Thursday, October 11, 2007
Blackwater Security and Privatization
The recent events in Iraq involving Blackwater security has brought the issue of the privatization of the US military into discussion. There seems to be widespread belief that anything private is going to be cheaper and better than anything run by governments. Some quick math shows that the first $1 billion no-bid contract for the 800 Blackwater personnel in Iraq comes to $1.25M per man. Oft-cited numbers put the price tag at 5x the cost of military personnel. And let's not forget the fact that the owner of Blackwater is very well connected politically, and even personally worked in the Bush I White House.
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Of course the actions of both our government and of Blackwater are to be condemned, but it is an error to attribute their sins to privatization.
To do so is to show ignorance of the fact that it is not "privatization" when the government selects an agent to carry out its aggression.
Privatization implies that the government get out--lock, stock and barrel--from involvement in an enterprise. Blackwater is not a result of privatization in that no public bids were let for the services they provide and that the government has granted it blanket immunity for its crimes, among other things.
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