Private Military Companies have already proven their effectiveness in Africa. We have a track record of swiftly ending conflicts in the 1990s. Today, deployment in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sao Tome and parts of Uganda to name but a few countries in crisis could bring a stop to the local violence and bloodshed and precipitate a return to peace and security for their long-suffering civilian populace.

This is not just our point of view. Consider the views of others:

Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations
“When we had need of skilled soldiers to separate fighters from refugees in the Rwandan refugee camps in Goma, I even considered the possibility of engaging a private firm.”
Ditchley Foundation lecture, 26 June 1998

Jean-Marie Guehénno, Under-Secretary-General, UN Peacekeeping Operations
“You can make the political judgment that a war fighting capability in some instances may be required. That is not the function of the peacekeeping department....other means, within the limits and principles set up by the UN charter, may be welcome.”
Interview with Robert Young-Pelton, June 2001

Sir Brian Urquhart, "Founding father", UN Peacekeeping
“It does seem to me that some of these private companies could play an extremely useful role. They have quite a good record....there are all sorts of special tasks which possibly these companies are better-trained to perform than a UN force put together at the last minute.”
Interview on ABC Lateline, 18 May 2000

Brig-Gen Ian Douglas, security adviser to UN Africa operations
“I think there is a place for these companies in peace operations. Look what Executive Outcomes did in Sierra Leone. Without them, there would have been no peace to pursue. They literally stopped the war.”
Ottowa Citizen, 6 April 1998

Ed Royce, Chairman, US Senate Africa Subcommittee
“[Ending the slaughter of innocent civilians in Sierra Leone] is the job some 300 well-equipped and motivated [PMC] soldiers managed to do four years ago.”
Subcommittee hearing,14 March 2001

Susan Rice, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, US State Dept
“In desperation, the [Government] hired the mercenary firm Executive Outcomes. Within a few weeks, EO pushed the RUF back into its base camps and restored security to most of Sierra Leone.”
Letter to International Relations’ Africa Subcommittee, 23 March 1999

Jack Straw, Foreign Secretary of State, UK Government
“A strong and reputable private military sector might have a role in enabling the UN to respond more rapidly and more effectively in crises. The cost of employing private military companies for certain functions in UN operations could be much lower than that of national armed forces.”
Foreword to Green Paper on Private Military Companies, 12 February 2002

UK Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee
“we conclude that the employment of professional, responsible and well regulated PMCs could, in some circumstances, contribute to the establishment or maintenance of relative stability”
Response to Government Green Paper, October 2002

Iain Duncan-Smith, Leader, UK Conservative Party
“there are companies....who could be properly organised, who could do the job that's necessary without always having to involve governments like Britain bringing their own soldiers in.”
Interview on Independent Television News, 9 October 2000

Crispin Blunt MP, UK Parliament
“Sandline was central to President Kabbah's restoration to power in early 1998.”
House of Commons, 6 March 1999

UK Parliamentary Human Rights Group
“[PMCs] can deploy faster, have a clearer chain of command, compatible training and equipment and a pool of combat-proven soldiers. They are considerably more cost effective that UN/sub-regional deployments.”
Parliamentary publication, 14 July 1999

Damian Lilly, Privatization of Security programme manager, International Alert
“Private security and military companies are another potential pool from which personnel may be found for peacekeeping missions, and perhaps more cheaply than conventional forces.”
International Alert paper on privatisation of security, September 2000

Peter Takirambudde, executive director for Africa, Human Rights Watch
“[The use of PMCs in combat] is no longer necessarily a bad thing....It is not a crazy idea....Times have changed.”
Interview in Newsweek International, August 2003

Herb Howe, Professor of African Studies, Georgetown University
“[PMCs] fill a military void for both Western and recipient governments, are relatively inexpensive, and they may offer several military and political advantages...[they] can enter situations where Western governments presently fear to tread... [and] can start up and deploy faster than multinational forces.”
Paper for Institute for National Strategic Studies, May 1998

David Shearer, International Institute for Strategic Studies, ex-UN adviser
“The United Nations and the international community might find it in their best interests to acknowledge the existence of military companies and engage them politically, rather than ignore them.”
Article in Foreign Policy journal, Fall 1998

William Shawcross, author of “Deliver us from evil”
“if we want to put the world to rights, and we're not prepared to risk our own forces in doing so, then we should consider the employment of private security forces....If the South African mercenaries had been allowed to stay in Sierra Leone from '96 onwards a lot of children in Sierra Leone would still have their hands today.”
Interview on ABC TV, 29 August 2000

Peter Singer, author of “Corporate Warriors”
“if the public sector is unwilling to get its own house in order, the private sector offers a new way to protect those who would otherwise be defenseless.”
Article in Policy Review journal, June 2003

Sam Kiley, respected international journalist
“privatise the war against the rebels and help the Sierra Leone Government to pay a well-trained bunch of fighters to wipe out the RUF. It worked in 1995, when 186 South African mercenaries and their one helicopter came close to crushing the rebels.”
The Times, 13 September 2000

Patrick Apuun, Member, Ugandan Parliamentary Defence Committee
“Angola also faced a never-ending war and growing civilian casualties. They only turned the tide by hiring South African mercenaries, people like Executive Outcomes, to retrain their army and help eliminate the rebels.”
Committee hearing, 7 July 2003

Maj-Gen Patrick Cammaert, Military Adviser, UN Dept of Peacekeeping
“If Member States don’t give us resources, troops available for rapid deployment, money to do a sound, well-organised peacekeeping job, then the challenge is almost impossible.”
UN press statement, 29 May 2003

The Times newspaper
“When national armies are being cut back and publics will not stand for casualties, the choice may be between limited privatisation of peacekeeping, or no action at all.”
Leading article, 5 May 1998

The Economist
“Some UN staff say, privately, that private firms could supply effective peacekeepers more cheaply, quickly and willingly than African governments do.”
Article on PMCs, 18 March 2004

Perhaps Kofi Annan’s comment that “the world may not be ready to privatize peace”, which he made over five years ago, needs revisiting?

<< Back to List   Sandline Home