Jobs in Iraq Info Page 33
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Guns in Iraq
The American government is using unprecedented numbers of civilian contractors for military jobs in Iraq but, in a dangerous oversight, has failed to establish practical and policy guidelines for them. There are an estimated 15,000 civilian contractors in Iraq, about one for every 8.6 American soldiers. But, the Pentagon and State Department, employers of the bulk of these contractors, have not established basic rules for how they will operate in Iraq and how they work with coalition forces. According to The New York Times, "There is no central oversight of the companies, no uniform rules of engagement (with the enemy), no consistent standards for vetting or training new hires." Tucker Carlson, the conservative analyst on CNN's Crossfire program, recently wrote in Esquire magazine of a week he spent with civilian contractors in Iraq. He described the same, and other, failures of the American government in this area. Four American contractors from North Carolina's Blackwater USA died in Fallujah last month. While there is no definitive count of how many contractors have been killed in Iraq, the Times did extrapolate from Labor Department figures to estimate the loss of approximately 80 since the beginning of 2003. As the Fallujah incident demonstrated, civilian contractors are often on their own when it comes to military operations. Many of them are hired to provide security along roadsides or at important facilities, and the contractors are often drawn into full-scale combat. They complain that they are often left unsupported by the military when that happens. Carlson's article demonstrated other problems. For one, there are no guidelines in the lawless land of Iraq regarding the use of force. Therefore, the contractors are on their own when it comes to deciding whether to shoot or retreat in the face of opposition. Many of the contractors are retired from the special forces of the United States and other countries. They are disciplined, highly trained individuals. But some are not, as Carlson learned. He happened upon one contractor who was later determined to have used a fraudulent resume to get his job. The Times spoke of contractors whose experience was with repressive South African forces from the days of apartheid. Leaders of the security companies hired for the work are among those pushing hardest for clearer guidelines on both their roles and their standards. It has been obvious for a year that the Pentagon did not adequately plan for the post-Saddam rebuilding of Iraq, but it is still shocking to think that the U.S. government would send 15,000 heavily armed civilians into the country without having given more thought about the role they would play. From:
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_ColumnistArticle&c=
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