Iraq contractors ‘cost US $85bn’
13/8/08
The US government has spent at least $85 billion on private contractors during the 2003 Iraq war and its aftermath, a government review has said. About 20 per cent of money spent for operations in Iraq has gone to contractors, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said. At present there are at least 190,000 contractors in Iraq and in neighbouring countries, a ratio of about one per US service member, the report said. The report sparked heavy criticism by US Democrats, with Senator Kent Conrad, chairman of the US senate budget committee, saying the reliance on contractors “restricts accountability and oversight; opens the door to corruption and abuse and … may significantly increase the cost to American taxpayers”. The study did not include figures for 2008 and therefore the total paid to contractors for work in Iraq since the invasion could be even higher, possibly topping $100 billion by the end of this year, the report said.
See: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/08/200881315044821961.html
Tags: Iraq, Outsourcing, USA