Privatization of Security in Iraq with Us Intervention: The Role and Effects of Contracted Personnel and Private Military and Security Companies
Mehmet Turan ÇağlarWith the US intervention in Iraq in 2003, private military and security companies (PMSCs) became one of the most important partners of the United States and contractor personnel even became the second largest group within the coalition forces. After 2003, US administrations tried to externalize the increasing economic, humanitarian and political costs of the Iraq War through contractor personnel. While the contracted personnel fought in Iraq alongside the US forces before 2011, they replaced the US forces in the country after 2011. Although US administrations could offload some of the burden of their work through the PMSCs and their contracted personnel, human rights violations of contracted personnel undermined the reputation of the US in Iraq and the region. Contractor personnel also became a part of the increasing violence in Iraq as they themselves became targets and responded in turn and thus they became an important party of the increasing violence in the country. The privatization of security in Iraq through the US also transformed the concept of security and caused new security problems that are still being discussed. The legal status of and control over the PMSCs and their personnel, the exclusionary understanding about security and the marketization of security led to new security problems in Iraq, which was becoming an increasingly fragile country. The roles played by the PMSCs during the Iraq War also led to new theoretical and practical discussions in International Relations regarding the transformation of traditional security understanding and the monopoly on force.
ABD’nin Irak Müdahalesinde Güvenliğin Özelleşmesi: Sözleşmeli Personel ve Özel Askeri ve Güvenlik Şirketlerinin Rolü ve Etkileri
Mehmet Turan ÇağlarABD’nin 2003 yılında Irak’a müdahalesi ile birlikte özel askeri ve güvenlik şirketleri, ABD’nin en önemli ortaklarından biri olmuş ve hatta sözleşmeli personel, Irak’ta koalisyon güçleri içerisinde ABD’den sonraki en büyük grup haline gelmiştir. 2003 yılı sonrası ABD yönetimleri, Irak Savaşı’nın artan ekonomik, insani ve siyasi maliyetlerini sözleşmeli personel üzerinden dışsallaştırmaya çalışmıştır. 2011 yılı öncesi Irak’ta ABD askerlerinin yanında yer alan sözleşmeli personel, 2011 yılı sonrası ABD askerlerinin yerine görev almaya başlamıştır. ABD yönetimleri, özel şirketler aracılığıyla bazı maliyetleri dışsallaştırabilse de sözleşmeli personelin insan hakları ihlalleri, ABD’nin Irak ve bölgedeki ününe zarar vermiştir. Sözleşmeli personel ayrıca Irak’ta şiddet uygulayan ve şiddete maruz kalan aktörlerin başında gelmiş ve ülke içerisindeki şiddetin yükselmesinde rol oynamıştır. Irak’ta ABD aracılığıyla güvenliğin özelleşmesi ise Irak’taki güvenlik kavramını dönüştürmüştür. Özel askeri ve güvenlik şirketleri ve çalışanlarının hukuki statüleri ve denetimleri, güvenlik kavramının dışlayıcı bir hale gelmesi ve güvenliğin piyasalaşması, Irak gibi kırılgan bir ülkede yeni güvenlik sorunlarına yol açmıştır. Özel askeri ve güvenlik şirketlerinin Irak Savaşı boyunca oynadığı roller ise geleneksel güvenlik anlayışı ve şiddet kullanma tekelinin devriyle ilgili Uluslararası İlişkilerde yeni tartışmalara sebep olmuştur.
The US military intervention in Iraq in 2003 led to new and important debates in terms of international relations. The benefits and harmful effects of private military and security companies (PMSCs) and their contracted personnel after 2003 gave rise to new discussions about US intervention in particular and the concept of security in general. The economic, humanitarian and political costs of the war during the US presence in Iraq increased each year. The economic cost of the Iraq war in 2008 was around 197 billion dollars, while the number of US troops in the country increased to 161,783 in the same year. In 2008, 63% of US public opinion regarded the military intervention in Iraq to be wrong. The increasing economic, humanitarian and political costs of the US during the post-2003 period have made the externalization of the burdens of this war significant, and the PMSCs and their contracted personnel have become prominent in this process. The Bush administration tried to externalize the rising costs of war by deploying an increasing number of contracted personnel in Iraq. Thanks to the PMSCs, a large number of contracted personnel were able to work in Iraq thereby reducing the cost, and contractor personnel even became the second largest group within the coalition forces. Moreover, with the increasing number of foreign and Iraqi contractors, the US could lower their casualties and in this way, the Bush administration externalized the humanitarian costs of the war. By externalizing the economic and humanitarian burdens of the war, the US administration tried to limit the reaction of the US public. Moreover, limited congress control over the contracted personnel also helped to externalize the political costs for the Bush administration. Although the Obama and Trump administrations have avoided costly military interventions, the PMSCs during these periods have continued to protect US interests in Iraq. After the Bush administration, the contractors replaced the US forces in Iraq and they are still operating in the country.
Although contracted personnel helped externalize some costs, problems caused by them resulted in new costs both for the US and Iraq. Both unauthorized use of force and human rights violations by contracted personnel undermined the US reputation in Iraq and strengthened antiUS trends within the country. Furthermore, issues such as coordination problems between the US forces and private companies in the conflict zones created additional costs for the US during the war. The PMSCs became an active party of the war in Iraq and they directly or indirectly affected the level of violence. The limited accountability of the contracted personnel in terms of national and international laws made the control of these companies an important issue, while the privatization of the security understanding via PMSCs led to the transformation of the concept of security in Iraq. Changing the wages of the contractors according to the level of violence in Iraq and the nationality of the contractors accelerated the marketization of security. While the privatization of security weakened the concept of public security, security in Iraq turned into a service that can be purchased. Although various regulatory mechanisms have been developed to prevent the problems caused by the PMSCs, it is not easy to operate these mechanisms in a fragile country like Iraq.
The involvement of the PMSCs in an international military intervention has also raised new questions about international security. Deliberate outsourcing of military functions to private companies by states has led to new debates about both the state monopoly on force and the changing understanding of traditional security. The solutions to the new problems created by top-down privatization and its relations with the bottom-up privatization maintain their theoretical and practical importance and will continue to be important issues in International Relations, International Law and Security Studies.
