The war in Iraq couldn't be fought without contractors. Contractors keep the infrastructure and equipment running. Contractors keep the troops fed and the vehicles fueled. Contractors operate logistics convoys.

Contractors die.

In fact, according to a report in the NYT, contractors die a lot:

At least 146 contract workers were killed in Iraq in the first three months of the year, by far the highest number for any quarter since the war began in March 2003, according to the Labor Department, which processes death and injury claims for those working as United States government contractors in Iraq.

That brings the total number of contractors killed in Iraq to at least 917, along with more than 12,000 wounded in battle or injured on the job, according to government figures and dozens of interviews.  Broder and Risen, New York Times, 19 May

 I believe that this is an under estimate.

These contractors may profit from their work, but that is different from war profiteering.  The folks on the ground are actually risking their lives.  All of the American contractors I met had a common goal:  to help our soldiers.  It isn't all about money.

Rather than applauding our fellow citizens who are willing to do nasty, dangerous work in support of our troops, the country and our leadership are generally either silent or hostile (Blackwater, Halliburton, etc etc).   I can tell you it feels really shitty to come back to dismissive talk about how much money I must be making, as if that were the point.  In my case, I had all the money I needed before, and have somewhat more now; it wasn't about money.  

There are plenty of people who wouldn't go for any price, and for good reason:  you can very easily die. 

There are real people over there really risking their lives to help our troops, and this should be applauded.  

I just returned from Iraq for the second time this year. I live with and work with soldiers - I am not there as an observer or a VIP. Things have changed.

Violence in some provinces is down significantly. I attribute this to the arming of Sunni tribal auxiliaries. Many tribals seem to have decided that Al Qaeda is more of a threat to their well being than the US. I would like to make three points on this strategy:

-- the fact that violence is down significantly gives the lie to the notion that anti-Coalition violence is due to Jihadis, foreign or domestic. In my opinion, violence is down because locals that were killing us before have taken our money and weapons to deal with a threat TO THEM that is both more serious and more manageable - Jihadis who kill people if their beards are too short and who disrupt traditional power structures (shaiks and tribes).

-- We are now arming both sides of the sectarian conflict, and that will come back to haunt us. Anbar is totally Sunni, so giving weapons to Sunni shaiks to deal with AQ doesn't affect the Sunni/Shia balance of forces in contested areas. Giving those same weapons to Sunni shaiks in areas of sectarian conflict does alter the balance of power. We should expect a bloody anti-American reaction from the Shia. We should also expect the sectarian conflict to grow in scope and violence once the "near enemy" of AQ has been eliminated.

-- Soldiers do not like giving weapons to people that they know were shooting at them the previous month and that are likely to shoot at them again once they have regained control of their territory. The people we are arming do not like us. This is quite demoralizing - the soldiers have to worry about their Iraqi "friends" as well as their many enemies.

Now to some more general observations.

It seems to me that indirect fire (mortars, rockets, etc) attacks on our bases are up significantly. As these harrassing attacks are essentially random, it is hard to worry about them, but the sense of danger for people on FOBs (forward operating bases) is up significantly. In the case of the Green Zone (IZ), I personally wouldn't live there unless quartered in a bunker and working in a bomb proof area. Yes, it is that bad.

I was struck by the truly crappy living conditions for many of our soldiers. These have gotten much worse as we have moved them out to smaller bases and patrol posts. It is 110+ degrees in Iraq. It is extremely dusty and sandy. It is a very unpleasant place. Why, 4 years into an occupation, do our soldiers have to live in such horrendous conditions? I visited several FOBS where the soldiers live in tents in the desert. This just should not be, in my opinion.

Finally, I am enraged at the lack of recognition of the effort being made by contractors to support our troops in the field. This is truly invisible sacrifice. We tend to want to think that because contractors are paid, it is venality that puts them in the war zone. We tend to think that because Halliburton and KBR are making pots of money that somehow all their employees are motivated by obscene profit.

I am here to tell you that this is untrue. Sure, they make better money, but they work long hours in very difficult and dangerous conditions to make that money. Over 1000 contractors have died in Iraq. They do not do this just for the money - they are ex-soldiers for the most part, helping their buddies stay alive.

What enrages me is that this effort, in starkest contrast to that of the troops, is consistently denigrated or unreported. Denigration: somehow every contractor is an immoral war profiteer. Under-reported: more than 1000 dead and presumably thousands more casualties. I truly believe that the country ought to thank those folks for their service. This is not inconsistent with despising KBR or Halliburton - love the team, hate the coach.