Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper will analyse the lessons learned during the creation of the intelligence interface between the military and Private Security Companies (PSCs) in Iraq, under the auspices of the Department of Defense (DoD), and suggest a template for future co-operation based on these lessons. It will fill a gap in the current literature regarding PSCs in modern warfare, which tends to focus on the moral or ethical implications of the physical security aspect of their work and ignores their intelligence capability, which is a major part of the services they provide and a key facet of their relationship with the military in Iraq. The war in Iraq has seen an unprecedented number of PSCs working in support of military operations, all of which need access to timely and accurate intelligence to carry out their mission safely. The DoD established civil-military operations centres to co-ordinate the activities of the PSCs supporting the reconstruction effort throughout Iraq and provide them with intelligence. The military was expected to pass unclassified information to the civilian intelligence staff at the operations centres, who were contractors working for a British PSC, to analyse and disseminate to the wider PSC community. However there was no uniform system in place for the military to provide this information and co-operation was largely based on personal relationships between the intelligence analysts at the operations centres and their military counterparts, which often had to be rebuilt when units changed over. As time passed more formal guidelines were produced but not uniformly applied. The military intelligence staffs were also faced with problems regarding security clearances and declassification of information for which they were often unprepared. Local ‘ad hoc’ solutions were used to resolve many issues. The relationship was, however, usually found to be mutually beneficial as the military found their situational awareness enhanced through contact with PSCs operating on the ground and the civilian analysts often provided useful insight into the current situation. Since PSCs are likely to be present in many future conflicts, the problems encountered in Iraq will recur unless there is a sound framework for intelligence co-operation with the military based on mutual understanding and recognition of common aims.