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75% of the soldiers in Afghanistan are not professional American military personnel but are contacted mercenaries; they outnumber American troops 3 to 1. I have decided to center this post on the aforementioned statistic because the use of the private sector to wage wars is unbeknownst to most; and this practice has insidious effects—domestic and abroad. America’s use of private militaries, albeit they’re not all armed soldiers, has quickly risen since the Second World War (which was about 10 percent). Now, as I have already stated, the number of mercenaries has begun to eclipse the number of American soldiers engaged in foreign conflicts like the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Syrian and Ukrainian civil wars: and because of the nature of private contractors, this information can be easily concealed from the public. The purpose of this post is to illuminate this practice, to hold government officials accountable for their covert actions.
Statistic’s importance:
The 75 percent statistic is important because it’s indicative of how unaccountable and disconnected government officials have become and it displays the increasing dependency on private mercenary contractors—who’s loyalty is fickle at best. The use of these private armies allows the government to circumvent public opinion and military norms. The Pentagon is not required to chronical and shares the details of their purchased soldiers, hence it allows them to execute military operations behind a closed door. For example, Obama’s strategy for combating terrorist syndicates abroad (ISIS, Boko Haram, etc.) was to deploy a relativity small number of troops--creating a “light footprint”. The official number of dedicated American soldiers was roughly 4,500; though, this “official” number omits the additional 5,000 private mercenaries— an army of 10,000 armed, American funded, soldiers isn’t “light” at all.
Also, the American military has developed a dependency on these private mercenaries. America’s international ambitions has begun to outgrow their military manpower. The American government’s ambitions require them to take on an enormous amount of global responsibilities and now, these obligations have become too large for America’s all volunteer military; purchasing private armies allows them to overcome these deficiencies. It’s like someone who lacks adequate sleep depending on caffeine to work 10-plus exacting hours a day.
This statistic is important because it displays the covert tactics our government officials take to conceal information from the American public, or even the international community. There is a United Nations resolution that prohibits the use of mercenaries, but nations like the United Kingdom and the United States do not obey it.
Public policy background:
The United States government is known to have a robust and exorbitant military apparatus. The government spends over $200 billion dollars on private contractors—again, not all are armed soldiers (that is more than any other nation’s entire military budget). Domestic policies that pertain to the military enable the government to have the financial resources to purchase mercenaries, resulting in their ambitious military goals being met. Because of America’s foreign policies and global superpower status, America is behooved to “police the globe”, in order to maintain international stability.
For example, engaging in regional wars abroad, with the aim of international stability, requires economic and military commitment—the latter’s manpower is what America lacks. The lack of manpower can be attributed to the nature of America’s all-volunteer professional army: we do not have enough persons interested in joining (or qualified to join) the military. This dependency, because of the lack of manpower combined with the desire for government officials to act behind closed doors to evade public scrutiny, are two instrumental reason for the increasing use of private armies.
Possible policies:
America has become so dependent on these private militaries that it has put the nation in a conundrum. We must discover a strategy to remedy this problem while mitigating the possible consequences. If America abruptly pulls out soldiers from foreign conflicts, it may unstable the regions even more (like what happened to Iraq after we left a power vacuum there). One policy that could change this statistic is to hold these private military contractors accountable. We must force them to operate under the same ethics and regulations that the U.S. military does. This would force them to think twice about how they execute orders for clients. The American government must also record the logistics and actions of the contractors and release the information to the public, as they do for the military. If the Government holds these private armies to the standard of its own highly capable army, then the public could give more support—in turn establishing a loyalty in these contractors.
Another possible remedy is to begin regulating these private military contractors. By regulating them, the government could preemptively stop any future harm-- the mercenaries we used could not be used by a foreign agent or a wealthy oligarch.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, I chose to focus that 75% percent stat because it is shocking that that is unbeknownst to almost all Americans. I fervently enjoy studying government and I did not know this until reading it in a book about the History of the Roman Empire. The simple fact that we don’t know about these secret military operations is dangerous, and it gives reason to believe that the government cannot be trusted. So, our leader cannot secretly wage wars with unrecorded mercenaries—who act at the behest of their boss and not their nation. Americans want their government leaders to be transparent, especially when it comes to the military.
*Sources:
McFate, S. (2016, August 12). America's Addiction to Mercenaries. Retrieved September 26, 2018, from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/08/iraq-afghanistan-contractor-pentagon-obama/495731/
Zenko, M. (2016, May 18). Mercenaries Are the Silent Majority of Obama’s Military. Retrieved September 26, 2018, from https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/18/private-contractors-are-the-silent-majority-of-obamas-military-mercenaries-iraq-afghanistan/