US outsources its anti-terror war

[seemslikeadream]

CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA

TIMES NEWS NETWORK< FRIDAY, APRIL 02, 2004 08:17:12 PM >




An Iraqi man looks at US soldiers near the Republican Palace, now a US Army base, in Baghdad.

WASHINGTON: While the United States is still seething at the killing of four American 'contractors' in Iraq and planning to retaliate against those in Fallujah where the crime was perpetuated, the episode has brought attention to a little-known practice – the US outsourcing of its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to its private armies.



Reports suggest that the United States is using between 10,000 to 15,000 private "contractors," more than the size of the British armed forces in Iraq, for policing and protection of its operations.



Most of these 'contractors' – who would be called mercenaries or militias or vigilantes in other situations – are former US armed forces personnel employed through private agencies. They are said to earn as much as $ 1000 a day.

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