Private military companies as a tool of proxy wars: The example of the Iraq War

Although private military companies are a relatively new phenomenon, they frequently operate in situations of both international and non-international armed conflict. In this study, the presence and activities of private military companies as a tool of proxy wars in terms of military, political, commercial and military-civilian relations and how they affect the course of the war, the country and the people are examined. In the research, the assets and activities of private military companies in the Iraq war are discussed with descriptive and descriptive case analysis method. In this direction, after the theoretical structure regarding proxy wars and private military companies was formed, research reports, company reports, government reports, statements made by officials, information obtained from the corporate website and court records were collected from different sources and data were collected. At the end of the study, it was seen that private military companies are an important part of the operations carried out within the scope of the intervention against Iraq, and in this context, the US administrations aim to externalize the military, economic, political and humanitarian costs caused by the war with private military companies. Keywords: War, Proxy War, Private Military Company, Iraq War.