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The urgent fact about the privatization of America's countrywide security that exposes where this industry originated from, how it operates, where it's heading - and just why we should get worried. Thirty years ago there have been no private armed service and security companies (PMSCs); there have been only mercenaries. Now the PMSCs are a bona-fide industry, an essential part of American foreign and military policy. PMSCs assist US causes in combat functions and replace them following the armed service withdraws from battle zones; they safeguard our embassies; they play key functions in US counterterrorism strategies; and Homeland Security depends on them. Their services include maritime security, law enforcement officials training, drone functions, cyber security, and intelligence examination (as Edward Snowden has famously uncovered). Even the United Nations uses them. When does this happen? The turning point arrived when the US found itself in an extended war with Iraq, but without satisfactory forces. Therefore the Bush Administration turned to the PMSCs to complete the space. Private companies and subcontractors eventually exceeded the traditional troops. The industry has never scaled again. Ann Hagedorn profiles the members of Congress who acknowledge the risks of reliance on PMSCs, but have been unable to limit them or even determine their true opportunity. She takes us to the exclusive golf club in London where in fact the PMSCs were created, and she uncovers the key number in the advancement of the industry. She presents us to a US Military general who studies new trends, such as PMSCs' drone functions, and concerns about PMSCs probably fighting American troops. The Invisible Soldiers will motivate a countrywide dialogue about a little-known international industry on which our security rests.
