Private Military Corporations: External Links

The following are External Links related to Private Military Corporations.

Also see List of PMCs.

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Reports and Articles

• Paisley Dodds, "Gitmo Soldier Details Sexual Tactics," AP: "Female interrogators tried to break Muslim detainees at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay by sexual touching, wearing a miniskirt and thong underwear and in one case smearing a Saudi man's face with fake menstrual blood, according to an insider's written account." broken link.
• Sue Pleming, "At Least 232 civilians have been killed while working on US funded contracts in Iraq and the death toll is rising rapidly," Reuters. broken link.
• For a broad inventory of articles and organisations dealing with PMC issues visit the Private Military Companies Web-link

Dated Material

1999

• David Isenberg, Have Lawyer, Accountant, and Guns, Will Fight: The New Post-Cold War Mercenaries, Paper presented at the International Studies Association Convention, Washington, D.C., February 1999.

2000

• Kevin O'Brien, PMCs, Myths and Mercenaries: the debate on private militaries companies, Royal United Service Institute Journal, February 2000.

2002

• UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, HC 577 Private Military Companies: Options for Regulation 2001-02, London: The Stationery Office, 2002.
• "UK Government 'green paper': Options for Regulation." Ordered to be published by the House of Commons, February 12, 2002.
• Global Witness, "All the President's Men," March 2002.
• UK House of Commons, Foreign Affairs Committee, Session 2001-2002, Ninth Report: Private Military Companies, July 23, 2002.
• Center for Public Integrity, Making a Killing: The Business of War, Fall 2002.

2003

• Global Witness, "The Usual Suspects," March 2003.
• Christopher Lee, "Error Fuels Outsourcing Concerns," Washington Post, April 21, 2003.
• Joshua Kurlantzick, "Outsourcing the Dirty Work," The American Prospect vol. 14 no. 5, May 1, 2003.
• P.W. Singer, "Peacekeepers, Inc.,", Policy Review, June 2003.
• P.W. Singer, "Have Guns, Will Travel," New York Times, July 21, 2003: "Perhaps nothing better illustrates the industry's growing role than the campaign against Iraq. ... And companies will play an even greater role in the occupation."
• Peter W. Singer, Peacekeepers, Inc., 119 Policy Review Online, June/July 2003.
• Eugene B. Smith, "The New Condottieri and US Policy: The Privatization of Conflict and Its Implications" in Parameters Winter 2002-03, pp. 104-119
• Matt Gaul, "Regulating the New Privateers: Private Military Service Contracting and the Modern Marque and Reprisal Clause", concludes that "The combined marque and reprisal and commerce clauses, give congress the constitutional power to regulate privateering in its modern form of private military service contracting. Through the Arms Export Control Act congress has chosen to delegate a large portion of that power to the executive branch. This delegation is constitutional under current Supreme Court doctrines, but it is unclear whether it is completely wise from a policy perspective. Much of this lack of clarity results from the Act's failure to provide adequate mechanisms for public accountability for the Office of Defense Trade Control's licensing decisions. The new privateers' role in U.S. foreign policy is growing both quantitatively with privateering companies bearing a larger proportion of the burden of achieving American security goals overseas and qualitatively with these companies taking over operations once left exclusively to men and women in uniform. Congress should reevaluate an outmoded regulatory scheme designed primarily to deal with one-time sales of military goods. If privatized war making is the future congress must provide for the same ongoing executive branch supervision, congressional oversight, and public accountability applied to ordinary military operations. Only then will we be assured that the new privateers always act in the best interests of the people of the United States."
• David Wood, "Some of Army's Civilian Contractors Are No-Shows in Iraq," Newhouse News Service, July 31, 2003.
• Richard Reeves, "The Privitization of War and Peace," Yahoo! Op-Ed, October 17, 2003: "'PMC' is about to become a household acronym. The letters stand for private military company.' ... private companies doing the public's business are not accountable to the public. It is a big business now."
• P.W. Singer, "The Enron Pentagon," Boston Globe, October 19, 2003.
• Jim Krane, "Private Firms Assist U.S. Military," AP, October 29, 2003.
• Peter H. Gantz, The Private Sector’s Role in Peacekeeping and Peace Enforcement,Refugees International, November 18, 2003.
• Ian Traynor, "The Privatization of War: $30 Billion Goes to Private Military; Fears Over 'Hired Guns' Policy" [1], Guardian/UK, December 10, 2003.

2004

• Jonathan Phillips (2004), Warfare as Enterprise (Review of Peter W. Singer's book, Corporate Warriors), Technology and Culture, Vol 45, pp. 608-612.
• Annon, The fog and dogs of war - An alleged coup plot and its murky aftermath, The Economist, March 18, 2004.
• "The Baghdad Boom," The Economists, March 25, 2004: The Iraq War has quintupled Britain's military companies revenues...Four man ex-SAS team can cost 5K a day...Companies expanding, new ones popping up...rising violence=rising costs...13% of SAS want to retire early..."first-worlders" make 100 times as much as hired Iraqis."
• Barry Yeoman, "Need an Army? Just Pick Up the Phone," New York Times Op-Ed, April 2, 2004.
• James Dao, "Private U.S. Guards Take Big Risks for Right Price," New York Times, April 2, 2004: "At that time, many nations were sharply reducing their military forces, leaving millions of soldiers without employment. Many of them went into business doing what they knew best: providing security or training others to do the same. ... The proliferation of ethnic conflicts and civil wars in places like the Balkans, Haiti and Liberia provided employment for the personnel of many new companies. Business grew rapidly after the Sept. 11 attacks prompted corporate executives and government officials to bolster their security overseas. ... But it was the occupation of Iraq that brought explosive growth to the young industry, security experts said. There are now dozens, perhaps hundreds of private military concerns around the world. As many as two dozen companies, employing as many as 15,000 people, are working in Iraq. ... They are providing security details for diplomats, private contractors involved in reconstruction, nonprofit organizations and journalists, security experts said. The private guards also protect oil fields, banks, residential compounds and office buildings. ... Though many of the companies are American, others from Britain, South Africa and elsewhere are providing security in Iraq."
• Dana Priest and Mary Pat Flaherty, "Under Fire, Security Firms Form An Alliance," Washington Post, April 8, 2004: "Under assault by insurgents and unable to rely on U.S. and coalition troops for intelligence or help under duress, private security firms in Iraq have begun to band together in the past 48 hours, organizing what may effectively be the largest private army in the world, with its own rescue teams and pooled, sensitive intelligence." See Shiite Muslim uprising in Iraq.
• Philip Carter, "Hired Guns. What to do about military contractors run amok," Slate, April 9, 2004.
• "The Mercenary Alliance," Strategy Page.com (Free Republic), April 12, 2004.
• New Zealand, Mercenary Activities (Prohibition) Bill (83-2). Commentary and Bill, as reported from the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee. Date Presented: 15/4/2004.
• Robert Fisk and Patrick Cockburn, "Deaths of scores of mercenaries hidden from view", The South Africa Star, April 13, 2004. "At least 80 foreign mercenaries - security guards recruited from the United States, Europe and South Africa and working for American companies - have been killed in the past eight days in Iraq."
• Barry Lando, "Soldiers And Fortune," Tom Paine, April 16, 2004.
• Peter W. Singer, Outsourcing War, www.Salon.com, April 16, 2004.
• Peter W. Singer, War, Profits and the Vacuum of Law: Privatized Military Firms and International Law, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Spring 2004.
• Jamie Wilson, "Private security firms call for more firepower in combat zone", The Guardian (UK), April 17, 2004, viewed April 17, 2004: "Private military companies guarding foreign contractors in Iraq are demanding the right to carry more powerful weapons after the deaths of a number of bodyguards during a series of major battles with Iraqi insurgents."
• David Barstow, "Security Companies: Shadow Soldiers in Iraq," New York Times, April 19, 2004.
• "Iraq's coalition of hired guns," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 21, 2004.
• James Glanz, "Violence in Iraq Forces 2 Big Contractors to Curb Work," New York Times, April 22, 2004: "...General Electric and Siemens, to suspend most of their operations there, raising new doubts about the American-led effort to rebuild the country as hostilities continue."
• Tom Regan, "Operation kickback? Report alleges 20 percent of Iraq reconstruction costs lost to corruption," Christian Science Monitor, April 23, 2004.
• Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, "The Rising Corporate Military Monster," Common Dreams, April 24, 2004: "A corporate military monster is being created in Iraq. ... The U.S. government is relying on private military contractors like never before. ... Approximately 15,000 military contractors, maybe more, are now working in Iraq. ... Contractors are complicating traditional norms of military command and control, and challenging the basic norms of accountability that are supposed to govern the government's use of violence. Human rights abuses go unpunished. Reliance on poorly monitored contractors is bleeding the public treasury. The contractors are simultaneously creating opportunities for the government to evade public accountability, and, in Iraq at least, are on the verge of evolving into an independent force at least somewhat beyond the control of the U.S. military. And, as the contractors grow in numbers and political influence, their power to entrench themselves and block reform is growing."
• Heather Mallick, "'Mercenaries in Iraq: I pledge allegiance to my paycheck'," Toronto Globe & Mail, April 25, 2004.
• Katherine Pfleger Shrader, "U.S. Relies on Private Security in Iraq," AP, April 27, 2004: "The blurring of lines between active-duty U.S. soldiers and contracted security personnel is causing unease in Congress, as violence continues to rise in Iraq ... Some lawmakers worry that private security forces operate too far outside U.S. military control — and laws. And experts wonder what would happen if a contractor did something tragically wrong, like shoot an Iraqi child. ... Thirteen Democrats wrote Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld this month to argue that providing security in a hostile area is a classic mission for the military."
• Siddharth Srivastava, "Indian soldiers lured by dollars," Asia Times, April 30, 2004: "The first reports about the happening appeared in January. Now it is a phenomenon that has spread across the country, involving possibly thousands of people. In a very discreet operation, US and British security sub-contractors are seeking out Indian ex-servicemen known for their professionalism and discipline for deployment in Iraq."
• Karim El-Gawhary, "The privatised occupation", Al-Ahram (Cairo), Issue No. 688, April 29-May 5, 2004: "Blackwater recruited 60 former officers of the Chilean military Junta of Augusto Pinochet and then trained them in North Carolina. "We are combing the last corners of the world looking for professional employees, and the former Chiliean commandos are very professional," says managing director of Blackwater, Gary Johnson.
• Robert Schlesinger, "The Private Contractor-GOP Gravy Train," Salon (Thinking Peace), May 11, 2004.
• Jennifer Elsea and Nina M. Serafino, "Private Security Contractors in Iraq: Background, Legal Status, and Other Issues (pdf)" Congressional Research Service, May 28, 2004.
• T. Trent Gegax, "Military Moonlighting. A former Navy SEAL explains why he chose to work for a private security contractor in Iraq," Newsweek (MSNBC), June 8, 2004.
• Jonathan Werve, Contractors Write the Rules: Army policy governing use of contractors omits intelligence restrictions, Center for Public Integrity, June 30, 2004
• Jesse Walker, "Corporate Soldiers. Privatizing warfare," Reason Online, July 2004.
• "The ICRC to expand contacts with private military and security companies", International Committee of the Red Cross, August 8, 2004.
• "Private military companies paying big bucks for elite soldiers in Iraq," World Tribune, October 15, 2004.
• Barry Yeoman, "Dirty Warriors: How South African hit men, Serbian paramilitaries and other human rights violators became guns for hire for military contractors in Iraq," Mother Jones, November 2004.
• David Ivanovich, "Silence Surrounds Fates of Contractors in Iraq," Houston ChronicleNovember 21, 2004.

2005

• James Cockayne and Chia Lehnardt, PRIVATE MILITARY AND SECURITY COMPANIES Bibliography, 2005.
• Fred Schreier and Marina Caparini, Privatising Security: Law, Practice and Governance of Private Military and Security Companies, Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), Occasional Paper No. 6, March 2005.
• Tim Rogers, "Mercenaries. Private Military Firms Find Golden Goose," Z Magazine Online, March 2005.
• Pratrap Chatterjee, "Intelligence, Inc.," AlterNet, March 7, 2005 (posted).
• Daniel Bergner, "The Other Army," New York Times (TBR News), August 14, 2005; TruthOut, August 14, 2005.
• David Phinney, "From Mercenaries to Peacemakers? Scandals Confront Military Security Industry," CorpWatch, November 29, 2005.
• Leo Paré, "Distant battle brings tragedy home, Meridian Booster, November 30, 2005.
• Renae Merle, "Iraq Contractor Aegis Looking Into Videos. British Firm Probing Clips on Web That Seem to Show Civilian Vehicles Being Shot," Washington Post, November 30, 2005. re Aegis Defence Services Ltd.
• Onnesha Roychoudhuri, "U.S. Contractors Rampage in Iraq," AlterNet, November 30, 2005.
• "Breaking: Another Civilian Contractor was under investigation for Homicide in '04," Crooks and Liars, December 2, 2005.
• Londonbear, "Aegis Security - Bush's Terrorist Contractors," Booman Tribune, December 2, 2005.
• Steve D., "BREAKING: New Allegations of Security Contractor Killings in Iraq," Booman Tribune, December 3, 2005. Memo (pdf).
• Ivonne D'Amato, "On the line of defense. Local soldiers share Iraq experiences through emails," Centre Daily, November 4, 2005.
• T. Christian Miller, "Private Security Guards in Iraq Operate With Little Supervision," Los Angeles Times, December 4, 2005.
• Bernd Debusmann, "US lawsuit could dent global war-contractor boom," Reuters, December 22, 2005.

2006

• Conor Hanlon, "US Policy on mercenaries in Iraq reminiscent of '80s", The Hoya, January 20, 2006.
• Sharon Behn, "Contractors leaving Iraq", Washington Times, January 23, 2006.
• Joan Roelofs, Military Contractor Philanthropy: Why Some Stay Silent, Counterpunch, 25 January 2006.
• Pam Zubeck, "Working far from home", The Gazette, January 30, 2006.
• Rebecca Ulam Weiner, "Sheep in Wolves' Clothing: Private military men patrol Iraq in constant jeopardy of stepping on legal landmines", Legal Affairs, January|February 2006.
• United States Government Accountability Office, "PEACEKEEPING Cost Comparison of Actual UN and Hypothetical U.S. Operations in Haiti" (.pdf), February 2006.
• Jonathan Finer, "State department Contractors Kill 2 Civilians in N. Iraq", Washington Post, February 9, 2006.
• Rowan Sccarborough, "Iraqi Construction Funds Go To Security", Washington Times, February 9, 2006.
• "The mercenary trade must end", All Africa: Monrovia, February 20, 2006
• Colin Randall, "Aged mercenary on trial in Paris", UK Telegraph, February 21, 2006.
• Alejandra Fernandez-Morera, "Civilian contractors: Invisible casualties of Iraq", Scripps Howard News Service, February 23, 2006.
• Pratap Chatterjee, "Dubai Does Brisk War Business", CorpWatch, February 24, 2006.
• Evelyn Iritani and Borzou Daragahi, "U.S., Iraq Looking for a Few Good Firms Willing to Do Business in a War Zone", LA Times, February 28, 2006.
• "Government spends £110m on private security firms in Iraq", The Scotsman, February, 28, 2006.
• Ferdinand Fabella, "Have-nots urge rich nations to take lead in peacekeeping", Manila Standard Today, March 1, 2006.
• Bradley Graham and Glenn Kessler, "Iraq Security for U.S. Teams Uncertain Use of Reconstruction Coordinators Has Been Approved", Washington Post, March 3, 2006.
• "Sgt. Lisa Dunphy. 96 Bravo Intelligence Analyst, 326 Area Support Group, Army Reserve," Washington Post, March 19, 2006. re outsourcing the military
• Nic Robertson, "Iraq contractors make billions on the front line. 'Our job is to be a bullet sponge'," CNN, June 13, 2006.

2007

• Amy Goldstein, "The Private Arm of the Law. Some Question the Granting of Police Power to Security Firms," Washington Post, January 2, 2007. re "company police agencies"
• Zia Mian, "The Three U.S. Armies in Iraq," Foreign Policy in Focus, January 22, 2007.
• Jeremy Scahill, "Our Mercenaries in Iraq: The president relies on thousands of private soldiers with little oversight, a disturbing example of the military-industrial complex", Los Angeles Times, January 28, 2007.
• David Ivanovich and Brett Clanton, "Contractor deaths in Iraq nearing 800. Toll has surged in past months, but civilians still line up for the jobs," Houston Chronicle, January 28, 2007.
• Jeremy Scahill, "Outsourcing the War," The Nation (Common Dreams), May 12, 2007.
• Kim Sengupta, "Security staff who make up a private army in Iraq," The Independent (UK), May 30, 2007.
• R.J. Hillhouse, "Who Runs the CIA? Outsiders for Hire," Washington Post, July 8, 2007.
• Jeremy Scahill, "A very private war", The Guardian, August 1, 2007.

Undated/Other sites

• Henry Sanchez, Why Do States Hire Private Military Companies?
• PRIVATEFORCES.COM

• PrivateMilitary.org: a private, independent, non-profit initiative that offers people interested in Private Military Companies (PMCs) a selection of hyperlinks pointing at various firms, documents, organizations, and resources related to the PMC subject and debate. Free and open resource: no sign-in, log-in, or tracking.