232 civilians die working for US in Iraq

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

At least 232 civilians have been killed while working on US-funded contracts in Iraq and the death toll is rising rapidly, according to a US Government audit.

The quarterly report sent to Congress by the inspector general appointed to audit US-funded work in Iraq said security problems were the biggest obstacle to Iraq's reconstruction and workers faced grave risks daily.

"One cannot spend a day in Iraq without quickly gaining a profound respect for all engaged in this endeavour," said Stuart Bowen, a former White House lawyer and now Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

"Their work and sacrifice in Iraq make all the more crucial our success in promoting economy, efficiency and effectiveness in preventing fraud, waste and abuse," he added in the report, released after Iraqis voted in elections bloodied by attacks.

People working on US-funded projects in Iraq increasingly have been the targets of kidnapping and assassination by insurgents, who view them as collaborators with the US military that invaded Iraq and ousted ex-President Saddam Hussein in 2003.

MORE: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1292241.htm

[teryang]

1. Doesn't look like this number includes DOD civilians

...only contractors. Without a SOFA agreement with the provisional then transition government, contractors carrying weapons would be "illegal combatants." I guess it just depends on who's defining who and what they are. No uniforms, no ranks, carrying military weapons, and firing when and at whom they choose. If you don't consider the current government legitimate, then...they are criminals. This was one of the problems that played a role in the initial Fallujah conflagration. It makes one wonder then what the government spooks with no uniforms and automatic weapons are in terms of their status under international law.

You can't tell what they are by looking at them because they are out of uniform and don't wear rank insignia either. What differentiates them from the so-called terrorists (illegal combatants)? Oh, it's this piece of paper that we signed with the unelected government and that we keep in our file drawer.

It provides all such persons with unascertainable status with "extraterritoriality" just like in the 19th Century when colonialism was all the rage.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

2. They were about as vague as they could possibly be....

[Conservativesux]

3. No one likes a Merc. To hell with the cold blooded killers!

[poe]

4. US sees rising civilian toll in Iraq-Unreported Casualties

US sees rising civilian toll in Iraq
by
Sunday 30 January 2005 6:13 PM GMT


Contractors working for the US military in Iraq are targets


At least 232 civilians have been killed while working on US-funded contracts in Iraq and the toll is rising rapidly, according to a US government audit.
Deaths unreported

Not all US employers would have filed DBA claims for workers killed in Iraq and the toll from civilians killed is likely to be higher than 232, said one US official. 


Attacks on US-funded work sites, convoys and employees averaged about 22 a week until 3 January, the report said

In addition, 728 DBA claims were filed for employees who missed more than four days of work. Several hundred more were reported from neighbouring Kuwait where companies working in Iraq have logistics and support operations.

Bowen said the tough security environment was delaying
projects funded by $18.4 billion set aside by Congress in 2003
to rebuild Iraq.

On 12 January, the Project and Contracting Office in Iraq, which is in charge of most US-funded work there, said security issues delayed by two weeks 17% of their projects in central Iraq and 15% in northern Iraq.
Reuters
By 

You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AF7C78D8-61D4-481A-B083-D857D499BE73.htm

[unpossibles]

5. I have been wondering what kind of contractors we're talking about

ever since the stories about the women contractors using sex during interrogation in Gitmo. Is this just the NeoCon word for mercenary? I know some are for rebuilding and security training, but how many are there using that as a cover?