Private Contractors Outnumber US Troops in Iraq
The number of U.S.-paid private contractors in Iraq now exceeds that of American combat troops, newly released figures show, raising fresh questions about the privatization of the war effort and the government’s capacity to carry out military and rebuilding campaigns.
More than 180,000 civilians - including Americans, foreigners and Iraqis - are working in Iraq under U.S. contracts, according to State and Defense department figures obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
Including the recent troop buildup, 160,000 soldiers and a few thousand civilian government employees are stationed in Iraq.
The total number of private contractors, far higher than previously reported, shows how heavily the Bush administration has relied on corporations to carry out the occupation of Iraq - a mission criticized as being undermanned.
“These numbers are big,” said Peter Singer, a Brookings Institution scholar who has written on military contracting. “They illustrate better than anything that we went in without enough troops. This is not the coalition of the willing. It’s the coalition of the billing.”
The numbers include at least 21,000 Americans, 43,000 foreign contractors and about 118,000 Iraqis - all employed in Iraq by U.S. tax dollars, according to the most recent government data.
The array of private workers promises to be a factor in debates on a range of policy issues, including the privatization of military jobs and the number of Iraqi refugees allowed to resettle in the U.S.
But there are also signs that even those mounting numbers may not capture the full picture. Private security contractors, who are hired to protect government officials and buildings, were not fully counted in the survey, according to industry and government officials.
Continuing uncertainty over the numbers of armed contractors drew special criticism from military experts.
“We don’t have control of all the coalition guns in Iraq. That’s dangerous for our country,” said William Nash, a retired Army general and reconstruction expert. The Pentagon “is hiring guns. You can rationalize it all you want, but that’s obscene.”
Although private companies have played a role in conflicts since the American Revolution, the U.S. has relied more on contractors in Iraq than in any other war, according to military experts.
Contractors perform functions including construction, security and weapons system maintenance.
Military officials say contractors cut costs while allowing troops to focus on fighting rather than on other tasks.
“The only reason we have contractors is to support the war fighter,” said Gary Motsek, the assistant deputy undersecretary of Defense who oversees contractors. “Fundamentally, they’re supporting the mission as required.”
But critics worry that troops and their missions could be jeopardized if contractors, functioning outside the military’s command and control, refuse to make deliveries of vital supplies under fire.
At one point in 2004, for example, U.S. forces were put on food rations when drivers balked at taking supplies into a combat zone.
Adding an element of potential confusion, no single agency keeps track of the number or location of contractors.
In response to demands from Congress, the U.S. Central Command began a census last year of the number of contractors working on U.S. and Iraqi bases to determine how much food, water and shelter was needed.
That census, provided to The Times under the Freedom of Information Act, shows about 130,000 contractors and subcontractors of different nationalities working at U.S. and Iraqi military bases.
However, U.S. military officials acknowledged that the census did not include other government agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department.
Last month, USAID reported about 53,000 Iraqis employed under U.S. reconstruction contracts, doing jobs such as garbage pickup and helping to teach democracy. In interviews, agency officials said an additional 300 Americans and foreigners worked as contractors for the agency.
State Department officials said they could not provide the department’s number of contractors. Of about 5,000 people affiliated with the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, about 300 are State Department employees. The rest are a mix of other government agency workers and contractors, many of whom are building the new embassy.
“There are very few of us, and we’re way undermanned,” said one State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “We have significant shortages of people. It’s been that way since before [the war], and it’s still that way.”
The companies with the largest number of employees are foreign firms in the Middle East that subcontract to KBR, the Houston-based oil services company, according to the Central Command database. KBR, once a subsidiary of Halliburton Co., provides logistics support to troops, the single largest contract in Iraq.
Middle Eastern companies, including Kulak Construction Co. of Turkey and Projects International of Dubai, supply labor from Third World countries to KBR and other U.S. companies for menial work on U.S. bases and rebuilding projects. Foreigners are used instead of Iraqis because of fears that insurgents could infiltrate projects.
KBR is by far the largest employer of Americans, with nearly 14,000 U.S. workers. Other large employers of Americans in Iraq include New York-based L-3 Communications, which holds a contract to provide translators to troops, and ITT Corp., a New York engineering and technology firm.
The most controversial contractors are those working for private security companies, including Blackwater, Triple Canopy and Erinys. They guard sensitive sites and provide protection to U.S. and Iraqi government officials and businessmen.
Security contractors draw some of the sharpest criticism, much of it from military policy experts who say their jobs should be done by the military. On several occasions, heavily armed private contractors have engaged in firefights when attacked by Iraqi insurgents.
Others worry that the private security contractors lack accountability. Although scores of troops have been prosecuted for serious crimes, only a handful of private security contractors have faced legal charges.
The number of private security contractors in Iraq remains unclear, despite Central Command’s latest census. The Times identified 21 security companies in the Central Command database, deploying 10,800 men.
However, the Defense Department’s Motsek, who monitors contractors, said the Pentagon estimated the total was 6,000.
Both figures are far below the private security industry’s own estimate of about 30,000 private security contractors working for government agencies, nonprofit organizations, media outlets and businesses.
Industry officials said that private security companies helped reduce the number of troops needed in Iraq and provided jobs to Iraqis - a benefit in a country with high unemployment.
“A guy who is working for a [private security company] is not out on the street doing something inimical to our interests,” said Lawrence Peter, director of the Private Security Company Assn. of Iraq.
Not surprisingly, Iraqis make up the largest number of civilian employees under U.S. contracts. Typically, the government contracts with an American firm, which then subcontracts with an Iraqi firm to do the job.
Stan Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council, a contractors’ trade group, said the number of Iraqis reflected the importance of the reconstruction and economic development efforts to the overall U.S. mission in Iraq.
“That’s not work that the government does or has ever done…. That’s work that is going to be done by companies and to some extent by” nongovernmental organizations, Soloway said. “People tend to think that these are contractors on the battlefield, and they’re not.”
The Iraqis have been the most difficult to track. As recently as May, the Pentagon told Congress that 22,000 Iraqis were employed by its contractors. But the Pentagon number recently jumped to 65,000 - a result of closer inspection of contracts, an official said.
The total number of Iraqis employed under U.S. contracts is important, in part because it may influence debate in Congress regarding how many Iraqis will be allowed to come to the U.S. to escape violence in their homeland.
This year, the U.S. planned to cap that number at 7,000 a year. To date, however, only a few dozen Iraqis have been admitted, according to State Department figures.
Kirk Johnson, head of the List Project, which seeks to increase the admission of Iraqis, said that the U.S. needed to provide a haven to those who worked most closely with American officials.
“We all say we are grateful to these Iraqis,” Johnson said. “How can we be the only superpower in the world that can’t implement what we recognize as a moral imperative?”
The back story
Information in this article is based in part on a database of contractors in Iraq obtained by The Times under the Freedom of Information Act, which allows the public access to government records.
The database is the result of a census conducted earlier this year by the U.S. Central Command.
The census found about 130,000 contractors working for 632 companies holding contracts in Iraq with the Defense Department and a handful of other federal agencies.
The Times received the database last month, four months after first requesting it. Because the Freedom of Information Act law requires an agency to provide only information as of the date of the request, the census is based on figures as of February. During interviews, Pentagon officials said the census had since been updated, and they provided additional figures based on the update.
Contractors in Iraq
There are more U.S.-paid private contractors than there are American combat troops in Iraq.
Contractors: 180,000
U.S. troops: 160,000
–
Nationality of contractors*
118,000 Iraqis
43,000 non-U.S. foreigners
21,000 Americans
–
Top contractors
Company: Kulak Construction Co.
Description: Based in Turkey, supplies construction workers to U.S. bases
Total employees: 30,301
–
Company: KBR
Description: Based in Houston, supplies logistics support to U.S. troops
Total employees: 15,336
–
Company: Prime Projects International
Description: Based in Dubai, supplies labor for logistics support
Total employees: 10,560
–
Company: L-3 Communications
Description: Based in New York, provides translators and other services
Total employees: 5,886
–
Company: Gulf Catering Co.
Description: Based in Saudi Arabia, provides kitchen services to U.S. troops
Total employees: 4,002
–
Company: 77 Construction
Description: Based in Irbil, Iraq, provides logistics support to troops
Total employees: 3,219
–
Company: ECC
Description: Based in Burlingame, Calif, works on reconstruction projects
Total employees: 2,390
–
Company: Serka Group
Description: Based in Turkey, supplies logistics support to U.S. bases
Total employees: 2,250
–
Company: IPBD Ltd.
Description: Based in England, supplies labor, laundry services and other support
Total employees: 2,164
–
Company: Daoud & Partners Co.
Description: Based in Amman, Jordan, supplies labor for logistics support
Total employees: 2,092
–
Company: EOD Technology Inc
Description: Based in Lenoir City, Tenn., supplies security, explosives demolition and other services
Total employees: 1,913
–
Note: Data are as of February, which is most current available.
*Approximate - numbers rounded
Sources: U.S. Central Command, Times reporting
Paul Duginski Los Angeles Times
Copyright 2007 Los Angeles Times
Cheney/Bush’s long term agenda is to bankrupt the federal treasury so the corporations will own and operate the entire USA and its people.
Is todays situation realy that much different than what has happened in the past.
The major economic powers have used their military to gain entry into resource rich countrys and right behind them came the financial interest who were the instigators of the interventions.
Wether it goes back to city states of Greece and onto the formation of Italian city state guilds who were the leaders of trade using hired troop to extend and protect their interest or a King who promiced rewards to bankers and shipping interest who helped him aquire an empire.
The form of warfare has become more sophisticated and less brutal or wastefull to resources; if anything the WWII conflict showed it is that the financial interest could not afford such destructive practices, and that more cost effecient ways had to be devised.
The German and Italian systems of WWII while wastefull in its war making tactics was very effecient in garnering all a nations resources towards corporate/finacial interest and government being one and the same policy body.
We call it a fascist or Fascism form of Government, but in reality every eurocentirc nation today has used elements of that form to their economic gains.
Where once we used battle ships to gain entry today we use financial manipualtions along with covert millitary actions, NGO’s undermining local governments, assasinations, support of brutal dictators to outright military training of domestic forces or exiled groups to invade and disrupt the economic base of a country to our advantges.
That today the military forces are streamlined along much the same line as a Corporation would be and its , lets say mission statement has been reduced to, the destruction by military force of arms any and all opposition.
These actions may be covert as is now ongoing in Iran and Somalia Yemen and many other southern hemisphere nations, or as in Iraq and Afghanistan overtly, they are merely differeences in tactics.
These actions are the to put it one way, the mechanical equivelent to production wharehouse and machinery purchases,and the actual profit making aspects of the operation now can begin.
That it takes many smaller corporations working in conjunction with primary financiers to exploit the resources gained is an ordinary captial buyilding operation.
The primary mission of the military is now reduced to traing their replacements in country of operations and then moving on to the next new enterprise.
The primary difference today between older more wastefull operations is the means to finance.
In the Euro centrics of today it is not the individuals who put forth the capital to begin a new enterprise as they use the capital of the state, with many having State entitys insuring their overseas adventures agaisnt loss, Roman capitalism, and to primarily defray start up cost.
That those in the US can borrow from a nations credit worthiness for their own political and economic needs is today the one sole reason the US is playing so dominant a role in nation restructuring of world.
It does not matter if economic benefits to nation are ever seen just that those who partake in the industry, Corporate-Political and Financial counterparts profit.
That most of benefits as in Iraq war and Afghanstan will go to not US as primary beneficiary but europe and Asian interest is of no concern in todays global economic leadership.
It is truly a group with individuals participating in one global economic game of monopoly.
For God’s sake don’t bring them home! They’ll have to find work for them over here.
Corporations already own and operate the USA, and our entirely corrupt economic system. The banks create money at will. There’s no limit to the amount that they can create.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy-fD78zyvI
import Iraqis and deport Mexicans? WTF???
there’ll be plenty of work for the mercenaries if the people actually take to the streets to reclaim their country
This is a fantastic article, man. For the last five minutes I’ve been laughing my hearts out. Just read this:
“Last month, USAID reported about 53,000 Iraqis employed under U.S. reconstruction contracts, doing jobs such as garbage pickup and helping to teach democracy.”
Got that? Iraqi garbage collectors teaching democracy! For crying out loud, I thought we were there to teach democracy. But, you know what? Since under Bush our democracy is going to the dogs here, perhaps those garbage collectors know more about democracy than our congress people. Not a bad idea to bring them over here to teach.
************
Now, this is someone from the State Department complaining because they have had only 300 people working there:
“We have significant shortages of people. It’s been that way since before [the war], and it’s still that way.”
Can anybody explain what the hell 300 State Department people were doing in Iraq since before the war?
************
“This is not the coalition of the willing. It’s the coalition of the billing.”
NO. IT IS THE COALITION OF THE KILLING.
Does anybody have any more questions? Are we satisfied with this as proof of what kind of sociopolitical environment the Bush Administration is interested in creating? People, this is beyond obvious. If this kind of thing had happened in any other time in history, all hell would be breaking lose.
I guess it won’t be long before Bush’s private army is turned on dissenters within the U.S.
When any big business, any group of corporations, or ANY induvidual or clique, is more powerful than a Democratic government, when they own the government, essentially it is Fascism.
That is what we have allowed to creep upon us while we slept. WE The People, have lost our rights, our freedoms and our Constitution. And durng the past few days, I have come to no longer like or to respect, Nancy Pelosi. I must admit, I was wrong and I never am.
Do we have the time to wake up? I dunno, fraid not enough of us will.___ We’ll see. Common Nancy you are actually the most powerful individual on this planet right now. Maybe you don’t know it.___ Maybe you do, if you would support impeachment, the flock would follow. You must be aware of that. Your bust would be carved on Mt. Rushmore.
PRIVATATION = PROFITEERING
corporate america’s favorite equation
the big problem with mercenaries is when the opposition pays them more than you to turn coat…and there are BILLIONS worth of oil at stake
Naturally. The U.S. armed forces are just one branch of the outsourced corporate mercenaries who fight for the interests of the powers-that-be. Just because the U.S. armed forces are one of the lower cost providers of military services, doesn’t give them a monopoly as the sole supplier to the PTB.
The PTB wants to prolong the chaos in Iraq as long as possible to justify perpetual occupation and usurpation of the oil resources and control of the oil markets (as reported by Palast).
Also, there is the remote possibility that Congress will screw up enough courage to demand that U.S. troops be withdrawn from Iraq. You can bet that that such an eventuality will in no way impact the presence of private contractors in Iraq, though it might require the PTB foot the bill more than it has to date.
What a crock.
Bonanza! High growth! Savvy investment!
Where are the Blackwater numbers?!!
Why would they need any funds at all from congress. Let the private industries take care of the military.
Seems the corporations do not want to take the good with the bad. They only want the benefit of the blood, sweat and tears of the poor and innocent.
No wonder so many insurgents. Lots of arab nation corporations.
Why is texas always in the picture in one way or another?
“War is good for business.”
evlyna:
Texas is usually involved because of decades of favorable tax treatment-allowing oil fortunes to greatly expand. Also the B.S. associated with the cowboy image encourages and mytholigizes reckless aggressive behavior.The heroic efforts of Molly Ivins,Ann Richards and Jim Hightower to rein in these yahoos is truly noteworthy.
So this is how they got around having a draft!
Bombs bursting in air…….
GOVERNMENT IS ONLY AS HONEST AS ITS MONEY …
This continued and pervasive process of privatization has had another effect that was not mentioned, and that is the weakening effect it has had on various branchesof our armed forces, particularly the Army Corps of Engineers. Work on the infrastructure, be it the restoration of cities devastated by war, or as a result of natural disasters in our own country, has suffered (see Katrina) and will suffer when we find ourselves spending inordinate funds to enhance the bottom lines of the reedy corporatocracy. Under our collective noses, the Cheney/Bush crew has outdown and out-performed the way Hitler and crew set up the Junkers in the ’30’s!
“We all say we are grateful to these Iraqis,” Johnson said. “How can we be the only superpower in the world that can’t implement what we recognize as a moral imperative?”
Well, Kirk, there are moral imperatives and there are “moral imperatives.” We are excellent at implementing “moral imperatives.”
Simple economics will tell you that there is far more money being poured into Iraq for mercenaries wages, equipment, and financial incentives (bribes) for the local warlords, than is being poured out in crude oil.
Americans and Brits, bless their souls, have not the slightest inkling of how much damage their government has done.
Osama Bin Kenobi once said that he could not fight the US on its own terms, but, would be able to bankrupt this mighty country using asymmetrical warfare. I think he has succeeded.
Contractors are expensive and don’t conform to Geneva conventions (even if they disagree). We’re in for decades of violence at home because of Bush and Blair.
someone posted this earlier, if you want more in depth.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6621486727392146155&q=iraq+for+sale&total=292&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
…my favorite highlights being Haliburton charging $90 per load of GI laundry, charging taxpayers $35 for a 6 pack of Iraqi made soda and leasing a $45,000 vehicle for $250,000 over 3 years only to give it back afterwards.
between that and Sicko you should be thoroughly convinced the depth of the corruption in the American society.
and i’d bet that Bush, Dickless Cheney and Co. get a cut of every company that has contracted with the US government and the Pentagon. They are the biggest crooks this country has seen and Congress lets them get away with it. Bigger crooks than the mafia. Bush said that he was gonna bring integrity and respect back into the oval office. what a joke that is. If congress had the balls Bush and Co. would end up in federal prison for life. they definitely deserve it.
The financial collapse will happen soon. I am sure the Bu$h corporate beneficiaries and backers are trying to push it into the likely Democratic president and congress after the next election. If they can’t, the spin will be that it is fear of Democratic ‘mismanagement’ of the economy and business stifling regulation that caused the problem.
The increase in all energy prices and the lowering of wages along with rampant inflation will be spun as the reason we need to get rid of the rest of the New Deal. The deficit will cause interest rates to go up and the nation’s credit rating will tank. The corporate spin doctors will call this the fault of Democratic tax and spend policies.
The 25% that still backs Bu$h the inferior will believe this and the they are backed by the paid media. It is likely that enough will be fooled again to prevent any reasonable government for a long time.
Of course, Bu$h the inferior’s corporations behind the curtain may get it wrong and the people can throw off the shackles of corporate fascism. Either way the curse of ‘living in interesting times’ is coming true.
Good Luck
P.S. according to Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) the 180,000 doesn’t include ‘SECURITY CONTRACTORS’. For those of you who speak English the word is MERCENARIES.
Why should we pay for those creeps when someone else gets all the benefit from it. Bush approval rating is below 30%, that means 70% of the people don’t approve of what he is doing. They don’t care anymore what the people think. Infact Bush’d handlers take great pains to insulate the dolt as to what the sentiment of the people actually is.
Someone like me could never go to an event where the president could get a glimpse of the people who don’t approve of him. If he comes to your town you can’t even stand on a public street with a protest sign in a spot where he could see you. They want to put you in a detention area miles away from anywhere you could have an effect.
pretty soon some country with enough money will be able to hire those same mercenaries and turn them against the US. or rather, maybe a coalition of philantropists will hire them to capture bush, cheney and their entourage of crooks and give them a measure of their own medicine.
Maybe we can keep some of those non-fighting contractors over there after the troops and “security contractors”, so as to not be a total ass about the situation.
Sang Ze: it’s already happening, accelerated greatly since 9-11
i am feros working before in iraq for prime projects international.we need to come back to iraq i am still in india now.can i get e mail adress for finding job i am dod contractor before in iraq foreign ID no 903015048.