Security

U.S. Hires Mercs for Africa Ops (Updated)

First, the U.S. provided air support, to run Islamists out of power in Somalia. Now, to hold on to the territory, America in sending in troops: Not U.S. servicemembers. Guns for hire. The State Department has hired a major military contractor to help equip and provide logistical support to international peacekeepers in Somalia, giving the […]

First, the U.S. provided air support, to run Islamists out of power in Somalia. Now, to hold on to the territory, America in sending in troops: Not U.S. servicemembers. Guns for hire.

Dyncorp_group2*
The State Department has hired a major military contractor to help equip and provide logistical support to international peacekeepers in
Somalia, giving the United States a significant role in the critical mission without assigning combat forces.*

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DynCorp
International, which also has U.S. contracts in Iraq, Bosnia,
Afghanistan and Iraq, will be paid $10 million to help the first peacekeeping mission in Somalia in more than 10 years.

It's a potentially dangerous assignment. When the first 1,500 Ugandans peacekeepers arrived in Somalia's capital Tuesday, they were greeted with a mortar attack and a major firefight. And on Wednesday, attackers ambushed the peacekeepers in Mogadishu, setting off another gunfight...

DynCorp, whose services range from equipment maintenance to paramilitary security forces to training police, provided logistics for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Somalia from 1992-95. It was not immediately clear if DynCorp employees would work inside Somalia under the new contract, signed three weeks ago...

Other company operations in Africa include a program to disarm and rehabilitate former soldiers in Liberia, while advising the government on the reconstitution of the army. The company also supports peacekeepers in southern Sudan, and is working with the U.S. Embassy in
Ethiopia to help the African Union create a standby military force to respond to emergencies, according to the company Web site...

The company is on standby to provide services anywhere on the continent to include "support of peacekeeping missions by training specific countries' armed services to enhance their ability to deploy through air and sea, provide logistics supports to mission and work with regional organization to prevent and resolve conflict," according to bid documents.

With so many troops committed to Iraq and Afghanistan, you get the feeling this is how American foreign policy is going to look for a long, long time to come.

UPDATE: The Agonist had the same thought, two days earlier.