Any Numbers On How Many Mercenaries The US Has In Iraq?

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Or is this classified? Curious minds want to know.

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1. kind of hard to say...

Military Contractors
Northrop Grumman of Los Angeles, CA; CEO: Ronald Sugar
Military contracts in 2005: $13.5 billion
Total contributions in 2004 election cycle: $1.77 million
Total CEO compensation for 2002-2006: $30,049,800
Products and services: B-2 stealth bomber, amphibious assault ships, training Iraqi army

Halliburton of Houston, Texas; CEO: David J. Lesar
Military contracts in 2005: $5.8 billion
Oil and gas-related contributions in the 2004 election cycle: $221,249
Total CEO compensation for 2002-2006: $49,491,100
Services: Runs US military bases in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Djibouti, Georgia, Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey and Uzbekistan. Built Guantanamo Bay, Cuba prisons, South Vietnam & Diego Garcia military bases. Oil field services, logistics (including feeding
troops)

L-3 Communications of New York, New York; Interim CEO: Michael T. Strianese
Military contracts in 2005: $4.7 billion
Defense-related contributions in the 2004 election cycle: $403,719
Total CEO compensation for 2002-2006: $18,209,000
Products: Satellite, avionics, missile defense, marine communications
Computer Sciences Corp. of El Segundo, California; CEO: Van Honeycutt
Military contracts in 2005: $2.8 billion
Total CEO compensation for 2002-2006: $44,078,800
Products: Information technology, biometric ID systems for US military facilities in Iraq
http://www.betterworldlinks.org/book73q.htm

List of PMCs
3D Global Solutions, AD Consultancy, AGS, AMECO, 3S Security Support Solutions, Aegis Defence Services, AirScan Inc., AKE Limited, Al Hamza, American International Security, Anteon International Corp., Applied Marine Technology Inc., ArmorGroup International PLC, Ayr Aviation, Babylon Gates, Ben Tal, BH Defense LLC, Blackheart International LLC, Blackwater USA, Blue Hackle Limited, Britam Defence, Ltd., CACI International, Canine International, CastleForce Consultancy, Ltd., Carnelian International Risks, Centurion Risk Assessment Services, Civilian Police International, LLC, Cochise Consultancy Inc., Combat Support Associates, Ltd., Control Risks Group, Crescent Security Group, CTC Training, CTU ASIA, Cubic Corporation, Custer Battles, Defence Systems Limited, Demming Enterprises International, Ltd., Diligence, LLC, Double Eagle Management Company, DS Vance Iraq, DTS Security, DynCorp, Edinburgh Risk, Edinburgh International Security, Ltd., EODT Technology, Inc., Erinys International Ltd., Evergreen International Aviation, Excalibre, Executive Outcomes, Executive Solutions International, Falcon Group, Genric, Ltd., Greystone, Ltd., Global Marine Security Systems Company, Global Options, Inc., Global Strategies Group, Golan Group, Group 4 Securicor, Hart Group, Henderson Risk, Ltd., Hill and Associates, Homeland Security Corporation, ICP Group, Ltd., International Charter Incorporated of Oregon, ISEC Corporate Security, Ltd., ISI Security, J-3 Global, Janusian Security Risk Management Ltd., Keenie Meenie Services, Kellogg Brown and Root, Kroll, Inc., Levdan, Ltd., Management and Training Corporation, Main Street Supply & Logistics, Medical Support Solutions, Ltd., Meteoric Tactical Solutions, Meyer and Associates, Military Professional Resources Inc., Mushriqui Consulting, MVM, Inc., NAF Security, Neareast Security, New Korea Total Service, Northbridge Services Group, Ltd., Pistris, Inc., Olive Group, Omega Risk Solutions, Optimal Solution Services, Orion Management, OSSI-Safenet, Overseas Security and Strategic Information, Inc/Safenet - Iraq, Pacific Architects and Engineers, Inc., PSI International, PSD Training, PWC Logistics, RamOPS Risk Management Group, Reed, Inc., Ronco, Rubicon International Services, Ltd., Saladin Security, Sandline International, SCG International Risk, Science Applications International Corporation, Securiforce, Security Applications Systems International LLC, Select Armor, Inc., Sentinel, SGS, Silver Shadow, Smith Brandon International, Southern Cross Security, Special Operations Consulting-Security Management Group, Special Ops Associates, Steele Foundation, Sumer International Security, Tarik, THULE Global Security International, Titan Corporation, Toifor, Triple Canopy Inc., US Investigations Services, Unity Resources Group, USA Enviromental, Vinnell Corporation, Vinnell Brown and Root (VBR), VIP Investigations & Protective Services Inc., Wade-Boyd and Associates LLC, Whitestone Group, WVC3 Group, Inc. http://www.sourcewatch.org/wiki.phtml?title=PMC#List_of_PMCs

"The Freedom of Information Act applies to "agency" records. Contractors, in this context, are not "agencies," even where they perform decisional roles. Similarly, government officials are subject to a body of conflict of interest provisions, pay caps, limits on political activity, and labor rules that do not similarly constrain contractors who perform similar, even the same, work."
"In April <2002>, the Army told Congress that its best guess was that the Army had between 124,000 and 605,000 service contract workers. In October, the Army announced that it would permit contractors to compete for "non-core" positions held by 154,910 civilian workers (more than half of the Army's civilian workforce) and 58,727 military personnel." <12>

America's Empire of Bases By Chalmers Johnson
At Least Seven Hundred Foreign Bases
It's not easy to assess the size or exact value of our empire of bases. Official records on these subjects are misleading, although instructive. According to the Defense Department's annual "Base Structure Report" for fiscal year 2003, which itemizes foreign and domestic U.S. military real estate, the Pentagon currently owns or rents 702 overseas bases in about 130 countries and HAS another 6,000 bases in the United States and its territories. Pentagon bureaucrats calculate that it would require at least $113.2 billion to replace just the foreign bases -- surely far too low a figure but still larger than the gross domestic product of most countries -- and an estimated $591.5 billion to replace all of them. The military high command deploys to our overseas bases some 253,288 uniformed personnel, plus an equal number of dependents and Department of Defense civilian officials, and employs an additional 44,446 locally hired foreigners. The Pentagon claims that these bases contain 44,870 barracks, hangars, hospitals, and other buildings, which it owns, and that it leases 4,844 more.

These numbers, although staggeringly large, do not begin to cover all the actual bases we occupy globally. The 2003 Base Status Report fails to mention, for instance, any garrisons in Kosovo -- even though it is the site of the huge Camp Bondsteel, built in 1999 and maintained ever since by Kellogg, Brown & Root. The Report similarly omits bases in Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, and Uzbekistan, although the U.S. military has established colossal base structures throughout the so-called arc of instability in the two-and-a-half years since 9/11.

Some of these bases are so gigantic they require as many as nine internal bus routes for soldiers and civilian contractors to get around inside the earthen berms and concertina wire. That's the case at Camp Anaconda, headquarters of the 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, whose job is to police some 1,500 square miles of Iraq north of Baghdad, from Samarra to Taji. Anaconda occupies 25 square kilometers and will ultimately house as many as 20,000 troops. Despite extensive security precautions, the base has frequently come under mortar attack, notably on the Fourth of July, 2003, just as Arnold Schwarzenegger was chatting up our wounded at the local field hospital. http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=1181