By Stella Connaughton

In 2004, a squad of soldiers killed 17 civilians in Baghdad. Although they were wearing American flags on their sleeves, they did not count as part of the 120,000 American soldiers in Iraq at the time. Instead, they were private military contractors: private sector soldiers that the American government paid to fight on the front lines.

Private military contractors are not a rare phenomenon: 50% of soldiers in Iraq were contracted by the American government and were not officially part of the U.S military. This industry of soldiers for hire has dramatically increased; during World War 2, only about 10% of soldiers were contracted.

Private military contractors create tricky situations in regard to their role in a conflict. While they are similar to mercenaries—soldiers for hire—PMC employees generally don’t meet the restrictive definition of a mercenary. Mercenaries are considered individuals, rather than a corporate entity that a PMC is normally defined as. On the other hand, they aren’t considered part of a country’s combatant numbers. Under international law, contractors are in fact considered civilians.

The industry of private military contractors (PMCs) is troubling. The industry generates their profit from warfare (Contractors made 138 billion dollars from the Iraq War), and their inherent profit incentive puts them at odds with American foreign policy and moral ideals. Military contractors hire soldiers from poor countries to take advantage of the thousands of men willing to be contractors for as little as a thousand dollars per month. Deficon International, one of the largest private military companies in the world, is based in Peru, a country still recovering from the effects of internal fighting. Deficon targets men who have been burdened by the cost of war and live in poverty, often with no other way to get a job.

PMCs show how reliant the United States is on the private sector for warfare as well as how the private sector is reliant on warfare for business.

Military and arms contractors are one of the biggest lobbying groups on Capitol Hill. The way they get business is when the United States needs soldiers, guns, bombs, and weapons—when the U.S goes to war. The American government then puts out a bid for a contract, often totaling hundreds of billions of dollars. In 2017, the Pentagon appropriated $320 billion for contractors.

Military lobbyists perpetuate war because it creates perpetual profits for businesses. To promote war, lobbyists spread fear. Inflation of international threats in order to increase public support for the war on terror remains a Washington tradition. Today, the arms lobby pushes for deeper US intervention in countries like Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Since the United States is not required to officially count contractors in “boots on the ground” statistics, there is less political cost associated with deploying military contractors. As a result, the United States deploys more troops in a “bigger equals better” mindset, due to the sheer number of contractors available. This incentive for intervention ultimately ends up boosting terrorism. Empirically, increasing military personnel increases anti-American terror by 30%.

As seen in the mindless killings of innocent Iraqis by contractors, private soldiers are not regulated and are more likely to commit human rights abuses. Since they don’t have to be held accountable by the U.S military, they often are more aggressive and less responsible. In addition, they are rarely trained in international law and human rights. Increases usage of PMCs will turn public opinion against U.S military occupation and increases anti-American sentiment.

The United States needs to change its current approach to private military contractors to maintain U.S support in military conflicts and regain legitimacy in peace-building operations. The federal government should establish a non-partisan independent body with the task of specifically regulating and vetting private military companies and ensuring that they’re trained to properly enter combat zones and other operations.

Most importantly, the United States should enter multilateral treaties with other countries to oversee private military contractors and avoid jurisdiction issues regarding contractors abroad.

With the long-term in mind, the United States must decrease its reliance on private military companies. They’ve empirically been a huge waste in our already bloated military spending and perpetuate one of the most harmful lobbying groups in Washington. Furthermore, the United States will never be seen as a country that prioritizes democracy and peace if we continue to rely on companies that depend on warfare for profit. When the United States goes to war, the outcome doesn’t matter: the PMC industry will always win.