... legitimately targeted?
Private military and security companies: Mercenaries in suits and khakis?
A basic starting point of the debate over the privatization of military force has been the question of whether private military and security companies (PMSCs) and their personnel should be classified as mercenaries. The proponents of PMSCs argue that, on the basis of existing international law, these companies and their personnel cannot be legally equated to mercenaries, given their corporate structure,...
... operations for over a decade now, saw the greatest influx of private security contractors: from 15,000-20,000 in 2003, to around 200,000 personnel in 2009. (3)
The ‘mercenary’ stigma and the problem of definitions
The controversy around PMSCs begins even with the attempt to define and categorize them. These companies are private and profit-seeking, while the primary motivation of their employees is, in principle, not ideological, but pecuniary, i.e. personal financial gain. Furthermore, private contractors operate in foreign countries, usually in the context of armed conflict, and are not actual members of the regular armies of a party to the conflict, as they are not incorporated into any military chain of command. Due to these characteristics,...
