Be as it may, one should strengthen the (pre)conditions for deploying these ‘contractors’ in both international military missions which involve combat duties and operations, and international civilian missions with a military component focused on (body)guard and sentry duties only. Yet it remains doubtful whether a sufficient number of PMCs and their personnel are or soon will be (self-)disciplined, well-trained and thrustworthy enough for large, complex and dangerous operations.
After closely analysing the Nisour Square incident and the Blackwater company in a wider context of revealed patterns of violence by the personnel of multiple PMCs, the article concludes that the use of ‘mercenaries’ is in principle still possible, doable and defensible – after the necessary reforms an improvements have been made. Arguably, Blackwater’s frequently observed callousness, if typical of other Private Military Companies (PMCs), gravely undermines this proposition. The so-called ‘Blackwater scandal’ – a reference to the seventeen Iraqi civilians killed on Nisour Square by security guards of the private military company (PMC) Blackwater in September 1997 – puts into question the proposition that private military contractors or ‘mercenaries’ could be relied upon to act effectively and responsibly in peacekeeping and other international operations.
One certainly should strengthen the (pre) conditions for deploying these ‘contractors’ in both international military missions which involve combat duties and operations, and international civilian missions with a military component focused on (body)guard and sentry duties only. Yet it remains doubtful whether a sufficient number of PMCs and their personnel are or will become (self-)disciplined, well-trained and trustworthy enough for large, complex and dangerous operations. After closely analysing the Nisour Square incident and the Blackwater company in a wider context of revealed patterns of violence by the personnel of multiple PMCs, the article concludes that the use of ‘mercenaries’ is in principle still possible, doable and defensible – after the necessary reforms and improvements have been made.
Abstract The so-called ‘Blackwater scandal’ – a reference to the seventeen Iraqi civilians killed on Nisour Square by security guards of the private military company (PMC) Blackwater in September 2007 – puts into question the proposition that private military contractors or ‘mercenaries’ could be relied upon to act effectively and responsibly in peacekeeping and other international operations.
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