The SysAdmin isn't a posse, nor just the rancher's hired hands

■"Security Contractors in Iraq Under Scrutiny After Shootings," by Jonathan Finer, Washington Post, 10 September 2005, p. A1.

Scary article by a fine reporter detailing the loose ways of far too many PSCs, or private security companies, of which there are a good three dozen in Iraq, almost all American and British.

Here's the gist of the problem: these guys are not subject to any law, thanks to a screwy provision inserted in Iraq's constitution. They run around "clearing by fire" (when in doubt, shoot, or hell, just shoot all the time to be sure), pissing off the locals, and our troops catch the flak, suffer the honor killing payback attacks, etc.

I say contractors, yes, but doing everything short of carrying guns, and if they do, no special immunity. That is just plain nuts. If they're not subject to Iraqi law, then make them subject to the SysAdmin's law-here the coalition forces.

Private security companies pervade Iraq's dusty highways, their distinctive sport-utility vehicles packed with men waving rifles to clear traffic in their path. Theirs are among the most dangerous jobs in the country: escorting convoys, guarding dignitaries and protecting infrastructure from insurgent attacks. But their activities have drawn scrutiny both here and in Washington after allegations of indiscriminate shootings and other recklessness have given rise to charges of inadequate oversight.

"These guys run loose in this country and do stupid stuff. There's no authority over them, so you can't come down on them hard when they escalate force," said Brig. Gen. Karl R. Horst, deputy commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, which is responsible for security in and around Baghdad. "They shoot people, and someone else has to deal with the aftermath. It happens all over the place."

This is letting the private sector shoot America in the foot.

Employees of private security firms are immune from prosecution in Iraq, under an order adopted into law last year by Iraq's interim government. The most severe punishment that can be applied to them is revocation of their license and dismissal from their job, U.S. officials said. Their heavy presence stems in large part from the Pentagon's attempts to keep troop numbers down by privatizing jobs that would once have been performed by American forces.

Think about that: we low-ball the SysAdmin uniform count, that gets us lotsa private security, that creates a lot of violent blowback, that makes it just that much harder to keep the peace. Vicious circle, screwy logic.

There are now at least 36 foreign security companies -- most from the United States and Britain -- and 16 Iraqi firms registered to operate here, according to the Interior Ministry, and as many as 50 more are believed to have set up shop illegally. Their total workforce is estimated at 25,000; many are military veterans, though levels of experience vary. As of December, contracts to provide security for U.S. government agencies and reconstruction firms in Iraq had surpassed $766 million, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report.

Sounds like a lot, but it's peanuts, thus the push for it. But we have to ask ourselves what we're getting in this "bargain." You want it bad, you get it bad, and we're getting it bad in Iraq.

And it's just another sign of how half-assed our SysAdmin command and control is:

While many security companies perform military-style tasks, often on behalf of the U.S. government, they are not under the armed services' command. In response to a congressional request for more information on oversight of security contractors, the Pentagon said the military's relationship with them was "one of coordination, not control."

So the PSCs do some nonsense and our guys get attacked in reply. These guys are SysAdmin, whether we like it or not. There is not "outsourcing" of security in terms of popular image:

Asadi, the Interior Ministry official, said Iraqi civilians nevertheless think private security guards are American soldiers. "They have the same bodies, the same looks," he said. "The only difference is the Humvees," vehicles used by the military but not by private firms.

As one U.S. Army officer puts it: "Our philosophy is 'make no new enemies,' and that's what I tried to impress upon these guys. They don't have to think about the consequences of what they do, but we do."

Contractors aren't going to go away, and neither is the SysAdmin work. The only question is, Do we want to rationalize this system and make it work, or continue to suffer the results of our sloppy approach?