Report: Hundreds of millions in U.S. cost overuns for 2,000 'security contractors'

Above: Private 'security contractors' employed by Erinys Iraq in Baghdad to protect reconstruction projects.

The U.S. military has paid $548 million over the past three years to two British security firms that protect the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on reconstruction projects, more than $200 million over the original budget, according to previously undisclosed data that show how the cost of private security in Iraq has mushroomed.

The two companies, Aegis Defence Services and Erinys Iraq, signed their original Defense Department contracts in May 2004. By July of this year, the contracts supported a private force that had grown to about 2,000 employees serving the Corps of Engineers. The force is about the size of three military battalions.

U.S. officials and company representatives attributed the overruns to the cost of protecting a largely civilian workforce amid an escalating insurgency, as Corps of Engineers commanders demanded more manpower and increasingly expensive armor to guard their field staff.

"To pay a man or a woman to come over here, put the vest on every day and escort military and civilians around the theater, knowing that people want to blow them up and kill them, you gotta pay to get that level of dedication," said Col. Douglas P. Gorgoni, senior finance officer for the Corps of Engineers in Iraq.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

Related Link:
Report: 168 more join force of 2,000 Ugandan 'security contractors' in Iraq

Related Link:
Perspective: A very private war

Related Link:
State Department contract for Iraq 'helicopter services' could reach $500 million over 5 years

Related Link:
Report: Iraqi VP Abdul-Mahdi hid details of killing of bodyguard by Blackwater contractor; Employee was flown back to U.S.

Related Link:
Report: Private contractors outnumber U.S. troops in Iraq

Related Link:
Perspective: Iraq 'contractors' face growing parallel war

Related Link:
Judge halts award of Iraq 'security' contract

Related Link:
Blackwater 'contractors' engage Iraqi security forces

Related Link:
State Department hires DynCorp to recruit U.S. border agents to work in Iraq

Related Link:
Labor Department: 146 contract workers killed this year, at least 917 total; 12,000 wounded or injured

Related Link:
U.S. House Panel Puts Iraq Contractor Abuse Claims ‘On the Record’

Related Link:
Blackwater files protest over Army 'security' contract

Related Link:
Opinion (Jeremy Scahill): Corporate warriors

Related Link:
Speaker: 'Private contractor' to protect Iraq parliament

Related Link:
Report: Pentagon sees experience in El Salvador as fallback option if 'surge' fails

Related Link:
Opinion (Yuram Weiler): The dangers of private armies

Related Link:
Report: UK to send mercenaries for 'post-occupation' phase

Related Link:
Reversing denials, Pentagon says Blackwater mercenary contract hidden in Halliburton deal

Related Link:
Perspective: Our mercenaries in Iraq

Related Link:
Petraeus: Mercenaries vital part of effort

Related Link:
Perspective: Contractor's war role debated

Related Link:
War Stories: Working as a 'hired gun' in Iraq

Related Link:
DynCorp gets extension to train police officers in Iraq