Ever hear of the JFC Civil-Military Fusion Center? Yes, neither had I, until an acquaintance emailed me the other day about it. It is a shop set up under the Joint Forces Command which is headquartered at Norfolk, VA. Reportedly it does excellent unclassified work.
Earlier this month it released its monthly Afghanistan report titled, "The Private Security Companies (PSCs) Dilemma in Afghanistan." The report examines the impact of Afghanistan Presidential Decree No. 62 and the disbandment of PSCs.
As this is a topic that has been much in the news of late, even though the Afghan government has somewhat rolled back its previously issued ban, it is worth looking at.
A point that should surprise no one is that private security contractors are still heavily needed in Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, private companies carrying out development projects in Afghanistan are still heavily reliant on PSCs. ISAF forces and the US also make great use of PSCs. According to the US Department of State, the US Department of Defense (DoD) was responsible for hiring 16,733 private guards to support the military efforts on the ground during Fiscal Year 2010.
Of course, that is not all the PSC. The Afghan government estimates that there are in fact around 40,000 armed security contractors active in Afghanistan.
The background to PD 62 was that it was issued at a tense time for security in Afghanistan, as the Afghan National Police (ANP) still lacked the capacity to assume full responsibility for providing security in the country.
The decision to disband private security firms was made one week after it was agreed that
control over security in Afghanistan would be transferred to the Afghan authorities by 2014. PD 62 mandated that all current PSCs should leave the country within four months of the decree's approval, which would have made the deadline December 17.
But given that private companies doing reconstruction work did not trust the ANP and that just two months after the president's decision, in October, firms had already begun to cancel assistance programs and aid Karzai softened his position on the ban. On October 27, Karzai issued a press release on the formation of a committee led by the Ministry of Interior along with participating representatives from the International Security Assistance Force and major international donors. The committee was mandated to develop a plan for the disbandment of PSCs responsible for guarding development projects. However, on December 6, Karzai had abandoned his plans "to scrap private security firms in the country by mid-December.
But there are still challenges ahead. Despite the decision to allow PSCs to continue operating in Afghanistan, the Afghan government left important details regarding security companies in doubt. Under the modified policy, security firms working for development companies, NATO, foreign embassies and the United Nations would be allowed to work in Afghanistan until their contracts ended, but it was unclear what would happen after the expiration date.
Other new developments include private guards being required to wear uniforms and not being allowed to stop vehicles or set up roadblocks. It also indicated that a new independent public security force would be created to replace the PSCs already shut down and secure the development projects under their responsibility. However, convoy security would continue to be provided by private security firms, but the Afghan police would accompany the convoys to ensure that security firm employees were not misbehaving.
So currently we have a situation where many observers:
agree that the disbandment of PSCs is necessary to institutionalize the Afghan security sector and to contribute to strengthening institutionalization within the Afghan government. Nevertheless, how PSCs will work from now on remains unclear and further discussions ought to take place.
Follow David Isenberg on Twitter: www.twitter.com/vanidan
Loading comments… 
