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criminal cases opened. In a statement to The Nation, Obama said surge has sparked a fierce debate in Congress and among the contractors are "...operating with unclear lines of authority, out- public, the Administration's increasing reliance on private military of-control costs and virtually no oversight by Congress. This contractors has gone largely undebated and underreported. black hole of accountability increases the danger to our troops and "The increasing use of contractors, private forces or as some American civilians serving as contractors." He said his legislation would say 'mercenaries' makes wars easier to begin and to fight— would "re-establish control over these companies" while it just takes money and not the citizenry," said Michael Ratner, "bringing contractors under the rule of law". president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has sued Democratic Representative Jan Schakowsky, a member of the contractors for alleged abuses in Iraq. "To the extent a population House Intelligence Committee, has been a leading critic of the is called upon to go to war, there is resistance, a necessary war contracting system. Her Iraq and Afghanistan Contractor resistance to prevent wars of self-aggrandizement, foolish wars Sunshine Act, introduced in February, which bolsters Obama's, and, in the case of the United States, hegemonic imperialist wars. boils down to what Schakowsky sees as a long overdue fact- Private forces are almost a necessity for a United States bent on finding mission through the secretive contracting bureaucracy. retaining its declining empire." Among other provisions, it requires the government to determine With talk of a Civilian Reserve Corps and Blackwater promoting and make public: the number of contractors and subcontractors the idea of a privatised "contractor brigade" to work with the (at any tier) who are employed in Iraq and Afghanistan; any host —_ military, war critics in Congress are homing in on what they see as country's, international or US laws that have been broken by a sustained, undeclared escalation through the use of private forces. contractors; disciplinary actions taken against contractors; and the "'Surge' implies a bump that has a beginning and an end," said total number of dead and wounde Schakowsky. "Having a third or a contractors. Schakowsky said she has quarter of [the forces] present on the tried repeatedly over the past several ground not even part of the debate is a years to get this information and has very dangerous thing in our democracy, been stonewalled or ignored. "We're "Pri because war is the most critical thing alk ‘llions of rivate forces are almost a ; talking about billions and billions o: that we do. dollars—some have estimated forty necessity for a United States Indeed, contractor deaths are not cents of every dollar [spent on the wae . counted in the total US death count, occupation] woes to thee continctorg, bent on retaining its and their crimes and violations go and we couldn't get any information on declining empire." undocumented and unpunished, further casualties, on deaths," sai masking the true costs of the war. Schakowsky. "It has been virtually "When you're bringing in contractors impossible to shine the light on this whom the law doesn't apply to, the aspect of the war and so when we Geneva Conventions, common notions discuss the war, its scope, its costs, its of morality, everything's thrown out risks, they have not been part of this whatsoever. This whole the window," said Kucinich. "And what it means is that these shadow force that's been operating in Iraq, we know almost private contractors are really an arm of the Administration and its nothing about. I think it keeps at arm's length from the American _ policies." people what this war is all about." Kucinich said he plans to investigate the potential involvement While not by any means a comprehensive total of the number of _ of private forces in so-called "black bag", "false flag" or covert contractor casualties, 770 contractor deaths and 7,761 injured in operations in Iraq. "What's the difference between covert Iraq as of December 31, 2006, were confirmed by the Labor activities and so-called overt activities which you have no Department. But that only counts those contractors whose information about? There's no difference," he says. Kucinich families applied for benefits under the government's Defense Base also says the problems with contractors are not simply limited to Act insurance. Independent analysts say the number is likely oversight and transparency. "It's the privatization of war," he much higher. Blackwater alone has lost at least 27 men in Iraq. said. The Administration is "...linking private war contractor And then there's the financial cost: almost $4 billion in taxpayer —_ profits with warmaking. So we're giving incentives for the funds have been paid for private security forces in Iraq, according contractors to lobby the Administration and the Congress to create to Waxman. Yet even with all these additional forces, the more opportunities for profits, and those opportunities are more military is struggling to meet the demands of a White House bent — war. And that's why the role of private contractors should be on military adventurism. sharply limited by Congress." oo A week after Donald Rumsfeld's rule at the Pentagon ended, US forces had been stretched so thin by the "war on terror" that About the Author: former Secretary of State Colin Powell declared "the active Army Jeremy Scahill is a Polk Award-winning investigative is about broken". Rather than rethinking its foreign policies, the journalist. He is a frequent contributor to The Nation Administration forged ahead with plans for a troop "surge" in magazine and a correspondent for the national radio show Iraq, and Bush floated a plan to supplement the military witha | Democracy Now! He has reported extensively from Iraq, the Civilian Reserve Corps in his January State of the Union address. former Yugoslavia and Nigeria. He is currently a Puffin "Such a corps would function much like our military Reserve. It | Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute. Scahill would ease the burden on the armed forces by allowing us to hire _ lives in Brooklyn, New York, USA. His article, published as civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad when — "Bush's Shadow Army" in The Nation on 2 April 2007, is America needs them," Bush said. The President, it seemed, was adapted from his new book, Blackwater: The Rise of the just giving a fancy new title to something the Administration has = World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army (Nation Books, already done with its "revolution" in military affairs and 2007). For more information on the book, visit unprecedented reliance on contractors. Yet while Bush's proposed _http:/Awww.blackwaterbook.com. necessity for a United States bent on retaining its declining empire." About the Author: Jeremy Scahill is a Polk Award-winning investigative journalist. He is a frequent contributor to The Nation magazine and a correspondent for the national radio show Democracy Now! He has reported extensively from Iraq, the former Yugoslavia and Nigeria. He is currently a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute. Scahill lives in Brooklyn, New York, USA. His article, published as "Bush's Shadow Army" in The Nation on 2 April 2007, is adapted from his new book, Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army (Nation Books, 2007). For more information on the book, visit http:/Awww.blackwaterbook.com. 16 = NEXUS JUNE — JULY 2007 "Private forces are almost a www.nexusmagazine.com