Region | Iraq
Obama urged to reduce private contractors in war
The Obama administration should move away from using private contractors in active battle areas in Iraq and Afghanistan and dramatically step up oversight, a Washington think-tank urged on Friday.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:41 November 15, 2008
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Washington: The Obama administration should move away from using private contractors in active battle areas in Iraq and Afghanistan and dramatically step up oversight, a Washington think-tank urged on Friday.
The US military has long used private contractors in fighting its wars, but Washington's reliance on non-uniformed civilians has sharply increased over the past five years, the New America Foundation said in a new report.
It said the ratio of military personnel to private contractors is now around one to one, and some experts believed there are more contractors than troops in Iraq, compared to 50 to one during the 1991 Gulf War, according to the report.
Experts say the number of contractors could rise further in coming years as the US military reduces its presence in Iraq, and most agree that better oversight is long overdue.
After the Democrats took control of Congress two years ago, lawmakers worried by reports of corruption and other abuses began examining the use of private contractors in Iraq, including the Army's use of a sole-source no-bid contract with KBR Inc, a former unit of Halliburton Co, once headed by Vice-President Dick Cheney.
Attention
The issue got even more attention in September 2007 after bodyguards from the US security firm Blackwater Worldwide opened fire in a Baghdad traffic jam, killing 17 Iraqi civilians and wounding 24 more while escorting a convoy of US diplomats under a contract with the State Department.
The guards from the North Carolina-based private security firm say they acted lawfully and fired in self-defence, but an Iraqi government investigation said there was no provocation. The US government is still investigating.
Even critics of the Pentagon's increased use of private contractors concede that the trend is unlikely to be reversed completely, but they are particularly concerned about the use of armed private contractors to protect military troops and equipment.
The New America Foundation cited what it called "a government-wide abdication of responsibility" in overseeing private contractors, holding them accountable, and integrating them into military planning and force structure discussions.
The group urged the new administration to expand current federal law to govern the actions of contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, beef up training, and better vetting of non-US employees hired by private contractors.
Congress should also identify "red-lined" activities, such as interrogation, that should not be outsourced, it said.
Blackwater founder and chief executive Erik Prince attended the group's news conference, and briefly introduced himself, but declined to answer any questions on the issues.
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