More Private Contractors in Afghanistan?

The War in Afghanistan is heating up and becoming more deadly for US troops, with a higher number of casualties in August than in any other month since the war started eight years ago.

The head of US command in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, wants more troops shipped to Afghanistan, but the US public would rather see troops come home.

President Obama, on the other hand, is more concerned about a record federal budget deficit. He has proposed saving money on the War in Afghanistan by bringing home noncombat troops and replacing them with private contractors, while shifting combat troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.

But there’s peril in that plan. For one thing, the use of private contractors has done a great deal of harm in Iraq, where the government has driven the largest private contracting company, Blackwater, out of Iraq in disgrace. And another, similar scandal is developing in Afghanistan.

According to a report by the Project On Government Oversight, private contractors working for ArmorGroup North America, have been accused by their own coworkers of engaging in lewd and deviant behavior, illegal hazing, and activities that imperil the security of the personnel they’re supposed to be guarding. ArmorGroup has a $180 million contract from the State Department to guard the US embassy in Kabul.

Where have we heard such charges before? Abu Ghraib comes to mind—in particular, the charges made by military guards that civilian contractors employed by the CIA to oversee interrogations encouraged their subordinates to engage in lewd behavior and outright torture.

In March, the Congressional Research Service reported that that, while there were 52,300 US military troops in Afghanistan, there were also 68,200 private contractors—the highest percentage of private contractor ever used in any war in US history.

President Obama needs to stand back and ask himself if that’s a good thing, or if he should extend his promise to "bring the troops home" to the US troops fighting right now to support a narco-state in Afghanistan.

Besides, shifting troops from Iraq to Afghanistan is not “bringing them home,” as their families would be quick to point out.


Sources: “General Seeks Shift in Afghan Strategy,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/1/09; “U.S. to beef up combat force in Aghanistan,” Julian E. Barnes, The Seattle Times, 9/2/09; and “Security guards for U.S. accused of deviant acts,” Ann Scott Tyson, The Seattle Times, 9/2/09.