It can't be good news that several private security companies are now withdrawing from their contracts in Iraq due to safety concerns. This will admittedly hurt our troops (these companies often provide support, logistics, etc.) but Iraq's reconstruction as well. But what has been shocking in the news reports is just how many private contractors have died in Iraq, a number not reflected in the overall casualty count. 

Outsourcing war has always posed considerable problems; there is little accountability (i.e. in interrogation tactics), and merging public goods with private bottom lines is often not a good mix. Certainly, enough has been written on no-bid contracts and the ever scary Halliburton.

But, one of the main problems with outsourcing seems to me that we can put people in harms way, with their consent and a fuller wallet, for a public (meaning, governmental) cause and yet their death isn't even mentioned as part of the overall rate. Technically, of course, it shouldn't; they are not part of the military. But, there is something slightly insulting to them to not publicly acknowledge their fate, in some way. It also relieves the Defense Department from having to actually say what is the truth in Iraq: without outsourcing, we would need to demand more from our military, a demand we either can't face or don't want to disclose to the American public.

So, finally, only after their departure, we learn that one company -- Bechtel -- has lost 52 employees. 52. That's not an insignificant number, and this is only one company.

It's a troubling number, and perhaps someone has added all such deaths up. It's just worth noting that as we watch the military death count go up, and the Iraq death count skyrocket, there are those who also chose to assist the war effort who did not return.