‘Shadow’ Mercenaries Replacing GIs by the Thousands

American Free Press

By Keith Johnson

Most U.S. troops may have left Iraq, but the occupation continues in ways that are far less transparent to the American people. An army of bureaucrats and mercenaries still occupies the Middle East country, despite claims from the White House that the Iraqis are free.

Late last year, Obama greeted returning veterans at Fort Bragg, N.C. and announced that the eight-year war had come to an end. “Over the last few months, the final work of leaving Iraq has been done,” Obama proclaimed. “Dozens of bases with American names that housed thousands of American troops have been closed down or turned over to the Iraqis.”

Though that may have been enough to satisfy some, Obama’s formal announcement of troop draw-downs hardly qualifies as a complete withdrawal. In its largest diplomatic mission since the end of World War II, the State Department now commands more than 16,000 civilian employees at four major diplomatic centers and seven other facilities throughout the country, as well as 5,500 armed mercenaries under contract by private security firms.

Of course, these are just official numbers that the government has been kind enough to divulge. The true proliferation of “private contractors”—a euphemism for mercenaries— working in the region is anyone’s guess. - [Full Article]

Civilians to Take U.S. Lead as Military Leaves Iraq

Maya Alleruzzo/Associated Press

Members of the last American combat brigade in Iraq crossed into Kuwait early on Thursday as the military neared its Aug. 31 deadline to end combat operations.

WASHINGTON — As the United States military prepares to leave Iraq by the end of 2011, the Obama administration is planning a remarkable civilian effort, buttressed by a small army of contractors, to fill the void.

By October 2011, the State Department will assume responsibility for training the Iraqi police, a task that will largely be carried out by contractors. With no American soldiers to defuse sectarian tensions in northern Iraq, it will be up to American diplomats in two new $100 million outposts to head off potential confrontations between the Iraqi Army and Kurdish pesh merga forces.

To protect the civilians in a country that is still home to insurgents with Al Qaeda and Iranian-backed militias, the State Department is planning to more than double its private security guards, up to as many as 7,000, according to administration officials who disclosed new details of the plan. Defending five fortified compounds across the country, the security contractors would operate radars to warn of enemy rocket attacks, search for roadside bombs, fly reconnaissance drones and even staff quick reaction forces to aid civilians in distress, the officials said...

[Full Article]

Mercenaries to Fill Void Left By U.S. Army
As American troops leave Iraq, private security contractors will take over many of their tasks.

Khalid Mohammed / AP

A private security company’s armored vehicle rolls through al-Nisoor Square in Baghdad earlier this year.

As the U.S. military continues to draw down its forces in Iraq later this month and complete a full exit by the end of next year, analysts say the withdrawal will be a boon for the private security industry, whose employees will likely undertake more quasi-military functions such as defusing explosives and providing armed response teams. “They [private security contractors] are going to have to do everything that we expect soldiers to do without going out on patrols to engage the enemy,” says one former industry insider. “There are some pretty smart number crunchers in all the major contractors who are figuring out how much of this increasing pie we’re going to be able to get.”

What exactly that pie will consist of remains to be seen. During the first four years of the war—the most recent available estimate—the U.S. spent as much as $10 billion on private security contractors, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Yet this occurred at a time when the military employed far fewer than the roughly 11,000 private security contractors that it employs today. Just how many will remain in Iraq when the U.S. leaves will depend on the conditions on the ground. Yet analysts say the number of mercenaries will likely remain stable and could even increase slightly. And, as these contractors expand into new roles, “the price of them goes up,” says Stephanie Sanok, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies...

[Full Article]