by David Phinney

Oct. 24, 2007 — Taking the stance that the U.S. is fighting a war in Iraq with more private contractors than military personnel with a ratio estimated at around 180,000 contractors to 160,000 uniformed personnel, Reuters columnist Bernd Debusmann dishes up his realistic analysis:

Even if there were political will to stop using civilians for roles previously carried out by the military, it would take years to reverse a relentless trend towards outsourcing that began with the end of the Cold War and has accelerated since.

Here’s the Reuters column.
Meanwhile, The New York Times weighs in with a review of the US State Department’s explosive reliance on outsourcing in troubled spots: State Department Use of Contractors Leaps in 4 Years.

The amount of money the State Department pays to private security and law enforcement contractors has soared to nearly $4 billion a year from $1 billion…..