Contractors' status in Iraq hits gray area

Sacramento Bee ^ | May 23, 2004 | James Rosen

[Cultural Jihad]

Contractors' status in Iraq hits gray area

By James Rosen -- Bee Washington Bureau
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, May 23, 2004

WASHINGTON - Less than three weeks after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal exploded, Army Spc. Jeremy Sivits has been convicted of wrongdoing, and six other soldiers face courts-martial.

All seven soldiers were cited by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba in his report on Abu Ghraib, but two others named and harshly criticized as likely playing key roles in the scandal have yet to be charged.

Steven Stefanowicz and John Israel are civilian contractors, part of a growing trend of nonmilitary personnel being sent in recent years to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and other hot spots to perform dangerous and increasingly sensitive missions once performed only by U.S. soldiers.

"Mercenaries have always existed," said Peter W. Singer, a Brookings Institution security analyst and author of "Corporate Warriors," a 2003 book on military outsourcing. "What's happening now is the government monopoly on military service is breaking down.

"The business relationship to war used to be supplying goods. Now, we're seeing companies performing traditional military services and filling basic military functions."

Stefanowicz is a former Naval Reserve petty officer who was sent to Iraq as an interrogator by CACI International Inc., an Arlington, Va., firm, according to Taguba's report. Israel, whose background is shrouded in mystery, was sent to Iraq as an interpreter by Titan Corp., a San Diego company, the report said.

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There are 50,000 private contractors in Iraq and Kuwait, nearly a quarter of U.S. personnel in the Persian Gulf region. Twenty thousand of the contractors work for 60 private security firms performing some of the most dangerous missions in the war.