More Than A Division’s Worth Of Mercenaries In Iraq

Via Andrew Tilghman at TPMm, the Congressional Budget Office has identified over a division’s worth of private security contractors working in Iraq:

Total spending by the U.S. government and other contractors for security provided by contractors in Iraq from 2003 through 2007 was between $6 billion and $10 billion, CBO estimates. As of early 2008, approximately 25,000 to 30,000 employees of private security contractors were operating in Iraq. Those contractors worked for the U.S. government, the Iraqi government, other contractors, and other customers. private security contractors (PSCs).

Now, the report doesn’t break it down further. Just because someone’s an employee of a PSC doesn’t mean s/he’s performing mercenary quasi-combat functions. Could be a driver or something. But still — that’s a lot of private security contractors.