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dirkie
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Sun Oct 21 10:11:43 CEST 2007
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IRAQ: Private contractors outnumber
U.S. troops in Iraq
by T. Christian Miller, The
Los Angeles Times
July 4th,
2007
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?"
--
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.
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