Asked in December whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or whether there was only the possibility that it might acquire them, American President George Bush replied, ‘So, what’s the difference?’ He might equally have reacted the same way to questions about the use of private security contractors across the spectrum of United States-led military and policing activities in Iraq.
As events unfold, the release of photographs from Abu Ghraib prison and the almost daily stories about the killings of contractors highlight the complex roles of private companies in war zones around the world.
