Civilians In Harms Way

Iraqi insurgents kidnap and brutally murder eleven Nepalese workers. Two Italian women are kidnapped from their home. Two kidnapped Americans are beheaded, and the fate of one British hostage hangs in the balance. Anyone who has paid even scant attention to the news lately is aware of the rash of kidnappings and executions taking place in Iraq. Over the past twelve months, Iraqi insurgents have kidnapped an alarming number of foreigners, most of whom have been civilians, and many of whom have been killed. While all rational people abominate and denounce such acts, those same people must wonder how it is that so many foreign civilians come to be in what is, after all, still a de facto war zone. The answer can be summed up in one word: outsourcing.

The United States government, in order to reduce military spending, decided to outsource a lot of the support duties that were once handled by military personnel. Tasks like cooking, laundering, transporting supplies, and road building were farmed out to civilian contractors like the now infamous Halliburton. The rationale seemed to be that civilian corporations could accomplish these menial duties much more effectively and cheaply than the military could, thus freeing the military to focus on what it did best – fighting wars. While this strategy succeeded in reducing both the size and the cost of the military, sadly it also succeeded in placing a lot of civilians in harm’s way, something the pencil pushers and number crunchers in Washington apparently chose to overlook.

It’s one thing to send US soldiers into potentially hazardous areas, like combat zones. Soldiers are trained and equipped to handle the dangers that arise in combat zones, dangers like being shot at while you’re trying to work, having mortar shells raining down around you, getting blown to bits by roadside bombs, and being taken prisoner by enemy forces. Back in the day, when the military provided most of its own logistics, the men and women who did the cooking and laundering, the driving and building, were soldiers. They were trained for combat. They had weapons and armor. And most importantly – at least to my way of thinking – they knew they were heading into a combat zone where they might get attacked, wounded, taken captive and even killed. Granted, the military might not have done the job as effectively or as cheaply as Halliburton can – although, given the recent revelations about overcharging by Halliburton, the jury is still out on that one – but at least the soldiers weren’t sitting ducks.

Civilians, on the other hand, are sitting ducks. Civilian contractors are not trained to work in combat environments. They are not provided with arms and armor. And they have little or no way of defending themselves when they are attacked. And they are being attacked on a regular basis. Civilians are being wounded, killed, and taken hostage.

So why are we pursuing a policy that puts civilians in harms way? One only need follow the money trail to figure that one out. Military contracts are big business with huge profits. The companies that bid for the contracts to service the military stand to make a bundle. And what if they do lose a few employees in the process? As long as the company profits, little else matters. We used to have a name for businesses that got wealthy this way. We called them war profiteers. Maybe it's time to revive that title.