There has been a surge of contractor deaths on Afghanistan and it's a trend that reflects how the war is being fought and the way US authorities are covering up deaths.
As this report reveals, of the 289 civilians killed since the war began more than eight years ago, 100 have died in just the last six months. The alarming part is that US Department of Defense figures show there are more civilian contractors on the ground in Afghanistan than there are soldiers. According to the Pentagon, there were 107,292 US-hired civilian workers in Afghanistan as of February 2010, when there were about 78,000 soldiers. In other words, there are 37% more contractors than soldiers in Afghanistan.
Why so many contractors? Check the military body bags, it's all part of a deliberate strategy. Contractors have kept the Pentagon's official casualty figures lower than they would have been in past conflicts when there weren't that many contractors. Contractor deaths are not reported in total figures given by the US government!
According to Reuters, Jacques Gansler, a former Pentagon acquisition chief and professor at the University of Maryland, says the Pentagon is relying heavily on private contractors who make up about 65% to 75% of the US force structure in Afghanistan and Iraq.
And naturally, the contractors are cleaning up big time from those niche orders. It's a great business. At least for the ones who survive.
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