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Are Americans outsourcing the war in Afghanistan to mercenaries?

Use all means to achieve your goals. Contracting the war in Afghanistan to private armed forces is a brand new solution for the United States, which has been stuck in the quagmire of the war in Afghanistan for 16 years.

According to a report by Pakistan's "The Nation" on the 13th, after U.S. President Trump entered the White House in January this year, he ordered a strategic review of the current situation in Afghanistan. Trump said on Thursday he would soon announce a decision on how to make progress in a country torn by war. "I inherited a mess, but we're going to significantly reduce the level of chaos there," he said. In this regard, Blackwater founder and former CEO Eric Prince suggested that about 5,500 contractor private armed forces should replace the US military in Afghanistan to undertake the task of training Afghan soldiers, and be supported by about 90 aircraft. Next, fighting side by side with Afghan soldiers. In addition, the plan would appoint an "omnipotent Governor of the United States" who would report to the President of the United States and play a role similar to MacArthur's in postwar Japan.

Prince’s planned annual expenditure is less than US$10 billion, far less than the US$45 billion the United States planned to invest in 2017 to maintain its military presence in Afghanistan. Prince claimed to have received the affirmative opinion of Bannon, the president’s chief adviser, but the Pentagon responded with indifference. Prince acknowledged that National Security Adviser McMaster and Defense Secretary Mattis were not enthusiastic about his proposal.

The “privatization” of the war in Afghanistan has also aroused questions from members of the US Congress. "I believe in our generals, but I don't believe in leaving it to contractors to formulate national defense policy," the Washington Post quoted Democratic Senator Graham as saying. .

Even colleagues have expressed distrust. Sean McFate, author of "Modern Mercenaries" who has worked as a military contractor in Africa, told AFP that Prince's proposal It is extremely dangerous and stupid. Contractor private armed forces in Afghanistan will inevitably be involved in incidents similar to the massacre of Iraqi civilians by Blackwater in September 2007. The strongest opposition comes from Afghanistan. According to Afghanistan's Tolo News Network, former Afghan President Karzai severely criticized this and said that if the responsibility for the war is delegated to private companies under the control of the US government, it will obviously violate Afghanistan's national sovereignty.