The privatized war in Afghanistan

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From Facing South

Institute for Southern Studies

(Click on the number to go to the original source.)

  • Additional number of American troops President Obama plans to deploy to Afghanistan: 30,000
  • Total number of U.S. troops that will be there after the deployment: 98,000
  • Number of private contractors working for the U.S. in Afghanistan as of September 2009: 104,101
  • Percent by which that number grew between June and September: 40
  • Percent of the Defense Department’s workforce in Afghanistan accounted for by contractors: 57
  • Number of conflicts in U.S. history involving a higher percentage of contractors: 0
  • Percent of the U.S. presence on the ground during the Vietnam War accounted for by contractors: 13
  • Percent of the Defense Department’s 2008 budget devoted to contracts and grants: 82
  • Estimated value of Defense Department contracts in Afghanistan awarded to Texas-based Fluor and Virginia’s DynCorp: $7.5 billion
  • Amount Fluor’s PAC contributed to federal candidates in 2008: $305,499
  • Amount DynCorp’s PAC contributed to federal candidates in 2008: $51,999
  • Date on which a financial analyst announced that Fluor and DynCorp  stood to benefit from deployment of additional troops to Afghanistan: 12/2/2009
  • Amount by which Fluor’s share prices rose in that afternoon’s trading: 33 cents
  • Amount by which DynCorp’s share prices rose: 30 cents
  • Month in which DynCorp disclosed in a regulatory filing that it had made payments to expedite visas and licenses, potentially violating the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: 11/2009
  • The estimated total for these illegal payments: $300,000
  • Date on which an investigation was announced on behalf of DynCorp investors over possible securities law violations by the company: 12/3/2009
  • Value of a U.S. contract with DynCorp to train Iraqi police that federal auditors said was so mismanaged they were unable to determine how the money was spent: $1.2 billion
  • Year in which the U.S. Commission on Wartime Contracting is scheduled to release a comprehensive study of contracting in war zones: 2011