Adam’s excellent discussion describes why security occupies such a priority in the portfolio of SysAdmin capabilities. Ultimately, NGOs may be unable to slow the mission creep he describes, since the insurgent forces that have begun to target humanitarian aid workers have already started the process. I agree with the commenters at Simulated Laughter who point out the importance of the forces providing security to the NGOs having legitimacy, though I’m not sure that the UN is the best vehicle. The appeal of PMCs is their effectiveness, the appeal of the UN is its legitimacy. Forging a capability with both characteristics may require a new and distinct answer. One of the most essential capabilities of the SysAdmin platform is the ability of small, specialized NGOs to show up, plug in, and have security.

Adam’s thoughts are especially important because I think this challenge will only grow.

Additionally, the identification of aid groups with the West and the United Nations can also endanger them in regions where anti-American or purely anti-Western feelings are strong. But many fighters need no kind of elaborate political justification to point their gun at a NGO. Any middle-class foreigner who operates in a conflict zone is a status target.

The issue may go even further than anti-American or anti-Western feelings. In some cases, a direct and conscious anti-connectivity intent motivates such fighters. Humanitarian relief workers from the Core represent part of the rule set of globalization that disrupts traditional values, challenges traditional assumptions and exposes young people to new ideas. The 2004 attack against the UN mission to Iraq, for example, seemed intent on stripping away as many international institutions as possible in order to isolate Iraq.