From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Nov 23 2009 - 07:04:48 EST
Somalia Jumps on Private Security Bandwagon
An American private military and security company deploys to Somalia as the
first US presence in the country since the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, Jody
Ray Bennett writes for ISN Security Watch.
By Jody Ray Bennett for ISN Security Watch
23 Nov 2009
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?lng=en&id=
109808
_____
Tensions rose in Somalia in the final weeks of October 2009 as the president
of the country's UN-backed transitional government,
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharif_Ahmed> Sharif Sheik Ahmed, became the
target of an insurgent attack while attempting to depart from an airport to
Uganda to attend an African Union (AU) summit on refugees and internally
displaced people.
According to <http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-22-voa11.cfm> news
reports, al-Shabaab militants "lobbed mortars at the airport, prompting
peacekeepers of the AU mission in Somalia known as AMISOM, to fire back."
At least 24 people were killed and as many as 60 wounded when peacekeepers
returned fire in the direction of the crowded Bakara marketplace, causing
many to question AMISOM's effectiveness in Somalia, according to
<http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-22-voa11.cfm> Voice of America.
One Bakara storekeeper told VOA that while "Islamist insurgents cause
problems by attacking the peacekeepers, AMISOM's harsh response is doing far
more harm than good [and that] people may no longer tolerate [AMISOM's]
presence in Somalia if it continues shelling residential areas."
Part of the problem might be that AMISOM's 5,000-strong force is short by
3,000 troops to meet its mandated strength of 8,000 peacekeepers. That
ASIMOM fires back through the very public it is mandated to protect reveals
the missions' frustrations to effectively combat against increasingly
unorthodox and unexpected attacks by insurgents that, in comparison to what
is needed to build a common security in Somalia, are inexpensive and
relatively easy to orchestrate.
This has caused the government of Somalia to search for support from other
willing parties,
<http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/10/ada_company_wins_c
ontract_to_p.html> eventually awarding a US-based private military and
security company (PMSC) a contract to "provide security consulting services
and training for government forces."
Full speed ahead
The company, <http://gocss.com/css-global.php> Corporate Security Solutions
Global (CSS Global), is a part of the larger <http://gocss.com/> CSS
Alliance, a multi-faceted strategic and security solutions provider based in
Ada, a <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Township,_Michigan> township in
western Michigan that contains less than 10,000 residents.
According to its website, the company sells everything from security for
"office parks, warehouses, manufacturing plants and high-traffic facilities"
to "emergency response planning" for multinational corporations and
governments. The company also holds <http://gocss.com/css-health-force.php>
CSS HealthForce, which can be contracted to recruit, screen and manage
hospital staff and medical personnel.
The company will do just about anything: its "
<http://gocss.com/css-services.php> Specialized HelpTeam" even provides
"valet, concierge, receiving clerk, front desk, pool attendant and
additional service-oriented needs."
Concerning the side of the business on its way to Somalia, CSS Global
advertises its services proudly, <http://gocss.com/css-global-security.php>
selling everything from personal armed security guards, convoy security,
military and police training, and evacuations and extraction operations.
In 2005, the <http://www.gocssglobal.com/cssusa/news.htm> company was
contracted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (
<http://www.fema.gov/> FEMA) to provide security for trailer parks and
commercial buildings after Hurricane Katrina. It has since opened offices
throughout the southern US to provide the Gulf states with emergency and
<http://gocss.com/css-making-news.php> disaster preparation services.
Two years after Katrina, the company was awarded a contract by the US
Department of Defense (DOD) to provide personal and convoy security outside
of the Green Zone in Iraq, and according to a
<http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/10/ada_company_wins_c
ontract_to_p.html> local Michigan daily, "three CSS operatives were killed
in 2007 by roadside bombs while escorting convoys" for the company.
Created by two brothers in the
<http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/10/ada_company_wins_c
ontract_to_p.html> early 1990s as "a small detective and corporate security
agency [.] to a player in international security", CSS Global currently
provides operations and maintenance (O&M) services at Camp Speicher, a US
Army operating base near Tikrit in northern Iraq.
More fascinating, however, is that by securing this contract that has been
awarded directly by the government of Somalia, the company now represents
the first overt American presence involved with the military and security
affairs of Somalia since the 1993
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mogadishu_%281993%29> Battle of
Mogadishu, otherwise known as the infamous Black Hawk Down situation. But
this time, it is not a US state-led force on the ground, but private
military and security firm.
Black Hawk Down redux?
CSS Global's latest Somali project is interesting on several levels.
According to the company, the operation is being funded by "the Arab League
and other members of the international community." If the Arab League is
partly funding a private, western company that has already been
<http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=108834§ionid=351020501> compared
to Blackwater to deploy to a predominately Muslim Somalia, the irony is
overwhelming.
One would think this story would receive major media attention given the
last time US forces were in Somalia and the Black Hawk Down debacle;
however, mainstream American media has been shamefully silent on these
recent developments.
While CSS is a private company, its role in Somalia will nevertheless force
the company to serve as US representatives and will more than likely be
perceived by insurgents as US interest and influence returning to the
country.
<http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/10/ada_company_wins_c
ontract_to_p.html> In an interview with the local Michigan daily, the owners
of the company referred to its "protective operations team" that may
indicate an intention to place armed security personnel in Somalia or train
local Somalis to act as a private force to secure and protect state
interests against the insurgency. In the interview, one owner stated he
could not comment on the "number of security forces CSS would employ." How
such forces will be used is also unknown.
Nevertheless, while this story remains absent from any mainstream coverage,
the private military and security industry is watching very closely.
"It is important that [CSS Global] gets this right, because all eyes are on
them. They are an American company, funded in part by the Arab League, to
provide protection and training services to the Somali government. The last
time America had anything to do with Somalia was back in the 90s with
Operation Restore Hope, and we all know how that ended. So the bitter memory
of Black Hawk Down is still [fresh in America], and it is still in the
memory of our enemy," Matt Loe, an American private security contractor,
former Marine and author of the online blog <http://feraljundi.com/>
FeralJundi.com, told ISN Security Watch.
The quiet, private media
More interesting, however, is that unlike many PMSCs that often make
mainstream news coverage, CSS has been contracted by the government of
Somalia directly.
Unlike the way in which companies such as Blackwater or Triple Canopy were
awarded contracts by the US Department of Defense or State, CSS Global was
requested by the government of Somalia. This dynamic concerns exactly to
which party or parties the company will answer, how these operations will
bolster or further erode the reputation of the industry in which it does
business, and perhaps most importantly, what effect or byproduct its
operations in Somalia will create for US-Somali relations in the future.
"I hope that today's war planners and strategists are thinking long and hard
about what implications CSS Global could have on the strategy in Somalia. To
say that PMCs or PSCs do not have an impact on strategy for this war is
dangerously naive. To put it in [counterinsurgency] terms, CSS Global will
be interacting with the local populations, like it or not, and [US strategy]
has been deficient in addressing the impact the contracting community has on
counter-insurgency. The silence on it in the think tank community is
deafening," Loe told ISN Security Watch.
"What is missing from this story is the lack of response from the media and
from the war planners. When the story first came out, there was silence.
This is a big story, because of the US history in Somalia. [The US is] going
back there, and we are doing it in a roundabout way through a private
military company, whether we want to or not," Loe said.
While critics of the industry maintain that private military and security
companies are used by governments in order to circumvent attention,
responsibility and accountability for activities that are contracted to
non-state entities, those within the industry see CSS Global's Somali
contract as an opportunity to repair the tarnished reputation of the
industry. There is tremendous concern by those in the industry who are
paying attention, and some remain curious about whether CSS Global has what
it takes to help turn the situation in Somalia around.
"I have no doubt that al-Shabaab will do all they can to create another
Blackhawk Down or
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10547-2005Apr22.html>
Blackwater Bridge scenario to capitalize on. It would make for the ultimate
in propaganda value. Or better yet, to create the environment for which a
Nisour Square scenario could play out, where contractors kill civilians in a
crossfire situation. Is CSS Global ready for that?" Loe said.
"I just hope that they are prepared for this kind of thing, because in
essence, they are representing the US in that country again. Is CSS Global
is the best company for the job, and do they have the capability and
resources to make this work? Or did Somalia and the Arab League get suckered
into contracting with a company that really doesn't have the experience for
this kind of thing?"
The company has yet to respond to ISN Security Watch's queries.
It seems the company does not want to generate a lot of attention about its
role in Somalia, and as a result, many questions remain. To date, the
company has given only one interview to a local publication in its home
state of Michigan, which was later criticized by the
<http://griid.org/2009/10/16/the-press-reports-on-ada-based-global-security-
contractor/> Grand Rapids Institute for Media and Democracy (GRID) for
publishing a "favorable" story that interviewed the company's owners who
"[made] vague comments about what they will be doing in Somalia."
_____
Jody Ray Bennett is a freelance writer and academic researcher. His areas of
analysis include the private military and security industry, the
materialization of non-state forces and the transformation of modern warfare
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