Jamie Seidel — The day President Trump decreed the US would abandon Syria and Afghanistan, controversial US mercenary group Blackwater declared — “WE ARE COMING’. Does this mean war has just been privatised?

The highly controversial move sent shockwaves through the Middle East, NATO and many US allies. It also prompted US Defence Secretary James Mattis to quit.

But as the turmoil unfolded, a blast echoed out from the past.

Erik Prince touts his war plan in Kabul

By KAREN DEYOUNG, SHANE HARRIS AND DAN LAMOTHE - More than a year after his plan to privatize the Afghan war was first shot down by the Trump administration, Erik Prince returned late last month to Kabul to push the proposal on the beleaguered government in Afghanistan, where many believe he has the ear — and the potential backing — of the U.S. president.

Prince swept through the Afghan capital last week, meeting with influential political figures within and outside the government of President Ashraf Ghani.

BACKGROUND: This report provides DoD contractor personnel numbers for 2 nd quarter FY18 and current status of efforts underway to improve management of contractors accompanying U.S. Forces. It includes data on DoD contractor personnel deployed in Afghanistan, Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (OFS); Iraq and Syria, Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR); and the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR).

KEY POINTS: During 2nd quarter FY18, USCENTCOM reported approximately 46,777 contractor personnel supporting DoD in the USCENTCOM AOR, an increase of approximately 520 from the previous quarter.

When asking about the role of private contractors in the so-called “War on Terror”, one has to be careful not to fall for the sensationalism which envelops much of the public debate on military outsourcing. This means keeping a focus on the structural and systematic rather
than the individual, anecdotal evidence of contractor involvement in military affairs.

It also means pointing out the large breadth of outsourced responsibilities, as the majority of contractors are unarmed and tasked with relatively mundane tasks unlike the image regularly conveyed by the press.

DoD reports spike in contractors in Iraq

MILITARY TIMES — By: Tara Copp, The number of civilian contractors supporting U.S. and coalition operations in Iraq against the Islamic State is on the rise, even as major military operations there have ceased, according to new figures released by U.S. Central Command, From January 2017 to January 2018 the number of Defense Department contractors in Iraq rose 37 percent, from 3,592 to 4,927, according to statistics CENTCOM released last week.

US Military Reveals Contractors Flew to the Rescue in Niger, but Little Else

Details about an ambush in the West Africa country and what American personnel were doing there remain scant. Here's what we know.

Additional details that have emerged regarding an ambush in southwest Niger that left four U.S. Army soldiers dead continue to prompt more questions than they answer about the incident. The top American headquarters for military operations on the continent, U.S. Africa Command, has now confirmed that private contractors helped casualties evacuate the area afterwards, but has again declined to elaborate on the U.S.-Nigerien patrol's overall objectives or who is responsible for the attack.

Private Security Firms Possibility in US Afghan Strategy

Jeff Seldin — U.S. policymakers are “very, very close” to a new military strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia, but options still range from withdrawal to an increased reliance on private security contractors.

“I believe we are close,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters late Monday, cautioning a range of options are under consideration. “We’re sharpening each one of the options so you can see the pluses and minuses of each one,” he said.

The U.S. has about 8,400 troops in Afghanistan helping Afghan forces fight the Taliban, while also targeting militants aligned with the al-Qaida and Islamic State terror groups. Plans to send perhaps an additional 4,000 troops to boost U.S. efforts there have been delayed while the White House and military planners review various options.

SIGAR: ‘High-Risk List’ Shows Continued Erosion in Afghanistan Reconstruction

Among real Afghan security forces there are roughly tens of thousands of fellow soldiers on the roster that don’t exist. Soldiers struggle to receive pay and forces are barely able to retake strategic areas of the country after they fall to insurgents.

And the Taliban has made it a practice to buy equipment and supplies like fuel and ammunition directly from Afghan soldiers because it’s easy and less expensive, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction outlined in a report on stabilization efforts at high risk of failing.

Who guards the guards?

BY: Om Astha Rai — Dhan Singh Dhami could have been at his duty station as a security guard in Afghanistan by now, but a four-month ban on Nepalis working in the war-torn country delayed his plan.

After the death of 13 Nepalis guarding the Canadian Embassy in a terrorist attack in Kabul in June, the government prohibited Nepalis from going to Afghanistan. Dhami was stuck in Kathmandu, and rues: “If it were not for the ban, I would have earned Rs 600,000 by now. I lost three months’ salary,” he said.

About 200 U.S. military advisers are embedded with the Iraqi forces advancing toward Mosul, the Pentagon said Monday.

The advisers are paired with the Iraqi units that they trained with in preparation for the assault on Mosul, a city of an estimated 1 million Iraqis that the Islamic State group has controlled since summer 2014.

Some 100 US troops have been sent to Lashkar Gah, capital of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, where the Taliban is advancing and opium cultivation is booming. A new report shows various support contractors outnumber US troops in the country more than three to one.

The US contingent has arrived in Lashkar Gah with a mission to provide training and support to the Afghan security forces, Brigadier-General Charles Cleveland, spokesman for the US mission in Afghanistan.

By Sara A. Carter — Surrounded by increasing violence and instability, U.S. contractors left behind in Afghanistan are raising alarm about the potential for another Benghazi tragedy, saying the State Department isn't sharing with them a plan to evacuate if insurgents launch a debilitating attack.

The concerns are heightened by the fact that many of those civilians doing the security and nation-building work of the U.S. government hold sensitive security clearances, making them an attractive target for the enemy.

Operation Inherent Resolve is the name given to military’s operation to combat IS in Iraq, Syria, and in other countries. Last month the Department of Defense said it awarded an intelligence analysis contract to private contractor Six3 Intelligence Solutions, a cyber and signals intelligence and surveillance firm that is a subsidiary of CACI International Inc.

This appears to be the first time the Pentagon has publicly acknowledged that private contractors are also playing a role in the fight against the so-called Islamic State inside Syria, and it’s one more signal that the U.S. military is deepening its involvement in the fate of the country.