Guide Note

Private Military Contractors are for-profit businesses or individuals that provide military or advanced security services. Currently, there are an estimated 100,000 private military contractors working for the United States in Iraq. Contractors are reported to receive upwards of $1,000 per day while serving in Iraq and the industry in estimated to generate $100 billion annually. Normally confined to areas of low intensity combat, private military contractors cause some legal problems when they are engaged as an offensive force in an active war zone. In this case, they are classified as unlawful combatants under international law and subject to prosecution under domestic law. In reaction to problems with private military contractors disobeying orders in Iraq, the Uniform Code of Military Justice for the United States was expanded in 2007. Critics of this new code argue that it could be used to include journalists and employees of foreign governments under the jurisdiction of military command.

Fast Facts

1. Estimated 100,000 contractors in Iraq
2. Industry generates $100 billion in revenue annually
3. Blackwater USA pays guards in Iraq up to $1,000 per day
4. Erinys has the contract to protect Iraq's oil infrastructure
5. Blackwater USA was founded by a formed U.S. Navy Seal
6. Critics argue that private contractor companies deplete the special forces of national armed forces