What does PSC stand for?

In Defense Department parlance PSC stands for Private Security Corporation. PSCs provide security in Iraq. After reading an article in yesterday’s NY Times Magazine, I think PSC should stand for Pretty Shitty Command by our Defense Department (DOD).

First of all, the idea of a mercenary army fighting for our side goes against the American grain. Didn’t we fight against German mercenaries in the Revolutionary War? Is it possible that some soldiers don’t re-enlist but join a PSC for the money since the typical PSC fighter is paid between $400 and $700 a day? DOD has hired as a consultant on outsourced security one Lawrence Peter, a paid advocate for the PSC industry. Talk about independent consulting!

This particular type of ‘outsourcing’ started at the very beginning of our occupation of Iraq. A PSC was hired to protect the staff of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, the precursor of the CPA. In the words of General Jay Garner, our first ‘governor’ there, it was done because, “The military just hadn’t provided enough numbers.” Again, the belief that Rumsfeld knew better than General Shinseki (who was fired for saying we’d need a heck of a lot of troops to pacify Iraq) has led to another fiasco.

No one really knows how many mercenaries are in Iraq. The best estimate is 25,000. That’s about 15-17% of our real soldiers and these guys do not report to anyone in the normal military chain of command; in the words of DOD, “PSCs are not being used to perform inherently military function.” Yet, although they have fought against the insurgents and protected bigwigs, I guess these activities are not inherently military.

Now, if the average mercenary earns only $100,000 annually and there are 25,000 of them, we, the taxpayers, are shelling out $2,500,000,000 a year for these guys. Then, of course, you have to add in overhead and a profit margin. We are paying one company $250,000,000 for one year. This company employs about 1,000. If you assume that our costs are the same for the 25,000 mercenaries, then the bill jumps to $6 ¼ billion a year. How many real soldiers could we support for that amount of money?

Private Security Company or another example of Pretty Shitty Command? You tell me.