U.S. Oversight Of War-Zone Contractors Called Weak

Private security guards pose on a Baghdad rooftop in September 2007. Radio Free Europe

US Oversight Of War-Zone Contractors Labeled Weak -- Stars And Stripes/AP

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama pledged nearly two years ago to fix the broken system of awarding and managing federal contracts. But a new report paints a grim picture of the government's reliance on the private sector for support in war zones and urges a series of reforms to prevent more U.S. tax dollars from being wasted.

The Commission on Wartime Contracting concluded that the use of hired hands has become a "default option," pointing to the estimated $177 billion spent since 2001 on contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a draft of the report expected to be released Thursday.

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My Comment: now that is what I call an understatement.