Privately

Private security contractors with experience in the War on Terror are bidding to provide services in the Sudan to support UN humanitarian missions with extremely robust capabilities. Global Guerrillas notes that "Blackwater USA, the private military company that advertises itself as a 'a turnkey solution provider for 4th generation warfare' and ... may be making headway in its quest to deploy to the Sudan. Last year, the $600 m a year company formed Greystone Limited in order to put a better marketing spin on its efforts to private the security of UN humanitarian missions -- given that this new company can draw on Blackwater for capabilities, it would be able battalion-sized unit and even its own home-brewed aircraft gunship in support of any contract it lands. So far, the effort by Greystone to land a contract to provide security to one of the world's worst humanitarian disaster zones, hasn't made any headway."

Whether or not Blackwater type security companies will ever be used to supplement humanitarian missions, it remains true that the private sector is a repository of field experience in the War on Terror. Not just in providing physical security but also in the provision of services, such as logistics and even intelligence analysis. The role played by nongovernment institutions in fighting against terrorism has gone largely unstudied. Security contractors, technology startups, translation services, consulting companies and even bloggers and privately funded Internet sites contribute substantially to the effort. They represent a capacity which will eventually be employed, if not by the UN, then by other customers who cannot ignore their utility.