Gonzaga Debate Institute 2010

Credibility Adv. – I/L – Hurts US Credibility

US Deployment of PMC’s are devastating our image abroad

Progress in Action 10 (“Legislation Introduced to Remove Private Military Contractors From Wars”, 1-23-10, http://www.progressinaction.com/afghanistan/legislation-introduced-to-remove-private-military-contractors-from-wars/)

U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson will introduce legislation that would de-fund private contractors who engage in illegal or unethical behavior like Blackwater. Contractors are already “barred by DOD regulations from taking part in ‘offensive’ operations,” but regularly take part in offensive operations despite the ban. Contractors like Blackwater have been involved in several bloody acts of violence against civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. The use of private contractors has tarnished the image of the U.S. abroad and put our security goals in Iraq and Afghanistan at risk.

PMC’s destroy our image – torture proves.
Isenberg 4 (David, Researcher and Writer on PMC’s, http://www.pmcpsc.com/img/2004PMC.pdf, AD: 6/25/10) jl

The torture and abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib horrified people around the world and raised controversy over the role and activities of PMC personnel in the intelligence and interrogation process. But long before Abu Ghraib, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was preaching the virtues of using contractors in prisons, citing the success of private-run prisons in the United States. The number of PMC personnel at Abu Ghraib is far from clear, but at least 37 interrogators from private contractors were operating in the prison.
PMC’s defraud the USFG

Effect Measure 9 (http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2009/12/10_reasons_to_oppose_the_escal.php, date accessed: 6/24/2010) AJK
10 Reasons to Oppose the Escalation of War in Afghanistan Human cost of war: Soldier and civilian deaths and injuries have been escalating each year since 2001. Nearly 1000 U.S. soldiers have been killed while 32,000 Afghan civilians have died as a result of the war. Economic cost of war: Each soldier in Afghanistan costs U.S. taxpayers $1 million per year. Private military contractors, known to de-fraud the Pentagon, exceed the number of soldiers in the war. No matter the war’s outcome, the defense industry wins with windfall profits.
PMC’s undermine government efforts and make US motives look bad.

Stokes 10 (Jacob, Business week journalist, Feb 25, Democracy Arsenal) ET

Lastly, the development agenda needs rethinking as Afghans see a foreign disinterest in the building of their country’s capacity. When $14,000 per day is spent to provide security for a private contractor to survey a project, when Provincial Reconstruction Teams import overpriced water and food from abroad when legitimate options exist locally, and when an initially funded $3 million project lands on the ground with only $300,000 to show for it due to the multiple sub-contracting and skimming, Afghans are understandably frustrated. Afghan alternatives — like the government’s Community Development Councils, which fund locally elected councils to design and manage their own projects — should be the focus instead. In order to build Afghan ownership and capacity, contractors may need to forgo the actual building and instead redistribute the funds into Afghan institutions and initiatives like the CDCs, as foreign affiliation with the CDCs will put council members at immediate risk. The key to the main challenges facing the country is to build Afghan acceptance and ownership. When 80 percent of all foreign aid dollars entirely circumvents the Afghan government, and when the same amount leaves the country in contractor hands — not Afghan ones — locals question America’s motive. If we want to win the Afghans, then we must listen to what they want.

Credibility Adv. – I/L – Torture Bad – US Credibility

PMCs are seen as responsible for Abu Ghraib and other human rights violations

War Resisters 6 (http://www.wri-irg.org/node/560 , date accessed: 6/26/2010) AJK
The USA section of Amnesty International focuses in their 2006 annual report on the role of private military contractors. PMCs are one of the most scandalous part of the spectrum of war profiteering and the U.S. government is their main contract provider “the U.S. government is outsourcing key security and military support functions, particular in Iraq and Afghanistan, to private companies whose civilian employees carry out the work. The civilians conduct functions ranging from logistical support to providing security for US government personnel, and reconstruction projects, training military and security personnel, operating and maintaining weapons systems, and rebuilding schools, hospitals, and other infrastructure. But they also serve in more sensitive roles, such as interrogation and translating during questioning of alleged terrorist suspects” The same report denounces how the PMCs and the outsourcing of the military permit serious human right violations, as there are almost no regulations on these contractors, “Business outsourcing may increase efficiency, but war outsourcing may be facilitating impunity. Contractors illegal behaviour and the reluctance of the US government to bring them to justice are further tarnishing the United States reputation abroad” These companies committed to violent conflic are difficult to target as many of the companies involved do not provide any other services, and the companies generally are not visible in public. This makes them a difficult but most needed target for campaigns against war profiteers. Some of these PMCs: Blackwater is well known because four of their employees were killed and hung from a bridge in Fallujah in 2004. Blackwater has been profiteering from the war with a number of “security” forces deployed in Iraq, as well as profiteering from the blast of hurricane Katrina, where they provided security to private business. CACI International Inc provides technology services, and was awarded a contract worth as much as US$155 million to provide technology to help commanders in the field to collect intelligence and to interrupt enemy communications and intelligence systems. Corporate Watch discovered that their private employees worked as interrogation experts at Abu Ghraib prison.