Feral Jundi

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Cool Stuff: John Stossel Discusses The Good Of Private Military Companies

This is an excellent little piece by John Stossel. He is a Libertarian and brings forth some interesting points of view in regards to private industry vs government. He has a book that delves further into his ideas.

Some of the examples brought up in this video, would be familiar to anyone that has read this blog. They talked about the Flying Tigers, Somali Pirates and the MARSEC response (with mention of The Somali Project), privateering and the Letter of Marque, as well as early American colonists and their use of private security.

I would have also added some more uses of contractors that had positive results. Executive Outcomes in Angola and Sierra Leone, STTEP in Nigeria, and David Stirling’s PMSC that fought in Yemen to name a few.

It is great to finally see some alternative points of view when talking about this industry and I recommend watching this. –Matt

 

The Flying Tigers.

 

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

History: Privateers Reenact Battle Of The War Of 1812 In Boston Harbor

Filed under: History,Letter Of Marque — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 11:27 AM

Happy 4th of July and I thought this was a cool little deal to put out there. Private industry or privateers were very much a part of this country’s war for independence. It is great that we have such a strong military now, but it is equally great that private industry is able to contribute if need be…and our early days is proof of that. –Matt

 

Monday, May 21, 2012

Letter Of Marque: Title 33, Chapter 7 Of The US Code–Regulations For The Suppression Of Piracy

Yep, this exists, along with Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 11 of the US Constitution. I thought this was pretty cool, because we definitely have laws on the books for getting private industry involved with the suppression of piracy.

I also liked these laws, because they defined captures. That the US can authorize private industry for capture of pirates. This is important to note, because at this time, there is only a Defense Industry in place for the suppression of piracy. Meaning, companies are only providing guards to defend vessels with the possible use of force. No one has the authority to arrest or capture pirates.  So basically we have a system in place that only allows for the ‘killing’ of pirates in the course of the defense, but god help us if private industry actually arrested folks?

By arresting pirates, we can find out information about pirate operations and we can keep these thugs out of the business of piracy by letting them rot in a prison. It would also give companies some authority for when pirates surrender. An effective Offense Industry could profit from the capture (or killing if pirates fail to surrender and become violent), and thus removing those threats from the seas. I should also note that the US congress used to pay privateers for the capture of British sailors and seamen during the War of 1812 using a bounty system. In other words, companies must be compensated if you want them to actually arrest and detain pirates. Without incentive and and well defined legal authority, ship owners and security guards on these boats will want nothing to do with capturing anyone.

Or we can continue to promote this current Defense Industry where companies either kill or wound pirates in fire fights and then allow pirates to escape–so they can go attack some other vessel. Hell, why would companies be compelled to kill pirates in the first place with such a system?  Killing pirates or arresting them, would eliminate the sweet deal ‘Defense Industry’ we have that benefits from having active pirates.  Something to think about when talking about when dealing with today’s piracy issues. –Matt

 

Title 33, Chapter 7 Of The US Code– Regulations For The Suppression Of Piracy

Friday, March 9, 2012

Letter Of Marque: US Congressional Instructions For Privateers, 1780

I wanted to make sure that folks could really get into the document here. If you cannot read it, then go to this link and you might be able to see it better. Very cool and enjoy. –Matt

Edit: 03/10/2012 -Also, check out all the documents that the Library of Congress has scanned or linked to in relation to ‘privateering’ and the ‘letter of marque’. Excellent resource if you are studying the historical use of privateers in war.

 

US Congressional Instructions For Privateers, 1780

US Congressional Instructions For Privateers, 1780, Page 2

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Letter Of Marque: World Food Programme Privateers?

Yep, in this conference, the idea of using privateers and the Letter of Marque was brought up as a means of protecting World Food Programme vessels. How cool is that? Not only that, but the idea was brought up in a conference filled with Ambassadors, academics, UN folks, PMSC folks, NGO’s etc. Here is a quote and page number if you would like to check it out.

Potential problems with the use of PMSCs in counter-piracy efforts, according to Mr Stupart, include firstly the issue of legality, where the use of PMSCs under current international maritime law is not very clear. In order to overcome this issue, calls for the reintroduction of the Letters of Marque have been suggested. The letters of Marque refers to the definition of piracy, the jurisdiction being decided upon, and the rules of engagement being determined by the flag state under which the vessel operates. Another issue raised by Mr Stupart relates to the possible escalation of violence. If pirates feel a risk due to the arming of vessels with PMSCs, they may adopt more aggressive tactics. This will be a major problem, especially for all merchant vessels that are not escorted or guarded by PMSCs. -From the section WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME PRIVATEERS – OUTSOURCING HUMANITARIAN AID IN THE GULF OF ADEN MR JOHN STUPART, Page 18

The other interesting thing about this conference is that it goes into some of the details of PMSC involvement in Africa. Places like the Sudan or Somalia, and that is great to hear. Most of all, the support for this industry was favorable as well. We are the go to forces for protecting these humanitarian operations and it was clear to me that the conference did recognize our value.

On the other hand, the recurring theme throughout the conference was the lack of legal authority or accountability with the various PMSC’s in Africa. So yes, the humanitarian assistance industry wants to use our industry, but they also do not want to get in trouble legally because of the actions of their security forces.

And of course, the classic principal agent problem comes up, and that is a constant theme everywhere in the world when it comes to contracting. A poorly written contract, a lack of oversight over the project, etc. are all issues that need to be worked out and discussed so you can responsible contract the services of a good PMSC.

Here is another quote in the conference that summed up quite nicely why there is such an interest and demand for PMSC’s in Africa.

Mr Chris Kwaja began the fourth session with an interrogation of the rationale and centrality of non-state military and security providers in the provision and delivery of humanitarian assistance operations in Darfur/Sudan. He argued that the rise of PMSC involvement in humanitarian assistance operations was due to the rising amount of armed conflicts and the inability of states to contain these conflicts, the decline of state troop contributions, the success and popularity of neo-liberalism which encouraged private sector involvement and the weakness of states to fulfill their constitutional obligations of security provision for the masses. Mr Kwaja also stated that PMSCs were arguably able to fill the capacity gap in terms of high-tech skill provision, that national militaries lack. -From the section FROM COMBAT TO NON COMBAT ACTION: PMSCS AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE OPERATIONS IN DARFUR/SUDAN MR CHRIS KWAJA, Page 15

This is why I perked up with what was discussed in this conference, along with the mention of the Letter of Marque. To me, these folks were not focused on trying to get rid of us, but on’ how to use us’. Check it out. –Matt

 

Conference report on the involvement of the private security sector in humanitarian assistance operations i…

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