From Fiji to Fallujah: The war on Iraq and the privatisation of Pacific security

Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, private security companies from the United Kingdom and United States have been seeking personnel for their operations in the Middle East, and many hundreds of Fijians have signed up. The privatisation of security, a growing trend in the Middle East and Africa, has...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Nic Maclellan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Asia Pacific Network 2006-09-01
Series:Pacific Journalism Review
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/pacific-journalism-review/article/view/862
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author Nic Maclellan
author_facet Nic Maclellan
author_sort Nic Maclellan
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description Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, private security companies from the United Kingdom and United States have been seeking personnel for their operations in the Middle East, and many hundreds of Fijians have signed up. The privatisation of security, a growing trend in the Middle East and Africa, has reached the shores of the South Pacific and governments have little control over former army personnel employed by private military contractors. This article documents the recruitment of Fijian military personnel for service in Iraq and Kuwait, and the casualties that they have faced. The engagement of former military personnel as private military contractors has spilt over into the Pacific as well—from the 1997 Sandline crisis to current events in Bougainville. Since November 2005, the governments of Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands have tried to resolve a crisis caused by the presence of former Fijian soldiers in Bougainville.
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spelling doaj.art-105bb7de8fdf4b02be445e3242989a862022-12-21T23:08:31ZengAsia Pacific NetworkPacific Journalism Review1023-94992324-20352006-09-0112210.24135/pjr.v12i2.862From Fiji to Fallujah: The war on Iraq and the privatisation of Pacific securityNic MaclellanSince the invasion of Iraq in 2003, private security companies from the United Kingdom and United States have been seeking personnel for their operations in the Middle East, and many hundreds of Fijians have signed up. The privatisation of security, a growing trend in the Middle East and Africa, has reached the shores of the South Pacific and governments have little control over former army personnel employed by private military contractors. This article documents the recruitment of Fijian military personnel for service in Iraq and Kuwait, and the casualties that they have faced. The engagement of former military personnel as private military contractors has spilt over into the Pacific as well—from the 1997 Sandline crisis to current events in Bougainville. Since November 2005, the governments of Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands have tried to resolve a crisis caused by the presence of former Fijian soldiers in Bougainville.https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/pacific-journalism-review/article/view/862conflict reportingmercenariespeace journalismpeace keepingsecuritywar reporting
spellingShingle Nic Maclellan
From Fiji to Fallujah: The war on Iraq and the privatisation of Pacific security
Pacific Journalism Review
conflict reporting
mercenaries
peace journalism
peace keeping
security
war reporting
title From Fiji to Fallujah: The war on Iraq and the privatisation of Pacific security
title_full From Fiji to Fallujah: The war on Iraq and the privatisation of Pacific security
title_fullStr From Fiji to Fallujah: The war on Iraq and the privatisation of Pacific security
title_full_unstemmed From Fiji to Fallujah: The war on Iraq and the privatisation of Pacific security
title_short From Fiji to Fallujah: The war on Iraq and the privatisation of Pacific security
title_sort from fiji to fallujah the war on iraq and the privatisation of pacific security
topic conflict reporting
mercenaries
peace journalism
peace keeping
security
war reporting
url https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/pacific-journalism-review/article/view/862
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