Privatizing Wars: "Coalition of the Billing"?

Three forces are converging to spur the privatization mantra forward: war, politics and profits. This is best seen in the scenario unfolding in Iraq, where an overstretched "coalition of the willing" has been almost replaced by "coalition of the billing": private armed contactors who, using expensive PR agencies have eliminated the use of the word "mercenary". They are now "contractors", much more respectful and in line with free-market policies. (After all there are no lies, but "misquotes," no executions but "terminations")

As massive profits are reaped by private contactors, thanks are due from them to Donald Rumsfeld who planned for a lean war in Iraq, where along with Dick Cheney, the victorious coalition soldiers were to be welcomed by the Iraqis with "flowers and homage." Rumsfeld's 'just-in-time' army was the leanest outfit ever to go to war: "you go to war with the army you have." This meant that as the "flowery welcome" predicted by Cheney and Wolfowitz turned in to a fiery insurgency and the overstretched army were struggling to meet the unexpected, the vacuum was to be filled by private "contactors."

And they were close at hand. The likes of Haliburton, initially hired to put out the oil-fires (which never came as much as the WMDs were non-existent), were quickly entrusted with duties to free-up soldiers for the battle field, taking on maintenance of army vehicles, communications, supply of meals (12 varieties of ice creams included). Smacking of Asian cronyism, contracts which were sanitized as "non-competitive" bids, worth billions of dollars were awarded to Haliburton and other firms, many who had influence within the Republican Party.

The infamous Blackwater Company was initially brought in to provide security for the US Viceroy in Iraq, Paul Bremer. Since then they and other 'contractors' have grown in numbers and presence to the extent that number of "contracted" operatives (dubbed the "coalition of the billing") now almost totals 120,000 while the fast dwindling "coalition of the willing," stands at 160,000.

One drunken contactor shot and killed the bodyguard of the Iraqi Vice-President. He was sneaked out of the country after paying $15,000 to the family of the victim. No charges were filed. While the "coalition of the willing" operates within the ambit of army discipline, contactors operate at will, outside any law. After Blackwater shot up Iraqi civilians, killing scores of them recently, the US Congress on being informed that they had been responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths all along, belatedly passed a law last week bringing them to heel and within the US laws in a free and independent Iraq.

Naomi Klein stated in the Guardian (12th September, 2007) that "During April 2004 uprising of Moqtada al-Sadar's rebel movement in Najaf, Blackwater actually assumed command over active-duty US Marines in a daylong battle with the Mahdi army, during which dozens of Iraqis were killed".

Washington Post reported on 1st October, 2007 that a private "contractor" who nowhere meets the standards of the regular army, gets $400 to $900 per day. Contrast this with the daily pay that a US grunt makes: about $80 per day! A Blackwater ground supervisor gets nearly $1000 per day while General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq gets $493 per day!

The extent of private contactor in army roles are extensive: they are into medical services, rehabilitation, interpretation, interrogation, recruitment, transportation, housing, catering, and training, with many companies sub-contracting to other sub-contractors. Some of those involved in the notorious Abu Graib tortures were private contractors. The process led to a total billing which comes to around $20 billion for 2006-2007 along with continuing erosion of the work which were previously rendered by regular army units.

"Armed contactors" are not an Iraqi phenomenon. It is a global one. Everywhere there are contactors strutting their staff, stuff and "services." New York Times reported on the 5th October, 2007 that "Across the globe, in everything from diplomacy to development to intelligence, contractors are major American presences…American foreign policy, to a great extent has been privatized…In 2005, [US government] contractors were working in every United nations recognized country except Bhutan, Naru and San Mariono"

Where is this process heading? Is it a mere tip of an ice-berg or would eventually most of government operations be privatized? After all, the Thacherite revolution resulted in a massive roll back of government operations and businesses. But some remained. Time honoured government's areas of operations, which even the classical economists allowed as being within the government domain and duty, those of the maintenance of law, order and provision of defense was supposed to be the responsibility of government. These are now under encroachment as private profit nibbles (or gobbles) ever larger slices of those responsibilities.

The question arises" why not privatize all government? After all, is it not the contention that less or least government is best, that pursuit of profit will resolve all problems. Why not then no government?

But then the question is if all government operations are privatized, there will be no cash cow to milk. So government will continue for the foreseeable future, giving out lucrative contracts to favorite "contractors," (cronies exist only in Asia) increasing defense expenditure so that massive leaks can enrich government buddies and fatten arm-chair warriors. Who, in their pursuit (profit oriented) and right mind will kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?