THE ONE CLEAR WINNER IN IRAQ: MERCENARIES & WAR PROFITEERS

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JEREMY SCAHILL, COUNTERPUNCH - With almost no congressional oversight
and even less public awareness, the Bush administration has more than
doubled the size of the U.S. occupation through the use of private war
companies. There are now almost 200,000 private "contractors" deployed
in Iraq by Washington. This means that U.S. military forces in Iraq are
now outsized by a coalition of billing corporations whose actions go
largely unmonitored and whose crimes are virtually unpunished.

In essence, the Bush administration has created a shadow army that can
be used to wage wars unpopular with the American public but extremely
profitable for a few unaccountable private companies.

Since the launch of the "global war on terror," the administration has
systematically funneled billions of dollars in public money to
corporations like Blackwater USA , DynCorp, Triple Canopy, Erinys and
ArmorGroup. They have in turn used their lucrative government pay-outs
to build up the infrastructure and reach of private armies so powerful
that they rival or outgun some nation's militaries. . .

Precise data on the extent of U.S. spending on mercenary services is
nearly impossible to obtain - by both journalists and elected
officials-but some in Congress estimate that up to 40 cents of every tax
dollar spent on the war goes to corporate war contractors. At present,
the United States spends about $2 billion a week on its Iraq operations.
. .

At present, an American or a British Special Forces veteran working for
a private security company in Iraq can make $650 a day. At times the
rate has reached $1,000 a day; the pay dwarfs many times over that of
active duty troops operating in the war zone wearing a U.S. or U.K. flag
on their shoulder instead of a corporate logo.

http://www.counterpunch.com/scahill08132007.html

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