Private militias in Afghanistan

More news in the burgeoning academic field of research private security providers.

NYU's Centre on International Co-operation released a report today called The Public Cost of Private Security in Afghanistan.

The Guardian ran an article yesterday, which I found a bit confusing as far as what constituted a private militia and what a private security company.

Turns out Dyncorp, Triplecanopy and Xe contractors are not the only examples of extremely bad behavior the undermine both local government and the international presence.

There are national and international private security providers. The government in Kabul issues a limited number of licenses and supposedly has laws to deal with private military contractors like Xe, formerly known as Blackwater.

However international forces are hiring private militias on their own, completely outside of Afghan law, which still further undermines rule of law in general, and more specifically the Afghan national government and the presence of the international community. They are also no covered under the Status of Forces agreement.

And if that wasn't enough:

"Many of these private security providers serve as ready-made militias that compete with state authority and are frequently run by former military commanders responsible for human rights abuses or involved in the illegal narcotics and black market economies."

Alliance members, partners and contact countries, particularly in Europe, need to step up and start providing the security that is direly needed to conduct an effective counterinsurgency campaign. It is practically guaranteed to fail if we continue with the severe lack of resources we have at present.