Should the U.S. Department of State Continue to Use Private Security Contractors to Protect U.S. Diplomats?

<p>On September 16 2007 in Baghdad Iraq members of an American protective security detail composed of private security contractors (PSCs) engaged in a shooting incident while protecting U.S. Department of State (DOS) personnel. Seventeen Iraqi civilians died. The idea of U.S. Foreign Service personnel being protected by armed American private contractor personnel raised many questions. The purpose of this study is to provide answers to the primary question of Should DOS continue the use of PSCs to provide protection for U.S. diplomats? and three secondary research questions: (1) How effectively do PSCs perform their protection function for DOS? (2) What alternatives exist besides using PSCs? (3) How can DOS use PSCs more effectively? I answered the above questions with a qualitative analysis of the existing body of literature complemented with personal interviews with key DOS leadership and solicited comments from Diplomatic Security Service Agents U.S. Foreign Service Officers and PSC detail members.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>