Contract with America: The Other Warriors

According to the Washington Post, "Private security companies, funded by billions of dollars in U.S. military and State Department contracts, are fighting insurgents on a widening scale in Iraq, enduring daily attacks, returning fire and taking hundreds of casualties that have been underreported and sometimes concealed, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials and company representatives." To those contractors who will not be home for Father's Day, be safe.

Security contractors employed by private companies are fighting a parallel war in Iraq. The buildup of this private force, which guards convoys, sites and personnel, has mirrored the increase of U.S. troops.

SOURCE: Reconstruction Logistics Directorate of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | GRAPHIC: By Dita Smith, The Washington Post - June 16, 2007