Feral Jundi

Friday, February 19, 2010

Haiti: Private Industry To The Rescue!

Filed under: Disaster Response,Haiti — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 1:09 PM

“If Scahill and Klein have the resources, the capabilities, the equipment, to go in and do it themselves then more power to them.” -Doug Brooks, IPOA 

*****

     Your damn right, and good on Doug for calling it like it is. I read through these two articles below, thinking that the authors were actually going to present a convincing argument that what the IPOA and private industry is doing is a bad thing. In fact, I read through both of these articles and thought, ‘ private industry to the rescue’!  So thanks to Anthony Fenton and Jeremy Gantz for actually writing two articles that were inspirational to me, and did the exact opposite of what they intended to do. Critics are funny that way.

   I will explain.  You see all of these critics of the industry continue to complain that private industry is actually doing something about the rebuilding of Haiti.  At face value, that is just ridiculous. Who are they to say that the IPOA or GIS can’t help? Can they help if they are wearing a Che Guevera t-shirt?  Can they only help if they donate their entire savings to the Haitian government, and live on the streets of Vancouver BC begging for money for the rest of their lives?

    To me, the critics have actually taken a pretty immoral stance in my opinion.  If I am the public and reading this stuff, I am thinking ‘where the hell is the money supposed to go anyways’ and ‘who cares if private industry wants to help’?  The public wants action, and they want to make sure that Haiti is getting a good value for the dollar. The donations are supposed to be used for rebuilding and helping Haiti, not for paying aid agency salaries or for aid agency ad campaigns so they can make even more money.  Put that money to work, and lets get going on the rebuild.

   Also, all of these IPOA companies are specialists in rebuilding in the worst kind of disaster zones.  Namely, war.  They provide the specialists, and they also hire local Haitians, and get projects built.  Private industry will be helping government, but they will also be helping other private groups.  Who are the critics to say that private industry cannot participate in that process?  This is how the real world works, and I just shake my head every time I read this stuff.

   Klein is classic though.  The biggest disaster capitalists on this planet, are the media and aid agencies, and yet private industry is the bad guy here?  Pfffft. If anything, Klein lacks the courage to criticize the media or aid agencies, partly because most of her cheerleaders come from those two groups. Not to mention that the media and aid agencies both depend upon my industry to go on their little disaster crusades around the world.

    Naomi is also living in a fairy tale if she thinks that private industry can’t help, or that their ‘cookie cutter’ responses in Iraq or Afghanistan are not helpful to Haiti.  I am still trying to figure out what she means by cookie cutter response, because I have yet to see anything of the sort from any of the companies over in Iraq or Afghanistan.  Actually, they all do things quite differently and approach problems based on their personal experience and capability.  Most are pretty innovative and can certainly get things done.  They have to, if they want to survive in a war zone and be competitive in this market.

   Any way, I wanted to give kudos to the IPOA and GIS for putting the critics in their place, and for all the hard work they have done.  I also want to thank these two journalists for providing examples of what happens when criticism backfires. Especially when they are trying to attack those that are taking action to help Haiti. –Matt

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HAITI:Private Contractors ‘Like Vultures Coming to Grab the Loot’ 

Anthony Fenton

VANCOUVER, Canada, Feb 19 (IPS) – Critics are concerned that private military contractors are positioning themselves at the centre of an emerging “shock doctrine” for earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

Next month, a prominent umbrella organisation for private military and logistic corporations, the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA), is co-organising a “Haiti summit” which aims to bring together “leading officials” for “private consultations with attending contractors and investors” in Miami, Florida.

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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Industry Talk: Two Perspectives On Wartime Contractor Cost Effectiveness

   What I did was put up two perspectives on contractor cost effectiveness with one article written by Doug Brooks and the other one by David Isenberg. Check it out and tell me what you guys think. Both Doug and David have a lot to say about the subject.

    My take away on all of it, is that the true cost effectiveness should be determined by the ones that are actually paying for the product or service. Until then, folks on both sides of the debate of contractor cost effectiveness will continue to argue and debate over who is right or wrong. My take away on all of it, is that governments will do whatever serves them best both politically and militarily, and not necessarily what is most cost effective. –Matt

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Think Globally. Hire Locally

Journal of International Peace Operations

Nov/Dec 2009

by Doug Brooks

The Benefits of Employing Local Nationals in Conflict And Post-Conflict Operations

LOCAL nationals make up the majority of the personnel on the ground in the stability operations industry, a fact too often overlooked by media and pundits. Not only do these locals offer enormous advantages to our industry in terms of costs, language capabilities, local knowledge and skills, but at the policy level they contribute to rebuilding the economy and vastly benefit larger stability policies. Nevertheless, some important concerns and caveats remain when hiring locals; and thus certain essential policies should be adopted by all companies setting up business in conflict and post-conflict operations.

Personnel working for the stability operations industry are generally divided into three categories:

* Local Nationals (LNs, also known as Host Country Nationals, or HCNs) who originate from the country of the operation.

* Third Country Nationals (TCNs) who come from a country not involved in the intervention or peace operation. Most TCNs are from developing countries, attracted by salaries far above what they could earn at home. Some, however, are drawn from developed countries as well.

* Finally, Western expatriates, who are usually hired for management, contractual compliance or oversight tasks; although for some contracts they may be engaged in work from security to truck driving.

LNs represent the bulk of this industry’s personnel. For example, as of June 30, 2009, LNs made up 69 percent of U.S. Department of Defense contractor personnel operating in Afghanistan – and 95 percent of security contractors in the operation. TCNs account for most of the remainder, with citizens of Western nations making up a relatively small minority. The LN proportion can be even higher for contractors supporting UN operations, and that number only increases with the duration of the operation as local hires learn new skills, gain the trust of companies and clients and earn management positions.

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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Industry Talk: Stability Operations for Dummies, by Doug Brooks

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Industry Talk: IPOA 2009 Annual Summit–‘Afghanistan, Supporting Regional Stability Operations’

   This would be a good one to attend.  Dr. David Kilcullen, Dr. Kimberly Kagan and General Anthony Zinni (ret.) are just a few of the speakers at this event.  I also thought the topics of this summit were pretty telling. “Succeeding in Afghanistan, Capacity Building & Development, Regulation & Licensing,  Counter-Narcotics in Afghanistan, U.S. Legislative & Policy Trends, International Regulatory Trends, Logistics & Supply Routes, Armored Vehicle Standards, PSC Licensing & Regulations, Security Sector Reform, Counterinsurgency, and U.S. Government Accountability and Oversight”.

   Anyone reading the tea leaves on this one, and you can see that regulation of the industry is front and center.  And with such high level COIN experts attending, folks are getting the picture that the 246,000 plus civilian contractors working in the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, might just have a weeeeee little bit of an impact on the overall COIN strategy. (my pimp hand of sarcasm is strong-lol)

   To not address the impact of our industry on the current war strategy is foolish.  Better yet, to not explore further uses of our industry to enhance the current war strategy is equally foolish.  We are a tool of war, and if used correctly, we will certainly help to achieve certain goals of any military strategy.

   I also hope that those in attendance at least have a quick discussion about Somalia on the side. Because what CSS Global does in that AO, will certainly impact any kind of regional strategy there. It is within the best interest of the industry, and of the war planners, to make sure these guys get it right.  The actions of the few, impact the rest of us, and unfortunately we do not have the luxury to look the other way anymore. –Matt

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The IPOA 2009 Annual Summit is the premier event of the Stability Operations Industry. The Summit will be held in Washington, DC, home to some of the world’s largest clients in the global Stability Operations Industry.

The three-day Summit, to be held on 25 – 27 October, 2009, will feature a mix of panel discussions, keynote speeches and ample opportunities for industry networking. The Summit will focus on developments in the Afghanistan region, including Pakistan and other neighboring nations, giving overarching consideration to the role of the private sector in such missions.

The venue for the Summit will be Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center in the National Harbor in Washington, DC.  Click here for more information on the venue.

Go here for more information and to register.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Industry Talk: The Book ‘Beyond Market Forces’ and a Policy Forum with UNWG and Company

The convention does not want to eliminate the use of private companies at all…. -Shaista Shameem

Over a decade ago, Kofi Annan concluded that the world wasn’t ready for privatized peacekeeping. It’s still not. But that shouldn’t mean that we are oblivious to the very important role that many private military and security companies are playing at what I would call the second rank level, freeing up national troops to play key frontline roles. We see these kinds of companies, for example, providing security analysis and training, local private security companies are often key in providing site security and in some cases, convoy support services, and humanitarians operating under a UN security umbrella come into contact with these kinds of companies in a wide variety of theaters and playing a wide variety of functions. -James Cockayne 

     Ok, here is a quick run down of this policy forum, book promotion and gathering of some really smart folks.  The general idea that I am getting from this group is that PSC’s and PMC’s are a fact of life, and it is on the various countries that use them to back up some kind of way to regulate them, all with the idea that accountability should be built into the whole process to prevent human rights violations.  The UNWG (UN Working Group) along with other groups (IPOA, PASA, BAPSC, etc.) have been working hard on some kind of a standard that companies and countries can adhere to, how to regulate it and also exploring what these security contractors should do and not do out there.

    For the most part, the folks on this panel think it is just fine that PMC’s and PSC’s should do defensive tasks, like convoy protection, PSD or static security (note the quotes up top).  It’s just anything in the realm of offensive actions is what they are against and very wary of.

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