The Role Of Private Military Contractors ( Pmcs )

In his 1960 Farewell Address, former President Dwight D. Eisenhower brought attention to the “military-industrial complex”, a term that is used to describe how the government uses private industry to meet its various demands during war or peace. Since World War I and World War II, the United States has witnessed a greater connection between the public and private sectors as private industry pumped out the goods to keep the government and country going. Similarly, there were changes on the battlefield as now private contractors became common sights. Eventually, the government would call on private contractors to provide aid on the military battlefield and even fight in some instances. The use of non-governmental workers on the battlefield

The army is grounded in the concept of protecting human rights, with the use of lethal force, but only when necessary. (CG TRADOC, 2010, p.11) This is accomplished by following moral judgment, adapting to operational context, and instilling professional values and virtues. (CG TRADOC, 2010, p.13) To continue to meet aspersions of professionalism four basic responsibilities to moral values must remain constant. These require a clear understanding of the value of the operation, the threat posed by the enemy, the permissible moral cost to us and the enemy, and a clear vision of what winning is. (CG TRADOC, 2010, p.13) Following the four responsivities allows a Soldier to properly view the principal use of force and the concepts of necessity, discrimination, and proportionality. (CG TRADOC, 2010, p.14) Although there are many pieces of this puzzle they must all be working in unison or there will be split from what is morally right, causing the actions of the individual and the organization to drift away from the professionalism that is required. When these pieces are working together a Soldier will have a clear idea of self-command, empathy, and moral pride; versus when these pieces diverge a Soldier will begin to struggle to find their moral compass and embody these additional traits. (CG TRADOC, 2010,

The American soldiers fighting in foreign lands create a high cost of war. The multiple factors related to the high cost of maintaining America’s vast military bases in foreign lands is not sustainable, but the human cost of families coping with injuries suffered in war by home coming vets from foreign wars is not acceptable either. The foreign and political sides are the cost of maintaining a large military presence here and abroad is not feasible. Whereas, the concerns of war over domestic issues must be a balance between military spending and infrastructure was in America’s best interest. The main focus on key issues like causalities, political, foreign, and lobbyist and much more topics

NATO has impacted human rights around the world by enforcing existing laws, forging alliances between countries, and being a trailblazer in protecting human rights. During the Libyan Civil War of 2011, protestors that wanted democracy were brutally subdued and slaughtered by the special forces of the Libyan government (Haglund). Since they are the ones perpetrating the atrocities, it is natural that they would not want the international community to interfere. However, NATO successfully invoked the Responsibility to Protect, which is an idea adopted by the UN in 2005 that when a country is either unable or unwilling to protect its citizens from war crimes, ethnic cleansing, or in this case, crimes against humanity, then others can step

This paper will explore three separate cases, providing facts about the apprehension and detention of enemy combatants, assessing the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and will explain whether any rights were denied or granted in contrast with each other. Anyone engaging in aggressive or hostile behavior towards a country is held to several political and constitutional legalities as explored in the three following cases.

Colombia has endured vicious conflicts throughout its country for the past 36 years. It is considered to be the one of the most violent places in the world, with a murder rate of eight times greater than the United States. Colombia’s army troops, consisting of the 12th Brigade, rebels, guerillas and paramilitaries, have not made the horrendous war any better. Washington has singled out the 12th Brigade for it’s severe brutality towards civilians to the point of U.S aid suspension. The Colombian people constantly live in fear, not only from criminals, but their own troops as well. In the article, “Columbian Army to Push Human Rights” armed forces commander General Fernando Tapias says, “Civilians should find, in a soldier, a defender of

The topic for this paper will be to consider the role of civilian contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, and where applicable investigate how they were utilized in joint operations in both theaters. Also, the research will extend to the expectations for civilian contractors versus that of their military counter parts. The tentative title is, “Civilian Contractors and Their Impact on Joint Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.” This may need to be focused a bit more once exploration and study is done as the approach may be too broad, but only investigation and application of resources will determine whether the scope needs to be narrowed or not.

The protection of citizens’ lives, foreign or domestic, is a critical necessity. As a result, the military is the most important organization in a country. In America, for instance, $598 billion is spent each year on the military (“Federal”). Because this is such an expensive, important, and dangerous topic, it is often debated. One of the most common arguments is whether or not America’s military presence is necessary overseas. Due to its foreign benefits, positive domestic effects, and overall creation of World Peace, the negative side of the argument is outweighed. America’s military presence in foreign countries is necessary.

We live in a world that suffers from many injustices. These injustices range from poverty to trafficking to healthcare issues. However, the injustices done in war have been ignored for far too long. “Experts argue that the public, though understandably wary after more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, should be persuaded to support some actions overseas” (Katel, 2014). In order to gain some support, the media has taken action. Movies, such as “Lone Survivor” and “The American Sniper,” have started uproar in the past two years. These movies have shed light on the true issues that our soldiers face while they are in battle. After having watched these movies and reading the recent news articles, citizens have now started to take a stand on issues like the killing of other countries woman and children, torture, and if the United States should even be sending our men to countries to defend those that are not American. They are beginning to realize how much of an honor it is that the countries that are in hardships look to the United States to restore order. It is also important for all Americans to understand the danger they are putting our military men and women in when they look down upon what collateral damages are made during war and when they do not allow our men to use torture as a way of truth seeking. War is never a happy or easy thing to declare. Yet, it seems actions are the only way to get jobs done. Actions such as interfering in global affairs, using

The relationship between Civilian and Military authorities has become increasingly complicated. Gregory Foster worked to identify a number of areas that have compounded this expanding divide in his article, “The Silent Crisis”. Of the many issues presented, there are three that the author of this paper believes to be the most pressing. First, the increasing politicization of the upper military leadership. Second, the lack of strategically competent civilian authorities enhances this disparity. Lastly, an increasingly influential military-industrial complex continues to cloud the judgement of civil authorities.

The torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib has been characterized as an isolated incident and blamed on a few “bad apples.” However, as similar reports of war crimes throughout Iraq continue to surface, it seems increasingly apparent that in the anxious post-9/11 context, the low-level agents who carried out such violence were designed to function in this way. This paper suggests that the U.S. military transformed ordinary soldiers into the cruel and ruthless guards at Abu Ghraib through the use of basic recruitment and training strategies, general authorizations for increased aggression and violence after 9/11, specific authorizations for more aggressive interrogations, a range of pressures and protections, and the dehumanization of prisoners.

Former Blackwater contractor Jerry Zovko has stated that: “The company (Blackwater) personnel had large amounts of cocaine and blocks of hashish and would run around naked.” He continued, stating that often the guards would step out into the balcony and point their automatic rifles at Iraqi buildings, opening fire. However, this kind of behavior is not limited the Blackwater, as in 2005 a “trophy video” was posted by contractors affiliate with Aegis Defense Services, showing presumable Irish and Scottish contractors shooting randomly at Iraqi civilians. Not only does this showcase the complete lack of civilians lives, but shows these private military forces has no supervision representing the American and foreign troops and often are very careless, shown through their rampant drug usage and careless trigger discipline, which is the reality of the contractors’ behavior.

The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown: PMC’s in Iraq remains the title of one of the many articles debating the heavy controversy of PMC’s effectiveness. However the title itself hints towards a clear direction. The “bad and the unknown” immediately strikes us as readers, because what is worse than the not known, and the bad when in a political crisis? Contractors should not be given the opportunity to rise to the position of a soldiers’ job. Our lack of information about where these applicants are coming from as well as where their true loyalty lies make this company unreliable and suspicious. Along with this variability, contractors “rip” the rightful payment that should be directly given to the soldiers. This financial ruling allows for contractors

A major concern regarding the war in Afghanistan is the fact that there may have been more civilian casualties as a result of bombings than there were in the attacks on the World Trade Center. The estimates vary widely, but it has been suggested that at least 4000 people have died in Afghanistan since the bombing campaigns began, although no one can come up with concrete numbers at this point. Furthermore, this is only one conflict. The same is true regarding the large number of people who have died in Iraq in the last decade, whether it was due to bombings, or because they suffered as a result of economic sanctions imposed by the United States. These killings are reprehensible, and, as Kathryn Sikkink, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota claims, ?military methods that inevitably lead to significant civilian deaths are inconsistent with a human rights approach, regardless of the intentions of the planners (SSRC).?

The main ingredients of an effective procurement strategy with reference to the contracting of manned guarding services.