Stop the privatisation of war
For most people war means pain, suffering and poverty.
Yet not everyone is made poorer by war. For some companies, war means profit. Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) are making a killing out of the war in Afghanistan and in conflicts around the globe.
The last decade has seen a boom in private military and security companies that provide services previously carried out by national military services. These private armies work for governments and corporations in war zones around the world. They provide security, take part in reconstruction, direct combat surveillance and intelligence gathering. In recent years the British government has spent more than £148 million on contracts to private armies it is using in Afghanistan and Iraq.
War on Want believes outsourcing military contracts to private companies amounts to the privatisation of war. We are campaigning to get private armies regulated.
Killings and human rights abuses by private armies in Iraq have dominated the headlines. This 'trophy video' shows employees of British company Aegis Defence Services randomly shooting automatic weapons at civilian cars in Baghdad.
There are now concerns similar abuses are taking place in Afghanistan such as the case of contractor Don Ayala, an employee Strategic Analysis Inc (a sub-contractor of BAE Systems) shot dead a handcuffed Afghani detainee in May 2008. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter but walked free from a US court in 2009.
Take action now to stop private armies.
