Contractors are big business and a big part of war, with
businesses taking upon themselves many tasks previously designated
to the armed forces. By 2007, there were over 100,000 individuals
working on U.S. contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan-versus about
160,000 U.S. combat troops. By some estimates, contractors account
for some 40 percent of the costs of running operations.
This important work examines how that came to be, as well as
answering a number of critical questions: How have Congress, public
interest groups, and other parties dealt with the issue? How is the
marketplace affecting the American way of war? What impact will
this have on force structure? How will the growing involvement of
the private sector influence such matters as the all-volunteer
force and the procurement and maintenance of advanced warfighting
systems?
The emergent role of contractors on the battlefield reflects a
deeply significant transition in the nature of armed conflict, a
significant rebalancing between the roles of the private and public
sectors. This change is the most significant upheaval in the nature
of warfare since the rise of the nation-state in the 17th century.
It represents a transformation started long before the invasion of
Iraq and, absent a dramatic change in the evolution of the global
marketplace, it will continue to increase, regardless of the course
of American domestic politics. Government will have to change to
keep up.
Understanding why the private sector has come to play such a
prominent role in public wars requires tracing a story as torturous
and, at times, mysterious as the search for the Holy Grail, a tale
filled with deceit, greed, courage, selflessness, stupidity,
misdirection, and myth. It includes following a winding path from
Medieval Tuscan hills, to England, to colonial America, to the
sands of Iwo Jima and of Iraq, the mountains of Afghanistan, the
corridors of Wall Street, and the halls of the Pentagon. It demands
walking through the cross sections of military, political, social,
cultural, economic, intellectual, and business history. At the end
of the journey lies the unvarnished truth about contractors in
combat. That is the story "Private Sector, Public Wars" means to
tell.
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