Guns for Hire?

I recently watched a documentary called "Iraq's Guns for Hire", and it was about all of the Private Security firms in Iraq. It was quite interesting, if anybody gets a chance it is on Netflix. Anyway, there was a scene where the employees of these companies also referred to as "Mercenaries" were being prosecuted.

It went like this, the one of the security firms' was moving supplies for the U.S Army, when their headquarters came under attack with U.S Soldiers inside. Soldiers and Mercenaries fought side-by-side for two hours, trying to repel the massive insurgent attack force. Running low on ammunition, and sustaining casualties they called for help, but nobody came. The Soldiers even called for help but nobody came. Finally, a chopper from another one of the firms' outpost showed up to evacuate their wounded and supply them with ammunition. After about 4 hours of fighting side-by-side, the Mercenaries and Soldiers repelled the attack.

Why were the Mercenaries being prosecuted? Being they were allegedly "Killing" Iraqi civilians, even though their lives were at stake, they were being hired by the U.S Army, and Soldiers were fighting alongside them, they still got prosecuted.

So my question is, do you think Private Security firms should be allowed to do jobs for the Military of the countries that are in Iraq? If you are wondering what the firms do, they basically move supplies and HVT's around Iraq as well as other small jobs that the military does not want to waste time doing.

Provided the PMCs (Private Military Companies - a term I've heard more often) are adhering to international laws surrounding their specific tasks and do no overstep their jurisdiction then I have no issue.

sphynxx said:

Provided the PMCs (Private Military Companies - a term I've heard more often) are adhering to international laws surrounding their specific tasks and do no overstep their jurisdiction then I have no issue.

yes i agree with you. pmc's are used by the armies for support and when they dont want to get there hands dirty. so i guess they get used as scape goats more than not, which is wrong.

If they do what they're supposed to, I have no problem. However, when they pull stunts like Blackwater(now know as Xe)did in '07, they have every right to be prosecuted. Between 2005 and 2007 Blackwater was involved in 195 shooting incidents, and started 163 of them. Without being there though, it's hard to say whether they were justified or not.

In addition, many of those shooting are reported to have started when a vehicle failed to stop when ordered to by Blackwater guards, likely leading to the assumption of VBIEDs(Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device).

So, when did the prosecution happen? Was it immediately after the attack, or a while after that? Are they even connected?

As for the "small jobs" part, the PMC's mostly dealt with security, such as protecting the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.

All in all, as long as they PMC does what it's supposed to, without breaking their contract, let them do it.