Will Obama Expand Afghan War Contractor Force? Gibbs Says He’ll Look Into It

Robert Gibbs
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Now that we know there are 104,100 private contractors who make the war in Afghanistan possible, TPMDC put the question to Robert Gibbs this morning: will the Obama Administration expand that contractor force, as it sends 30,000 more troops?

Gibbs told our Christina Bellantoni this morning that he isn’t sure, but will try to find out.

“Let me try to get some guidance on that,” Gibbs said. “I don’t know that there was an extensive discussion about that, but let me go back and see.”

It wouldn’t be particularly surprising if there was no extensive discussion of the topic — various government entities don’t even agree on how many contractors are operating in the country. Experts told TPMmuckraker, however, that the ranks of contractors, who provide security and a range of logistcal services, will almost definitely grow as Obama ramps up the war.

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