Mercenaries from around the world, especially those supplied by private security firms based in the United States and United Kingdom, are deployed in large numbers in Iraq to quell the resistance.
WHEN President George W. Bush faced the United States media on April 13, he was asked about the growing role of privately contracted soldiers in Iraq. He was asked to explain how soldiers hired by U.S. contractors became the second largest fighting force in Iraq after the U.S. Army. Bush chose to ignore the question and instead lauded the few countries that have a token number of soldiers deployed in Iraq for their commitment to Washington.
The massive and widespread eruption of unrest in Iraq in the first week of April was to an extent caused by the killing of four U.S. mercenaries in Falluja city. The killing and kidnapping of foreigners on a large scale after the intifada (uprising) started was clearly aimed at sending a message to the international community that guns for hire and foreigners working for Western companies were not welcome in the occupied country.
In fact, an overstretched U.S. Army forced the Bush administration to rely on contractors to provide additional forces in Iraq. Despite repeated requests from the Bush administration, few of the U.S.' allies have been willing to chip in with substantial numbers of troops. In desperation, Washington turned to soldiers of fortune and those seeking to make a quick buck in the chaos and violence. As an incentive, the Bush administration has made the first $120,000 made in Iraq by U.S. citizens eligible for a tax rebate. The security firm Blackwater USA, which has close ties with the Central Investigative Agency (CIA), is one of the main contractors for the Pentagon in Iraq. It even provides the security detail for Paul Bremer, the U.S. pro-consul in Iraq. The four mercenaries lynched in Falluja, all of whom belonged to the company, were former members of U.S. Special Forces. Blackwater has used its CIA links to recruit mercenaries from countries like Chile. Elite commandos who played an important role in the witch-hunt against left-wing activists during the rule of General Augusto Pinochet are now serving in Iraq. Currently, an estimated 18,000 mercenaries are deployed in the country.
The Geneva Conventions do not apply to mercenaries in case they are captured as prisoners of war. It was reported that in the first few days of fighting in April, more than 80 foreign mercenaries were killed and their deaths were not made public by the U.S. With the U.S Army preferring most of the time to stay behind fortified bases, the task of maintaining security in vital installations in Iraq has been entrusted to the mercenaries. As recent events have illustrated, the 200,000-strong Iraqi security force trained by the Americans cannot be depended upon. In fact, an Iraqi division refused to join the U.S. attack on Falluja because it did not want to spill the blood of compatriots. In many parts of Iraq, where fighting has raged in recent weeks, Iraqi police personnel have joined with the forces of the radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
THE activities of companies supplying soldiers and security staff have become a controversial issue in the U.S. too. Thirteen senior Democratic Senators have sent a letter to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asking for details about the activities and methods of the security firms in Iraq. They have asked for the exact number of the privately armed non-Iraqi personnel currently deployed in the country. "It would be a dangerous precedent if the United States allowed the presence of private armies operating outside the control of governmental authority and beholden to only those who pay them," the Senators said in the letter.
However, it is not U.S. firms alone that are making money by supplying "civilian contractors" to the occupation forces' dirty work in Iraq. Several British companies are recruiting "dogs of war" from South Africa, Fiji and Nepal. South Africa has always been a favourite recruiting ground. The various conflicts in Africa have given the mercenaries the necessary expertise. Earlier in the year, a South African mercenary force, reportedly on its way to stage a coup in Equatorial Guinea, was arrested in Zimbabwe. Some private Indian security agencies also seem to have got into the act. According to reports appearing in the Indian media, companies in Chandigarh and Mumbai have sent ex-servicemen to Iraq despite instructions from the Indian Army against recruiting personnel for Iraq. According to reports, 3,000 to 4,000 Indians have already been deployed for security work in Iraq.
The salaries are quite attractive. However, the salaries for the mercenaries from Asian countries are much lower than their white counterparts, who get around $1,000 a day. After the invasion of Iraq, the profits of British security firms have reached around $1 billion. Blackwater has a $35.7-million contract in Iraq. Reports suggest that U.K. and U.S. soldiers are eager to leave the armed forces of their respective countries so that they can opt for lucrative contracts as guns for hire in Iraq. The fear is that the U.S. and U.K. armies are being turned into training grounds for private military contractors to poach from.
Private military contractors are not the only ones discreetly trying to help the Americans out of the quagmire in Iraq. According to reports appearing in the U.S. and U.K. media, Israeli advisers are helping train U.S. Special Forces in aggressive counter-insurgency operations, like the ones witnessed in Falluja and other towns in early April. Israeli military consultants are known to have visited Iraq to help the U.S. forces train assassination squads in order to target guerilla leaders and "wanted" clerics such as Muqtada al-Sadr.
In fact, Israeli tactics in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) are being duplicated in Iraq. Recalcitrant towns are "fenced off" with razor wire, and buildings, including mosques, housing suspected insurgents are destroyed with bombs and missiles fired from Apache helicopters. A senior U.S. Army officer wrote in the Army magazine that a high-level team visited Israel to learn from the latter's counter-insurgency operations in urban areas. Based on the Israeli model, the Pentagon has set up a new counter-insurgency unit called Task Force 121. One of the key figures behind this force is General William "Jerry" Boykin, who gained notoriety with a statement before a Church congregation that the U.S. was at war with Satan who wanted to destroy "a Christian army".
