U.S. Plans to Double Private Security Force in Iraq After 2011 Military Pullout

American soldiers crossed into Kuwait on Thursday as the U.S. military neared its Aug. 31 deadline to end combat operations officially.

Someone better notify Erik Prince out yonder in Abu Dahbi. He’d hate to miss out on the big news:

As the United States military prepares to leave Iraq by the end of 2011, the Obama administration is planning a remarkable civilian effort, buttressed by a small army of contractors, to fill the void.

By October 2011, the State Department will assume responsibility for training the Iraqi police, a task that will largely be carried out by contractors. With no American soldiers to defuse sectarian tensions in northern Iraq, it will be up to American diplomats in two new $100 million outposts to head off potential confrontations between the Iraqi Army and Kurdish pesh merga forces.

To protect the civilians in a country that is still home to insurgents with Al Qaeda and Iranian-backed militias, the State Department is planning to more than double its private security guards, up to about 7,000, according to administration officials who disclosed new details of the plan. Defending five fortified compounds across the country, the security contractors would operate radars to warn of enemy rocket attacks, search for roadside bombs, fly reconnaissance drones and even staff quick reaction forces to come to the aid of civilians in distress, the officials said.

Nothing says “I feel secure” like knowing the State Department will be pouring more of our money into private contractors. They’ve worked out so well for us so far.

The department’s plans to rely on 6,000 to 7,000 security contractors, who are also expected to form “quick reaction forces” to rescue civilians in trouble, is a sensitive issue, given Iraqi fury about shootings of civilians by American private guards in recent years.

So by all means, just keep on hiring them. That should resolve everything.