Feral Jundi

Friday, June 11, 2010

Publications: ISW–Consolidating Private Security Companies In Southern Afghanistan, By Kimberly Kagan And Carl Forsberg

Filed under: Afghanistan,Publications — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 2:19 PM

   One of the problems I have with this paper is that a government should embrace the power of private enterprise and the free markets, and find ways of using these security companies to only help in their war time strategy.  This paper operates on the assumption that the state has to have a monopoly on force in the first place, and I don’t think this is correct.  It seems that CNAS has recognized that we shouldn’t assume this either, and I think the ISW should reconsider this point of the paper. The state should not be afraid to use private security, and instead should be thankful that a company would even serve in this capacity for the state.

     Now how they serve the state is dependent upon the contract/war strategy and how much effort the government puts into ensuring they get a good deal.  You have to care if you want a good service, and caring means monitoring, regulating, and enforcing, or what I like to refer to as a ‘trust, but verify’ attitude. It is a lesson that the US must learn(or any country for that matter), and it is a lesson that the Afghan government must learn, if in fact they want to take advantage of the strengths of private industry(wealth building, innovation, employment, etc.) and be a player on the world stage.

     Check out the paper and let me know what you think. –Matt

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Consolidating Private Security Companies in Southern Afghanistan

May 28, 2010

By Kimberly Kagan and Carl Forsberg

This backgrounder outlines the complex relationship between private security companies and ISAF in southern Afghanistan.

Introduction

Dozens of Private Security Companies (PSCs) operate in Kandahar city and province, frequently doubling as the militias of local powerbrokers. These armed groups also operate on a contractual basis to provide security for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and private, Afghan companies. Because PSCs are under the control of powerful individuals, rather than the Afghan National Security Forces, they compete with state security forces and interfere with a government monopoly on the use of force. There is growing pressure from ISAF and within the Afghan government to reform and regulate these companies. Major General Nick Carter, the commander of Regional Command-South (RC-S), recently briefed that ISAF was developing a strategy to regulate PSCs as part of the Kandahar Operations unfolding in summer 2010.1

If not properly structured, however, the regulation of these PSCs in Kandahar may reinforce the existing power structures, strengthen the hand of local powerbrokers such as Ahmed Wali Karzai, and further weaken the ANSF. An initiative underway to consolidate the security companies in southern Afghanistan is likely to exacerbate the problems caused by PSCs, rather than reducing their influence.

Download the publication here.

Link to webpage here.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Industry Talk: Karzai’s Power Hungry Half-brother And The Kandahar Security Company

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 12:04 AM

     “The concern seems to me to be that he may be creating a security force which responds to him and subverts the formal institutions and formal security forces of the Afghan state,” said Carl Forsberg, a research analyst and Afghan specialist at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington.

*****

   A lot of interesting moves going on with the security market in Afghanistan right now. I recently posted a deal where the Afghan government barred Compass ISS and Watan Risk Management from operating because of their reckless behavior.  Well now you see the other side of the coin, and that by barring these two companies, they in effect were laying the ground work for the Kandahar Security Company.

  And with all of those troops surging into the country, the amount of money those supply contracts will bring in will certainly be something that the local security companies will be fighting over. The rule of thumb there is whomever is more connected to the Afghan government will win at the end of the day. Half-brother to Karzai trumps cousin to Karzai in the world of Afghan security contracting I guess. lol

   One thing I would like to see though, is more of an effort to integrate these contracts with expats.  If NATO and the US are paying the bills, they should have the right to lay down the terms of the contract.  They can do business with the locals all they want, but they should insist on having some monitors or liaisons assigned to them, that can vouch for the quality of the service.  If we do not want these Afghan companies to pay off the local Taliban or shoot at civilians indiscriminately, then you need someone that can baby sit the whole process every step of the way.  A company that can ensure the job gets done properly, and has some adult supervision.

   Another idea is to put a military or government monitor on the convoys and implement a license and bonding concept.  I guarantee that an Afghan company would crap nickels if they knew they could lose their bond, or worse yet, their license to operate, if the monitor that was riding with them witnessed them doing anything that was in violation of the contract or a violation of the law.  We use the license and bonding concept with home construction in the US to ensure homes are properly built and home owners are not ripped off–why not use it with security companies? NATO and the US are the customers, and they should do all they can to ensure these companies are more service oriented and above board, than organized criminals getting the job done the way they see fit.

   It will also help to ensure that these companies are not destroying the hard work going into counter-insurgency strategy.  Because the locals look at these convoys and security companies as a part of NATO and the US simply because we are paying the bills for such a service. When these companies do bad or kill innocents accidentally, it is propaganda gold to the Taliban shadow government.-Matt

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Afghan security deal could boost President Karzai’s half-brother

By DION NISSENBAUM

May. 19, 2010

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is weighing approval of an expansive new business deal that could give his controversial half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, increased influence over the lucrative security business that protects supply convoys for U.S.-led forces in southern Afghanistan.

As American strategists prepare military and political moves to extend government control in Kandahar this summer, President Karzai has before him a plan that would give a key ally of his half-brother the power to run the newly created Kandahar Security Co.

If approved quickly, the deal could allow the firm to obtain millions of dollars in contracts this summer as the U.S. military sends thousands of additional troops into southern Afghanistan.

Top Afghan officials say they’re backing the deal as a way to gain control over rival security firms that have sometimes engaged in violent clashes over multi-million-dollar contracts.

Karzai’s critics view the security consolidation as a covert effort to solidify Ahmed Wali Karzai’s already-unrivaled hold on power in Kandahar. His grip on the city is widely seen as a major obstacle to establishing good local governance, a critical requirement for the success of the U.S.-led counterinsurgency operation.

“The concern seems to me to be that he may be creating a security force which responds to him and subverts the formal institutions and formal security forces of the Afghan state,” said Carl Forsberg, a research analyst and Afghan specialist at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington.

(more…)

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