This is the second DANGER ROOM post for R.J. Hillhouse**, author of Outsourced.
The State Department may be thinking about phasing out Blackwater. But it may be not able to afford to get rid of the controversial security firm — not if it wants to keep its diplomats alive. I recently obtained a State Department document that outlines, among other things, the total annual costs of the State Department’s outsourced security. It reveals a heavy, heavy reliance on Blackwater.
According to the document, private contracts currently provide security in seven areas under the Worldwide Personal Protective Services II (WPPS II) contract:
Jerusalem,
Kabul,
Bosnia,
Baghdad,
Regional Embassy Office (REO) Basrah,
REO Al Hillah, and
REO Kirkuk (including USAID Erbil).
The document provides the following financial data on the total annual costs of the WPPS II contract for all areas of operation (e.g. Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Israel), broken down by the three contractors:
The approximate total costs for Iraq only, inclusive of all contractors is $350,119,545.11.
According to the document, total WPPS II contract staffing in Iraq includes, "785 personal security specialists, 465 guards, and 158 support personnel." This is consistent with figures provided in a recent Congressional Research Service Report:
For the entire WPPS II contract, Blackwater USA provides seven times the services in terms of dollar amounts than DynCorp and nearly twenty-two times the amount of Triple Canopy and it provides a little over 70% of the trained personnel in Iraq. (The actual breakdown, based on the CRS report is: Blackwater 70.5%; Triple Canopy 18.4% and DynCorp 10.8%.)
The contract amount as provided by Blackwater indicates that it is highly unlikely that one of the other two contractors could fill the void if Blackwater were expelled from Iraq. No other US firms are positioned to provide such specialized services on such a large scale and only Blackwater has experience providing air support in theater to the Department of State. (Security issues such as in the CIA piggybacking on the contract–prevent the consideration of non-US firms.) DynCorp has often been the subject of speculation about the quality of its work and its security services in Iraq are limited to the more peaceful northern Kurdish regions. Although it’s a very large corporation, it’s doubtful it could provide quality protective services at the level that the security situation in Baghdad demands. Triple Canopy does provide services in Baghdad, namely guarding the International Zone and provide stationery guards to the US Embassy. For the former contract, it relies heavily upon Third Country Nationals and both contracts are for guarding hardened facilities, not mobile targets.
Three years ago DynCorp was unable to meet State Department security needs in Iraq, so it’s even more unlikely they could do fill a Blackwater void. In fact, Blackwater stepped in to provide the services to State when DynCorp couldn’t. According to the document, DynCorp exclusively was awarded the first Worldwide Personal Protective Services contract in March 2000. It was subsequently given a task order under the contract to provide security services in Baghdad, but it was unable to fulfill it–but Blackwater could. Blackwater was already providing protective services to the Coalition Provisional Authority and was awarded a sole source contract that was in effect until the State Department could re-bid the Worldwide Personal Protective Services contract, revised as WPPS II.
Other suggested replacements have included the Marines. Although the Marines guard embassies (in Baghdad with the assistance of Triple Canopy), they do not have a history of providing protective security details, a specialized service. Aside from that, the Corps is stretched too thin to take on additional responsibilities. The last option would be for the State Department to take the service in-house, but, given government bureaucracy, that would be an extremely slow process and would likely end up costing more than the outsourced solution.
It’s unlikely that the Department of State (and by extension the CIA) could function in Iraq without Blackwater.
There might be one solution: break off diplomatic relations with Iraq and hand our affairs over to the Swiss like we have in Iran. Let those loveable mercs, the Swiss Guard deal with security.
— R.J. Hillhouse, cross-posted at The Spy Who Billed Me
