In recent years, the media has put a larger focus on security firms and security contractors. Whether it is about the fraud and malpractice they commit or scandals like Blackwater, news coverage has ignored many of the benefits these agencies can offer. Private sector security firms and contractors reduce the risks facing American soldiers while also combating one enemy better than any individual country: terrorism.
The involvement of these agencies, often called Personal Security Details (PSD), has been growing steadily since the Vietnam War. During that conflict, the ratio of PSD operators to soldiers was one-to-eight. Now, that ratio has grown closer to 1-to-1.
When most people hear about the actions of these PSD operators, it is normally due to malpractice. The most well-known case is that of the Nisour Square massacre in 2007, when 14 innocent civilians were killed during one of Blackwater’s operations. In 2010, there was an AP investigation into over 200 contractors with allegations of everything from sexual misconduct to gunfights in Haiti.
What often does not get reported in the news is the amount of funding and success that these contractors experience. With the pulling of U.S. troops from Iraq in 2012, the U.S. Department of State had an estimated 5,000 contractors provide protection.
But private security firms are also having a major impact on the war on terror. One prominent figure in this area is Matthew VanDyke.
VanDyke, whose exploits are reminiscent of preceding writer Ernest Hemingway, is an American journalist, documentary filmmaker and writer. He has also spent time traveling the Middle East and Northern Africa on his motorcycle, taking part in the Libyan Revolution to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi and spending time as a prisoner of war.
His latest efforts to fight terrorism and tyrants come after ISIS murdered a friend of his. Motivated to stop further violence against civilians, he founded Sons of Liberty International, the first ever nonprofit security agency with the goal of training locals in Iraq to fight terrorists in the region.
VanDyke’s efforts highlight an area that receives little to no attention. With the failure of international states and communities to prevent further war and violence, Matthew VanDyke has found a way to prevent terrorists from capturing towns and creating extensive bases.
There have already been nearly 7,000 American soldiers who have died in the war on terror. Rather than losing American lives and spending millions — even billions — of dollars on defense funding, alternative methods to resolve international conflict can be used.
Security firms offer an advantageous opportunity when it comes to fighting terrorism and tyrants. Rather than training U.S. soldiers to fight in foreign lands, locals can be trained to keep their own cities safe.