From www.ft.com
Private military company targets Liberia
By Thomas Catán and Stephen Fidler
Published: July 23 2003 20:47 | Last Updated: July 23 2003 20:47
As the US ponders over whether to intervene in the civil war in Liberia, an Anglo-American company has offered to deploy a battalion of peacekeepers and arrest President Charles Taylor.
Northbridge Services, a private military company (PMC) founded by retired UK and US soldiers, says it could deploy 500 to 2,000 armed men in Liberia in three weeks to halt the fighting, which has raged around the capital, Monrovia. "These personnel can work in accordance with the international community and prevent the [need] for US soldiers to be placed in harm's way."
The proposal has not received US support, which would be needed to finance the operation. But it represents an idea being taken seriously by the US and other governments reluctant to commit their own forces.
Kofi Annan, UN secretary-general, said in 1998 that he considered using a private company to keep fighters and refugees apart in the Rwanda crisis. But he concluded: "The world may not be ready to privatise peace."
It may be readier now. Peter Singer of the Brookings Institution, an expert on PMCs, says there is discussion in the Bush administration, and particularly the Pentagon, about using such companies.
It is being driven by concerns about the US army: half its 33 active divisions are in Iraq, while it is also committed in Afghanistan, South Korea, Kosovo and elsewhere.
In the UK a House of Commons committee suggested a year ago that the government "should consider carefully whether the greater use of PMCs in UK humanitarian and peace support operations might help to reduce military overstretch".
Private expertise is often used to support UN peacekeeping in activities such as demining and water purification. US-financed private companies have already been involved in Liberia.
Northbridge said its proposed intervention "would cost a fraction of what it does to deploy US armed forces," but gave no estimate.
In Sierra Leone, neighbouring Liberia, the UN-backed special court that last month indicted Mr Taylor for war crimes responded favourably to Northbridge's proposal. It said it would be happy to take delivery of the Liberian warlord at the border.
However, court officials have told the company that it has run out of funds and urged it to seek financing from the US, its largest donor. The State Department has not responded favourably to the proposal, despite behind-the-scenes support from US congressmen.
Pasquale Dipofi, Northbridge's director of US operations, said: "There is a stigma surrounding our profession." Northbridge came into conflict with the UK Foreign Office this year after news reports alleged it was hiring several hundred "mercenaries" to fight for the government in Ivory Coast.
Jack Straw, the foreign minister, said at the time that the deployment by Northbridge would "seriously undermine the peace process". The company hit back, denying it was a mercenary firm.
The US has called for Mr Taylor to step down from power and leave the country before it will consider sending any troops to the country. Mr Taylor, on the other hand, has insisted he will take up an offer of asylum in Nigeria only when peacekeepers arrive.
In June the company offered to provide the UN-backed court with a "special constabulary force" of some 60 armed men that would arrest Mr Taylor and bring him to trial at a cost of around $4m. Since then the violence in Liberia has intensified, making such an operation too difficult. Mr Dipofi said: "This whole thing could have been resolved in June."
Kevin O'Brien of Rand Europe, another specialist on PMCs, says such enforcement operations risked being condemned as bounty- hunting.
However, PMCs are keeping up the pressure on governments. Doug Brooks of the International Peace Operations Association, based in Alexandria, Virginia, says UN peacekeeping operations are largely staffed by troops from the developing world. He argues that the use of private companies would improve the quality of the operations.
"Often the US and UK and France refuse to participate in these missions. You end up with the least capable militaries doing the most difficult military tasks in the world," he says.
Private military company targets Liberia
By Thomas Catán and Stephen Fidler
Published: July 23 2003 20:47 | Last Updated: July 23 2003 20:47
As the US ponders over whether to intervene in the civil war in Liberia, an Anglo-American company has offered to deploy a battalion of peacekeepers and arrest President Charles Taylor.
Northbridge Services, a private military company (PMC) founded by retired UK and US soldiers, says it could deploy 500 to 2,000 armed men in Liberia in three weeks to halt the fighting, which has raged around the capital, Monrovia. "These personnel can work in accordance with the international community and prevent the [need] for US soldiers to be placed in harm's way."
The proposal has not received US support, which would be needed to finance the operation. But it represents an idea being taken seriously by the US and other governments reluctant to commit their own forces.
Kofi Annan, UN secretary-general, said in 1998 that he considered using a private company to keep fighters and refugees apart in the Rwanda crisis. But he concluded: "The world may not be ready to privatise peace."
It may be readier now. Peter Singer of the Brookings Institution, an expert on PMCs, says there is discussion in the Bush administration, and particularly the Pentagon, about using such companies.
It is being driven by concerns about the US army: half its 33 active divisions are in Iraq, while it is also committed in Afghanistan, South Korea, Kosovo and elsewhere.
In the UK a House of Commons committee suggested a year ago that the government "should consider carefully whether the greater use of PMCs in UK humanitarian and peace support operations might help to reduce military overstretch".
Private expertise is often used to support UN peacekeeping in activities such as demining and water purification. US-financed private companies have already been involved in Liberia.
Northbridge said its proposed intervention "would cost a fraction of what it does to deploy US armed forces," but gave no estimate.
In Sierra Leone, neighbouring Liberia, the UN-backed special court that last month indicted Mr Taylor for war crimes responded favourably to Northbridge's proposal. It said it would be happy to take delivery of the Liberian warlord at the border.
However, court officials have told the company that it has run out of funds and urged it to seek financing from the US, its largest donor. The State Department has not responded favourably to the proposal, despite behind-the-scenes support from US congressmen.
Pasquale Dipofi, Northbridge's director of US operations, said: "There is a stigma surrounding our profession." Northbridge came into conflict with the UK Foreign Office this year after news reports alleged it was hiring several hundred "mercenaries" to fight for the government in Ivory Coast.
Jack Straw, the foreign minister, said at the time that the deployment by Northbridge would "seriously undermine the peace process". The company hit back, denying it was a mercenary firm.
The US has called for Mr Taylor to step down from power and leave the country before it will consider sending any troops to the country. Mr Taylor, on the other hand, has insisted he will take up an offer of asylum in Nigeria only when peacekeepers arrive.
In June the company offered to provide the UN-backed court with a "special constabulary force" of some 60 armed men that would arrest Mr Taylor and bring him to trial at a cost of around $4m. Since then the violence in Liberia has intensified, making such an operation too difficult. Mr Dipofi said: "This whole thing could have been resolved in June."
Kevin O'Brien of Rand Europe, another specialist on PMCs, says such enforcement operations risked being condemned as bounty- hunting.
However, PMCs are keeping up the pressure on governments. Doug Brooks of the International Peace Operations Association, based in Alexandria, Virginia, says UN peacekeeping operations are largely staffed by troops from the developing world. He argues that the use of private companies would improve the quality of the operations.
"Often the US and UK and France refuse to participate in these missions. You end up with the least capable militaries doing the most difficult military tasks in the world," he says.
