Despite recent warnings about unchecked fraud and abuse associated with wartime contracting, the number of private contractors and the costs associated with them are set to dramatically increase in the coming transition from the military to the State Department in Iraq and Afghanistan
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, estimated that the State Department is set to increase its manpower in Iraq and Afghanistan from 8,000 to 17,000 — the great majority of whom will be contractors for security, medical, maintenance, aviation, and other functions.
The surge of wartime contractors comes after the Commission on Wartime Contracting issued its final report in late August that estimated that some $31 billion to $60 billion has been lost to contract waste and fraud.
“The waste and fraud associated with these expenditures is mind numbing,” Issa said Tuesday during a hearing to examine the Commission’s findings. “The State Department is building a virtual private army of security contractors in Iraq.”
Issa estimated that as many as 5,500 new private security contractors will be necessary to protect and operate the U.S. Embassy and its facilities and functions throughout Iraq.
In Afghanistan, the number of civilian employees, drawn from departments such as State, Treasury, Justice and Agriculture, has tripled since 2009 – rising from more than 300 to 1,040 as of June, 2011. Supporting and protecting this additional staff will require continued use of private contractors.
“Contracting reform is an essential, not a luxury good,” said Robert Henke, a member of the Commission on Wartime Contracting. “Whatever form it takes, there will be a next contingency.”
“The government would be foolish to ignore the lessons of the past decade and refuse to prepare for better use of contracting resources,” Henke continued. “But once the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan recede into the past, it will be all too easy to put off taking action.”
President Obama, Issa said, needs to fulfill his promise to crackdown on wartime contracting waste and abuse, but instead the U.S. is becoming more reliant on contractors.
“This record will continue unless this administration takes concrete actions to protect precious taxpayer dollars,” Issa said. “The United States has not achieved the peace dividend that this administration promised by doubling down in Afghanistan.”
