The Pros And Cons Of Private Military Companies

1094 Words5 Pages

A private military company (PMC) is nothing more than a group of highly trained individuals that are being paid to carry out particularly dangerous mission for specific clients. These customers differ from nations trying to fight a war to wealthy executives looking for security as well as many other uses. These companies have been used in mass since the Korean War and have only become more influential in times of war as the years progress. In the world of PMCs, many international laws, as well as conflicts, have been produced by the actions of these groups worldwide. However, due to past and current actions by these groups have and the way history has played itself out, the number of restrictions of all types must increase (Kinsey). It is also …show more content…

Not to say that once they agree to complete a contract that they will default on the contract if offered more compensation from another nation. However, they are not held to the same degree of criticism that we hold our armed forces to. This is where the PMC is brought to the international stage and charged with breaking undefined and unclear international laws and agreements. Through all of the research conducted for this cultural critique, it seems quite obvious that the issues lines with the restrictions, or lack thereof, and not so much in the companies themselves. It would be a highly uneducated and oblivious mistake to state that the employees of aforementioned companies are not to blame whatsoever, it is quite the contrary as through the media, the wrongdoing are pointed out, such as with the Jamie Leigh Jones case. However, it is reasonable to hypothesize, and many experts do, that these inadequacies of the organizations and their associated personnel are due the absence of universal protocols regarding the use of any privatized military force throughout the …show more content…

One of the main reason PMCs are frowned upon is due to the fact that they are not held to the same standers as nation military and this opens them up for attacks on all fronts (Camacho). A prime example of this would be the death of a civilian during an engagement. In one situation, a member of the United States military shoots said civilian and reports it as a misfire or they will not even report it and state that it is terrible a consequence of war and that they were defending the nation, an example of this would be the infamous Collateral Murder video taken form an United States apache helicopter. On the other hand, if a member of a leading PMC does the same action chances are they would get charged with murder and sentenced in the nation of the incident, just like the during the Nisour Square massacre (committed by Black Water, just under a different name). These type of altered presentations of what actually occurs on the battle field, both for and against PMCs, make them an attractive target for a number of people, for instance a politician that is against the war in the Middle East or a political blogger that is just looking for something to poke holes in to gain publicities. These same