The Rise of Corporate Militias in America

One of the main criticisms about the handling of the Iraqi war-apart from the fiction of it's necessity- was the number of troops deployed. Architects Cheney and Rumsfeld were adament about 150,000 troops being adequate. Critics asserted that 300,000 should have been the minimum. Was the number of troops held down so that corporate militia personnel could be hired?

Halliburton, Blackwater,Custer Battles and CACI to name a few make up part of the 30,000 contractors in Iraq today( they outnumber the rest of the coalition forces combined). The use of private militias is not new. In the 16th century Queen Elizabeth used privateers against the Spanish. But corporations operating militias is new. In the first Gulf War in 1991, corporate militias/contractors amounted to 1% of the total military force. Kosovo saw the number increase to about 10%. The present war has app. 30% participation by corporate security militias.

Consider these speculations. Recent reports of recruiting shortfalls in Army enlistments bring up questions about the reasons. Pay? Firms like Blackwater pay members of their militias $500-1000 per day. That is 10-20 times the amount regular army members are paid. At that rate of pay, one could retire after 1 or 2 years in corporate militias versus 10 or 20 years on active duty in the army. Reasons for the war? A member of a corporate militia could choose the war to fight according to one's personal political view. Why lose your life over a war you don't agree with or one that can't be won? Are there enough military actions in the world to pick and choose assignments? Last year corporate militias based in 50 countries split up $ 100 billion in fees(2005 US defense budget $500 billion). International security expert Deborah Avant of George Washington Univ. recently wrote about Northrup Grumman buying up small security firms" like mad". She said," this is where they think the future is".

Northrup Grumman and other major defense contractors are in a position to know and make it happen. They interface with the Defense Policy Board in a classified atmosphere which reports directly to Sec. Rumsfeld. They can influence policy objectives and sometimes create policy by pushing their menu of services.

With little prospect of restarting the draft, America's new preemptive war policy will have to get personnel from somewhere. Hey! Why not call up Cheney at Halliburton? He can field a team without any delay or start-up times or pension concerns.

What about Cheney and people like him having control over large corporate militias? When one is power-hungry and a warmonger sooner or later any location for war is good enough-domestic or foreign.