A hat tip to Wired’s Danger Room for finding this little nugget of information. As far as I have heard, the only involvement of PSC’s in Libya was the initial stages of rescuing clients caught in the chaos. Although it would not surprise me if there are already a few freelancers running around doing their thing–but that is not confirmed.?As to involvement of PMC’s in the actual offensive operations or advising the rebels?
Boy, whatever company that takes that on will need some serious blessings from the highest levels of government. I am talking a license from the US government or from the UN, or both. Preferably both, and that license should cover everything. The US already has such a thing that they issue through ITAR. But that is for other than offensive operations.
For offensive operations or actual authorization to kill Qaddafi and his troops, it will take something with a little bit more legal teeth.?What I am talking about is somewhere along the lines of a death warrant, bill of attainder or Letter of Marque and Reprisal. Something that gives the acting party the ultimate in legal protections to do what it has to do out there. That document must also have all the right signatures and blessings.?Of course the other way to contribute is via the outlaw way, or just do it without official legal blessing.
Good luck getting any of the serious players in this game with that kind of set up. They would much rather stick to the safe and ‘legal’ PSC work in Iraq and Afghanistan.?I am also reminded of what happened in Rwanda and the world’s reaction back then. At that time everyone sat and watched as a genocide played out before our eyes. There were also calls to do something, and no one sent troops to stop it. The UN was so desperate at the time that they reached out to Executive Outcomes and asked for a quote for their services. Of course the UN was not hip on contracting the services of a capable PMC. They also thought EO’s price was too expensive, and yet ended up spending even more money for a UN only mission that responded way too late to the massacre and failed at saving lives. I often wonder how many people could have been saved if EO was contracted and tasked to saved the day there? –Matt
They do know that. And it‘s an emotional thing. They don‘t want to see Gadhafi thrown out by the 82nd American Airborne Division, or the 101st or anything like that.?But if there were groups of 12 Team Alphas, the Special Forces here, hidden away someplace, giving them advice and communicating with aircraft, I know they would accept that. I spoke with some rebel leaders who definitely want that.?They‘re even considering hiring security experts on their own—and there are a lot of I guess you could call them mercenaries that are available on the open market, British, SAS, people who retired and are now working more or less freelance. They‘re looking actively to hire people like that, and it would certainly be more effective and cheaper and less chaotic than having all of the wannabe Rambos flowing in if they had some sort of direct communication with the people who are giving them military cover.-Richard Engel, Reporter In Libya.