Feral Jundi

I have received several emails and Facebook forwardings in regards to this particular op-ed, and I thought I would put it out there for folks to check out.  I have never talked with Dr. Deane-Peter Baker, but he does have some credentials and a few books under his belt.

My personal view is that we should not get involved with Libya’s civil/tribal war. But going beyond opinions, I wanted to focus on the capabilities of PMC’s and if in fact they could have an impact on the ground in Libya. I think so, because like Dr. Baker presented, there is precedent for companies participating in offensive operations  abroad and succeeding. The Flying Tigers and Executive Outcomes were mentioned below as companies that did such a thing, and I have my own list of folks that get an honorable mention (check my history section).

Now it has been established that companies have the potential to do this, but what is missing in the present is the legal will to do such a thing.  Operations like this would require a blessing from the highest levels of government, and the license would have to give a company all the same freedoms and liberties that today’s militaries enjoy–and then some. If you want success out of a company, and you care to achieve victory in a war, you must give that company total freedom to do what it needs to do. You must also give it the assurance that they will not be turned into criminals for the warfare they wage, and this is very important.

That’s not saying that a company would want the freedom to commit atrocity and war crime.  It’s just the company must know that it is legally authorized to do what it has to do in the context of the chaos and unpredictability of war.  Of course that is why I keep harping on the Letter of Marque and Reprisal or similar type license that is approved and signed in blood by the highest authorities of that issuing country.  Until that happens, the serious and most capable of companies will always default to the contracts that give them the happy medium of profit and legality.

Now of course a company can go off the grid and attempt to arrange a contract without anyone’s blessing. In a perfect world and free market society, this would work out just fine. But in today’s modern times, countries still rule the military and legal battlefields, and they will always exert control when it’s best interest is threatened or could be enhanced. If I had a dollar for every company that ‘wanted’ to provide a service in let’s say Somalia, and yet to be shut down or intimidated by any of the super powers or other authority… So yeah, the legal blessing is the key here.  The money and everything else involved with war fighing else is just business, but the legal authority along with the moral/legal will of the issuing party, is the most valuable thing that a company could have if they wanted to go down this path. Just my two cents on the whole thing. –Matt

 

In Libya, fight mercenaries with mercenaries
By Deane-Peter Baker
March 29, 2011
It is time to state the glaringly obvious. Without at least some boots on the ground in support of the rebels, the conflict in Libya will in all likelihood settle into a grinding stalemate. The air cover provided by the United States and a slowly growing coalition has pegged back Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s forces, but it will take more than air cover to ensure a rebel victory.

The rebels have displayed laudable courage and enthusiasm. But they lack the basic military organization necessary to effectively tackle the weak, but better equipped and organized, government forces.?The United States, however, is rightly chary about getting sucked into another ground war, and the other contributors to the no-fly zone are even less enthusiastic. But the alternative of sustaining an expensive air campaign over an indefinite period is also unappealing.?There is a third option that seems not to have been considered but which offers real possibilities. Outsource the problem. Provide the necessary funding for the rebels to secure the services of one or more of the private companies that could supply the necessary expertise and logistical support to turn the rebel rabble into a genuine fighting force.?Of course this suggestion will be met in many circles with horror. Mr. Gadhafi, the bad guy, is allegedly using mercenaries. We’re the good guys, and we would never stoop so low.?Really? Does anyone remember the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company, a private concern that played a crucial role in resisting Japanese aggression in China prior to U.S. entry into World War II? We remember them more readily by the name “The Flying Tigers,” and there’s little doubt that those “mercenaries” (I prefer the morally neutral term “contracted combatants”) were among the true heroes of that war.?We don’t need to go that far back to find examples of private contractors turning the tide, for the good, in conflicts not dissimilar to the one currently underway in Libya. In Angola in the early 1990’s, when UNITA rebels refused to accept the outcome of the national elections and reignited the long and bloody civil war in that country, the hard pressed Angolan government turned to the now defunct South African company Executive Outcomes (EO). The small group of EO contractors that deployed to Angola successfully trained and aided Angolan forces in pushing back UNITA’s battle-hardened and relatively well equipped troops.?And this was no fluke. In 1995 the Sierra Leone government, facing collapse in the face of a brutal criminal insurgency by the Revolutionary United Front, also turned to EO, which provided the key capabilities necessary to turn the situation around.?The knee-jerk reasons that are usually given for thinking contracted combatants to be morally problematic simply don’t stand up under scrutiny. The fact is that they are, morally speaking, more like traditional soldiers than we give them credit for. What defines whether or not they are “just warriors” depends on a range of factors, essentially the same factors that apply to uniformed military personnel. Contracted combatants supporting the Libyan rebels would need to adhere to jus in bello (justice in war) moral constraints. But there is no reason in principle why appropriate oversight mechanisms could not be put in place to ensure that happens.?Whether or not the U.S. should have become involved in Libya’s civil war is a moot point. We are involved, and we now bear some of the responsibility for how this all unfolds. At the same time, we also have a responsibility not to unduly risk the lives of U.S. military personnel in a war that really has little to do with U.S. national interests. Contractors, the ultimate volunteers, offer us a way to honorably fulfill both responsibilities.

Deane-Peter Baker is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Leadership, Ethics and Law at the United States Naval Academy. He is the author of “Just Warriors Inc.: The Ethics of Privatized Force” and co-editor of “South Africa and Contemporary Counterinsurgency: Roots, Practices, Prospects.” His e-mail is deane-peter.baker.sf@usna.edu. The opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not represent the official position of the United States Naval Academy.
Story here.