WASHINGTON (PAN): Afghanistan has more people working as contractors with the US Defence Department than the men in uniform, a Congressional document has revealed.
In its latest report on Afghanistan and Iraq, the Congressional Research Service has said Afghanistan now has the highest ratio of contractors to troops than any prior military engagement in the US history.
According to the report obtained by Pajhwok Afghan News, as of March 1, 2009, there were as many as 68,197 contractors in Afghanistan, compared to 52,300 uniformed personnel. The number could be much higher if contractors from other US agencies are taken into account.
Contractors made up to 57 percent of the Defence Department workforce in Afghanistan, it said. "This apparently represented the highest recorded percentage of contractors used by DoD in any conflict in the history of the United States."
Some analysts and Defence Department officials believe the higher percentage of contractors in Afghanistan is partially a result of contractors providing some services to the more than 30,000 international forces that are part of ISAF.
According to the report, a majority of the contractors are Afghan nationals, accounting for 75 percent of the total workforce. "As of March 2009, of the approximately 68,000 contractors in Afghanistan, 9,378 are US citizens, 7,043 are third-country nationals and 51,776 are local nationals."
lkj/mud
