US Hires Mercenaries for African Operations

by Jordan Yerman | March 9, 2007 at 10:34 am

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The US has a long history of outsourcing for military operations. All those "contractors" we read aobut in Iraq? Mercenaries.

The issue here is of accountability. Mercenaries are not subject to the same legal scrutiny as official soldiers, though that has been meaning less and less lately with the likes of the Abu Graib situation.

First, the U.S. provided air support, to run Islamists out of power in Somalia. Now, to hold on to the territory, America in sending in troops: Not U.S. servicemembers.

Dyncorp_group2 The State Department has hired a major military contractor to help equip and provide logistical support to international peacekeepers in Somalia, giving the United States a significant role in the critical mission without assigning combat forces.

DynCorp International, which also has U.S. contracts in Iraq, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, will be paid $10 million to help the first peacekeeping mission in Somalia in more than 10 years.