The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
July 28, 2009

Military May Expand Role of Contractors in Afghanistan
------------------------------------------------------



As President Obama escalates the presence of US troops in Afghanistan,
the military may hire a private contractor to provide full-time security
at dozens of bases there and protect vehicle convoys traveling in the
country. The Army published a notice on July 10 notifying security
contractors that it was considering a contract for “theater-wide”
security. Robert Gates has called private contractors “vital” to
supporting US bases in Afghanistan, contradicting earlier claims that he
intended to decrease their presence in US military operations and
despite continued controversy over the conduct of private contractors in
Iraq.



.