Death Toll for Contractors Reaches New High in Iraq (NYT)

[Eugene]

Source: New York Times

Death Toll for Contractors Reaches New High in Iraq

By JOHN M. BRODER and JAMES RISEN
Published: May 19, 2007

WASHINGTON, May 18 — Casualties among private contractors in
Iraq have soared to record levels this year, setting a pace that seems
certain to turn 2007 into the bloodiest year yet for the civilians who
work alongside the American military in the war zone, according to
new government numbers.

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.

The numbers, which have not been previously reported, disclose the
extent to which contractors — Americans, Iraqis and workers from
more than three dozen other countries — are largely hidden casualties
of the war, and now are facing increased risks alongside American
soldiers and marines as President Bush’s plan to increase troop levels
in Baghdad takes hold.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/19/world/middleeast/19contractors.html

[Old and In the Way]

1. Good luck with that hydrocarbon law and getting foreign workers/managers to

run the oil business that you want to steal. Cheney was dead wrong about the Iraqi's welcoming us with open arms and Wolfie was wrong about future generations of Iraqi's signing songs of thanks to the American occupiers. Looks like they'll be having a hard time finding foreign civilians to run their oil empire, too.

Looks like Cheney's $2 Trillion dollar investment in the hostile takeover of Iraqi National Oil and their $10TT oil assets might never be realized....