BlackFive

Let the anti Contractor/antiPMC/Halliburton/Blackwater/Xe/TripleCanopy/KBR/DynCorp  et al screaming reach a new cresendo.

In place of 'boots on the ground,' US seeks contractors for Iraq

Wary of putting combat troops in Iraq, the U.S. government is gauging contractors’ interest in advising the Iraqi Defense Ministry and Counter Terrorism Service in a range of capacities, including force development, logistics and planning and operations.

The cynical will see this as naked wordplay to do what is needed without doing what is needed.  And of course, the advantage of using contractors is that, should anything go haywire, they can be ignored, denied, or flat out left hanging.  

For those of you interested, there has been some professional writing done on the subject, such as 

this

this

and this from TX Hammes

Here's another story on same theme:  Contractors In Iraq?

<Those of us who've seen the classic movie "The Wild Geese" will know that leaving contractors (mercaneries if that is your preferred term) to twist in the wind with the change of political (or business) priority is a bad idea. >