors appears to have harmed rather than helped the counterinsurgency efforts of the U.S. mission in Iraq."   

His argument applies specifically to Iraq, where he identifies a series of very specific ways in which the use of private contractors has undermined the counter-insurgency mission, and more generally to its pernicous role as an "enabler" of poor strategic decisions.   

At the level of grand strategy, he warns that the availability of contractors "allows policymakers to dodge key decisions that carry political costs, thus leading to operational choices that might not reflect public interest."  In other words, it allows the US to fight wars beyond the means of the all-volunteer army, thus allowing for a more aggressive foreign policy than an electorate might prefer.  He details the many functions of these contractors, from logistical support to armed roles in the battlespace, and concludes bluntly that "the war in Iraq would not be possible without private military contractors."  Where that could be used as testimony to their usefulness, Singer views it as an "addiction", a cheap fix which allows for poorly conceived military interventions beyond the real means of the United States.

More directly, he argues that the reliance on contractors undermines the very counter-insurgency doctrines on which the military's hopes currently rest.  The availability of these contractors feeds a set of perverse incentives - their financial interest is to build huge bases, for instance, with elaborate (and expensive) logistics which alienate Iraqis and go against counterinsurgency best practices as outlined in Petraeus's manual.   More significantly, perhaps, he shows in some detail how the contractors "inflamed popular opinion against the American mission through operational practices that ignore the fundamental lessons of counterinsurgency" and "participated in a series of abuses that have undermined efforts at winning 'hearts and minds' of the Iraqi people."   He identifies a lengthy trail of  contractor misconduct which did not begin a few weeks ago, pointing out that they are often "the most visible and most hated aspect of the American presence."   A security contractor's job is, say, to get an official from point A to point B safely - not to win hearts and minds along the way.  In a counterinsurgency which deeply depends on winning local support, this is a problem.   As he quotes one Iraqi official, people just view the contractors as Americans. That they are above the law shines a glaring spotlight on the shortcomings of Iraq's alleged sovereignty, while also (and this is my interpretation of what Singer is saying) insulting the professional American military personnel who are operating under clear chains of command and codes of behavior.

There's a lot more there, and I recommend it to anyone interested in the background and wider implications of the current Blackwater controversy. 

Comments

[Peter Principle]

"the availability of contractors . . . allows the US to fight wars beyond the means of the all-volunteer army, thus allowing for a more aggressive foreign policy than an electorate might prefer."

To use the software cliche, I'd say that's a feature, not a bug. The whole purpose of firms like Blackwater is to insulate the national security elites from the electoral consequences of their decisions. How else can one run a global empire and remain (marginally) a democracy?

[rigel]

they did this back in feudal times, too.

sometimes, the mercenaries just said the hell with it and took their employers over as well.

[Patrick]

Blackwater became important the day that Lt. Gen Eric Shinseki made some dissenting remarks about potential troop levels in Iraq. As that debate grew into a donneybrook, administration officials realized that numbers matter to the American people. Blackwater gave them a thousand free troops on the margins.

Peter Singer's piece, while well articulated, is nothing new; the State Department has admitted as much. "Blackwater frees up combat troops for other, more vital operations."

Every bit as egregious are the translators contracts with L-3 and now DynCorp (disregarding the fact that DynCorp got this windfall through nefarious means, hiring the former heads of Army intelligence and DLI to lobby on their behalf). By outsourcing translation duties to private companies and citizens, it absolves the military and government from knowledge about the target population.

We need to invade Iran? We'll hire five thousand Iranian exiles to translate! They're even the same religion, which is some kind of paganism, if I'm not mistaken. Whatever, invade!

[Lester Louis]

Companies like Blackwater should be put in command of our forces in Iraq. They have the right approach, kill anyone that gets in your way and prevents you from accomplishing your mission.

I am sick and tired of America having to fight this war with one hand tied behind our back. What ever happed to vanquishing you enemies through scorched earth and overwhelming firepower? It is time we give the Iraq people and their government a clear ultimatum, either stop the violence and get on with rebuilding your government or we will flatten your country. All we would have to do is destroy a few cities and maybe they would get the message. Either get in line or we will bury you and your country under our missiles and bombs.

[Heinrich Himmler]

What ever happed to vanquishing you enemies through scorched earth and overwhelming firepower? . . . All we would have to do is destroy a few cities and maybe they would get the message. Either get in line or we will bury you and your country under our missiles and bombs.

Now THERE'S a man after my own heart!