Steroids, Drink And Paranoia: The Murky World Of The Private Security Contractor

An ArmorGroup security officer stands guard. Contractors claim their employers have little regard for their mental health. GETTY

From The Independent:

Paranoid, competitive and fuelled by guns, alcohol and steroids. That is how one senior contractor in Baghdad describes the private security industry operating in the city's Green Zone.

It was the world to which Danny Fitzsimons, a 29-year-old former soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and paranoia, and with an extensive criminal past, returned three weeks ago.

Despite rules against alcohol, his ArmorGroup colleagues welcomed him with a drinking session. A fight broke out and he shot and killed two of them – a Briton, Paul McGuigan, and an Australian, Darren Hoare – then wounded an Iraqi, Arkhan Mahdi. He faces a premeditated murder charge and execution if found guilty.

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My Comment: My father almost walked down this road after the Second World War. He served in the Russian Army during the war, and was part of the occupation force after. He crossed the border into West Germany in 1946, and found work in the coal mines of Belgium .... but he missed the culture and environment of the military and war.

In 1949 he was thinking of joining the French Foreign Legion to fight against the Communists in Indochina. If you served for a number of years, they would pay for your education (which is what he wanted). This and soldiering appealed to him but he changed his mind quickly when he learned that the French Foreign legion was expelling all former German SS officers in their ranks. My father knew that they were best soldiers to be with ..... and he did not confidence in the French soldiers that were replacing them.

With that in mind .... he immigrated to Canada and gave up soldiering.

But even when he was old and retired ..... he still missed the life.

These are the type of men that military contractors prey upon. They are successful because for some men combat is their drug of choice .... and military contractors are more than happy to oblige them.

On a side note .... my father always faulted the French Foreign Legion's decision to expel German SS Officers as the main reason why they lost North Vietnam after the battle of Dien Bien Phu. When the German officers were in command, their constant (and brutal) hit and run tactics were successful in decimating Ho Chi Min's forces on numerous occassions. But as soon as they were expelled from the Foreign Legion and the officer corps replaced by other nationalities .... they lost the moomentum and after a period of time .... they lost the war.