Source:
WPThe surge of 30,000 U.S. troops into Afghanistan could be accompanied by a surge of up to 56,000 contractors, vastly expanding the presence of personnel from the U.S. private sector in a war zone, according to a study by the Congressional Research Service.
CRS, which provides background information to members of Congress on a bipartisan basis, said it expects an additional 26,000 to 56,000 contractors to be sent to Afghanistan. That would bring the number of contractors in the country to anywhere from 130,000 to 160,000.
The tally "could increase further if the new (administration) strategy includes a more robust construction and nation building effort," according to the report, which was released Monday and first disclosed on the Web site
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/afghanistan_contractors_new_congressional_study.php?ref=fpc">Talking Points Memo.
=snip=
On Thursday, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ad-hoc subcommittee on contracting oversight, led by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), is scheduled to hold a hearing on the increase in the number and value of Afghanistan contracts. She plans to focus on ensuring that contracts are adequately managed and "whether contracting oversight lessons learned from Iraq are being applied in Afghanistan," according to her staff members.
Read more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/15/AR2009121504850.html
WP says 26,000 to 56,000 and TPM (who they cite) says 16,000 to 56,000. Anyway, guestimates varying between 30,000 and 40,000 is a bit of a wide gap.
DOD: Obama's Afghan Surge Will Rely Heavily On Private ContractorsSource:
TPMJustin Elliott | December 15, 2009, 9:29AM
As President Obama's escalation of the war in Afghanistan unfolds, the number of contractors will likely jump by between 16,000 and 56,000, adding up to a total of 120,000-160,000, according to an updated study from the Congressional Research Service.
DOD officials who spoke with the study's author said contractors would make up 50-55 percent of the total workforce -- troops plus contractors -- in the future.
This would actually be a significant reduction from the last two years, when contractors have averaged 62 percent of the total.As we've reported, many questions about the army of contractors, which outnumbers the size of the U.S. troop force, remain unanswered and underexamined. We don't have up to date numbers on how much the United States spends on private contracts, and the DOD does not break down the services done by contractors in Afghanistan (it does for Iraq).
As of September 2009, contractors providing security, transportation, and logistical services numbered 104,100 in Afghanistan and 113,700 in Iraq, according to the military.
Most of the contractors in Afghanistan are local nationals, according to the military. Read more:
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/afghanistan_contractors_new_congressional_study.php
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