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July 9, 2008 11:10:17 AM CDT

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Contractor Armies Thrive in Iraq

Posted Jul 18, 07 5:49 AM CDT in US,  World    Editor's Choice

(Newser) – A private army of occupation in Iraq—mechanics, construction workers, translators, bodyguards, and other civilian contractors—is increasing in numbers keeping pace with the troop surge, the Christian Science Monitor reports. As many as 180,000 private contractors in Iraq, most of them not US nationals, currently work in legal limbo, with little oversight or support.

"This is a very murky legal space and we haven't dealt with the fundamental issues," saysd a foreign policy specialist. Most private contractors hail from countries as varied as Scotland, Brazil, Hungary, Pakistan and Australia. The military acknowledges their usefulness, but some officials fear the use of private contractors has gone too far.

Source Christian Science Monitor

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A portion of the new U.S. embassy under construction is seen from across the Tigris river in Baghdad, Saturday, May 19, 2007. The new $592 million embassy occupies a chunk of prime Baghdad real estate...   (Associated Press)
Ordnance experts prepare an line of artillery shells before a meticulously planned explosion of 24 tones of munitions in an ammunition storage site next to Aswalim village about 100 kilometers south-...   (Associated Press)
Private security contractors, in black, inspect a bridge destroyed by an apparent suicide vehicle bomber on Sunday, June 10, 2007, outside Mahmoudiya, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Baghdad,...   (Associated Press)
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Iraq  • Iraq war  • David Petraeus  • US Army  • contractors  • surge


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