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Title Hired guns : views about armed contractors in Operation Iraqi Freedom / Sarah K. Cotton [and others].

Publication Info. Santa Monica, CA : RAND, 2010.

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (xxvi, 115 pages) : illustrations.
Physical Medium polychrome.
Description data file
Series Rand Corporation monograph series ; MG-987-SRF
Rand Corporation monograph series.
Summary "The use of armed private security contractors (PSCs) in the Iraq war has been unprecedented. Not only government agencies but also journalists, reconstruction contractors, and nongovernmental organizations frequently view them as a logical choice to fill their security needs, yet there have been a number of reports of PSCs committing serious, and sometimes fatal, abuses of power in Iraq. This study uses a systematic, empirically based survey of opinions of U.S. military and State Department personnel on the ground in Iraq to shed light on the following questions: To what extent are armed PSCs perceived to be imposing costs on the U.S. military effort? If so, are those costs tempered by positive contributions? How has the use of PSCs affected U.S. military operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom? While the military personnel did report some incidents of unnecessarily threatening, arrogant, or belligerent contractor behavior, the survey results indicate that neither the U.S. military nor State Department personnel appear to perceive PSCs to be "running wild" in Iraq. Moreover, respondents tended to consider PSCs a force multiplier rather than an additional strain on military troops, but both military and State Department respondents held mixed views regarding the contribution of armed contractors to U.S. foreign policy objectives."--Page 4 of cover.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references.
Contents Introduction -- Private military and security contractors are not a new phenomenon : a brief history of military privatization -- Do private security contractors have a negative impact on military retention and morale? -- Have private security contractors had an adverse effect on local Iraqis' perceptions of the entire occupying force because of the legal impunity with which they operated in Iraq prior to 2009? -- Is there a relative lack of unit cohesion and systematic coordination between private security contractors and the military? -- Do private security contractors play a valuable supporting role to the U.S. military as a force multiplier? -- Do private security contractors provide skills and services that the Armed Forces lack? -- Do private security contractors provide vital surge capacity and critical security services? -- Summary of findings and policy recommendations.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
JSTOR Books at JSTOR Open Access
Language English.
Subject Postwar reconstruction -- Iraq -- Evaluation.
Postwar reconstruction.
Iraq.
Evaluation.
Private military companies -- Iraq -- Evaluation.
Private military companies.
Private security services -- Iraq -- Evaluation.
Private security services.
Government contractors -- Iraq -- Evaluation.
Government contractors.
Contracting out -- Iraq -- Evaluation.
Contracting out.
Government contractors -- United States -- Evaluation.
United States.
Contracting out -- United States -- Evaluation.
Genre/Form Electronic books.
Electronic books.
Electronic books.
Added Author Cotton, Sarah K.
Rand Corporation. National Security Research Division.
Other Form: Print version: Hired guns. Santa Monica, CA : RAND, 2010 9780833049827 (DLC) 2010015412 (OCoLC)608687394
ISBN 9780833050755 (electronic book)
0833050753 (electronic book)
9780833049827
0833049828
1282940503
9781282940505
9786612940507
6612940506
Report No. RAND/MG-987-SRF