The Private Contractor

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the US military's use of private contractors to perform military activities and the many problems associated with this practice. The paper focuses on the war in Iraq and reveals that privately contracted personnel in Iraq have the power and authority to use arms against anyone who they believe to be a threat, regardless of the consequences of their actions. The paper then discusses the multinational corporation, Blackwater USA, which holds the largest share of security contracts in Iraq. The paper explains some of the problems with Blackwater USA including lack of supervision, lack of continuity, and allowable secrecy that has led to innocent civilians' deaths. The paper also explains that the Bush administration was the chief opponent to reforming the practice of using private contractors and points out that if no reform is undertaken, taxes will continue to go to Blackwater and the reckless slaughter of innocent people will continue as will increased distrust of Americans by Iraqi civilians. The paper concludes by proposing changes to the development and awarding of contracts to private contractors.

Outline:
Demand For Change
Proposed Changes

From the Paper:

"During the course of the war in Iraq, the United States has seen many of its allies remove their troops from Iraq. By itself, the United States military would be unable to fight the war and bring stability to the region as it is does not have the requisite number of troops on the ground and those troops are not adeptly trained for all of the dangerous tasks involved. The definitive number of troops is determined not by need but by executive and congressional orders, which do not allow greater numbers for support and or security troops which creates an essential gap in services for troops and for the cause of securing individuals, groups and even supplies. The answer to this gap has been to provide for such services through private contracts and in doing so the dire need calls for such contracts to be closed bids, where the contract is not offered to the best provider or the provider who offers the best return on the investment it is simply offered to an individual corporation that is most likely to be able to provide the service as rapidly as possible. These services range from cooking and maintenance services for US troops and equipment to prison guards and or trained security staff for high profile Iraqi civilian officials."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Addicott, Jeffrey F. "Contractors on the "Battlefield": Providing Adequate Protection, Anti-Terrorism Training, and Personnel Recovery for Civilian Contractors Accompanying the Military in Combat and Contingency Operations." Houston Journal of International Law 28.2 (2006): 323. Questia. 16 July 2008 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5015737160>.
• Broder, John M. "Report critical of guard firm; Blackwater sought to cover up Iraq shootings, study finds." 3 October 2007: 4. Lexis Nexis 13 June 2008. <http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T3963560559&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T3963560562&cisb=22_T3963560561&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=8357&docNo=5>
• Greenwald, Robert "Iraq For Sale" (Documentary Film) 2005 Information Website: http://iraqforsale.org/
• Krugman, Paul. "Hired Gun Fetish." The New York Times. A29. 28 September 2007. Proquest. 5 July 2008. <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=1343375061&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1215612063&clientId=27893>
• Sanders, Stop Outsourcing Security Act Senate Bill S 2398 IS<http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:1:./temp/~c110w8Ey0B::>

More papers on The Private Contractor:

• Argumentative Essay # 32784 : "The Privatization of Correctional Facilities"
• Analytical Essay # 129613 : "The Role of Private Security in Improving National Security"
• Comparison Essay # 113063 : "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Military"

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