Saturday, February 24, 2007

Nearly 800 American civilians have been killed in Iraq

From FOIA blog...

Nearly 800 civilian contractors to the Pentagon have been killed in Iraq.That's according to figures gathered by The Associated Press. More than 33-hundred have been hurt doing jobs normally handled by the U-S military.

A retired Air Force reservist says the figures show "another unseen expense of the war." His brother-in-law was killed while driving a truck in Iraq, a death he says doesn't get the publicity or respect it deserves.

The Pentagon has subcontracted with companies like Halliburton and Blackwater for some dangerous duties, like guarding prisoners and protecting military convoys. There are 120-thousand contractors in the war zone, along with 135-thousand U-S troops.

The A-P obtained contractor casualty numbers through the Freedom of Information Act. Experts say contractors have never before represented such a large portion of the U-S presence in a war zone, or done so many security and military-like jobs.

Contractors are paid at least six times more than a new Army private who would likely be driving a truck or doing some other unskilled work.


Sez here "This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed."

Wonder why?

This information strikes me as important. I can't decide whether people are uninformed or just indifferent.

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