The straight story on contractors in Iraq

The Congressional Budget Office released a report early last month on the use of contractors in Iraq. Predictably, the report generated eye-catching headlines but little in-depth analysis. Yet, as always, that analysis is where the real story lies.Senate Budget Committee ChairmanKent Conrad (D-N.D.) requested thestudy to assess the roles, costs andother issues associated with contractorson the battlefield. The report,which covers 2003 to 2007, concludedthat the United States spentabout $85 billion on contractors inthe Iraq theater during that time.The researchers also estimated thatabout 190,000 contractor employeeswere involved. Those two findingsgenerated the most headlines, withmany stories ignoring the more importantcontext behind them.For example, CBO found that contractoremployees are no more expensivethan military personnel performing similarfunctions, such as security. In addition,although CBO concluded that theratio of contractor personnel to militarypersonnel in Iraq ? about 1-to-1 ? ishigher than it has been during any othermajor conflict, CBO also noted that theratio is about the same as it was duringthe U.S. involvement in the Balkans inthe 1990s.In other words, the increased relianceon contractors for logistics, food, engineeringsupport and more is not particularlynew or radical. It has been evolving.The scope of U.S. involvement determinesthe number of in-theater contractemployees far more than some extraordinaryincrease in the use of contractors.Indeed, although it is true that the rawnumbers are unprecedented, so too is themultifaceted mission. Never before hasthe United States been involved in anactive conflict whileengaged in massivenationwide reconstructionand economic,health, education, agriculturaland other developmentinitiatives in theaffected country.In addition, becausethe CBO contractorcount includes all contractorand subcontractoremployees working onany type of contract inthe Iraq theater (whichincludes not only Iraqbut also Kuwait, Turkeyand other countries), it ismore than a little disingenuousto compare the number of contractorpersonnel in theater to the numberof military personnel. The 190,000estimate includes thousands of contractoremployees working on reconstruction anddevelopment projects across the countryand thousands of others providing supportoutside combat zones. To comparethose individuals with soldiers impliesthat they are performing functions areinterchangeable or that all take place onthe battlefield, which is not the case.The report notes that of the 190,000contractor employees, only 20 percent areU.S. citizens and about 40 percent are citizensof the nations in which the work isbeing performed, principally Iraq. Putdifferently, contracting in and aroundIraq is a source of employment and economicdevelopment precisely where it issorely needed.Unfortunately, the media's coverage ofthe report has typically focused on onlythe huge amount of money spent and acomment from one U.S. senator about thepotential for fraud and abuse. However,the report makes no mention of fraud orabuse, and the special inspectorgeneral for Iraq reconstructionhas repeatedly said thatalthough cases of fraud haveoccurred, they have not been acommon component of theIraq contracting experience.The CBO report is a seriousand thoughtful assessment ofcontractors' role in supportingthe Iraq mission. Regardless ofone's views of U.S. involvementin that region, the facts andcontext contained in the reportdeserve more than dramaticheadlines or simplistic interpretations.After all, if thosefacts and context are going tobe ignored, why bother askingfor the report in the first place?