What does Blackwater’s removal from Iraq mean?

With Blackwater being barred from working in Iraq – the Iraqi government has decided to not renew Blackwater’s license to operate in the nation – a massive security hole is left open. Blackwater’s services were extensively used by the U.S. State Department for escorting convoys and officials, and while there are other companies which provide similar services, it’s difficult to find one with the manpower and experience that Blackwater provides, although likely competitors (and current State Department contract companies like Triple Canopy, Aegis and DynCorp International, which are some of Blackwater’s biggest competitors) are undoubtedly eager to pick up the slack.

At home, Blackwater was the company that Senators and representatives loved to hate. Often paid much more than the military personnel they fought and worked alongside, they were an easy target for questions of whether we should be using private military services. And they became a much easier target after an attack in Baghdad that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead and over a dozen injured. At the time, Blackwater was escorting a convoy and came under gunfire. Just three months ago, they were fined for illegally shipping weapons into Iraq.

What’s interesting is that while Blackwater loses its license, it doesn’t mean that the people hired for military-type security services will change at all. The same employees working in Iraq for Blackwater can still work in Iraq, and I’ll bet you that the HR fax machine and email inboxes at DynCorp and Triple Canopy are already overflowing with resumes from Blackwater contractors.

But don’t think this story ends here. DynCorp and Triple Canopy both face similar incidents of firing on civilians (though the death numbers were in the high teens). The fact is that when the military or civilian security contractors are faced with threats, triggers get itchy…even for the best. What’s clear is that Iraq and the U.S. can’t do without such operatives, and with the non-renewal of Blackwater’s license, the problems aren’t removed; they will simply be burdened onto another company. Even more confusing is the fact that Erik Prince, CEO/founder of Blackwater, also operates Greystone, a security contractor operating in Iraq that is sort of a subsidiary to Blackwater, but actually an independent company in its own right – and not even headquartered in the United States. So, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Greystone pick up the slack, and then we don’t see much of a change at all, except for the business to which the checks are written.