Sunday, July 24, 2011 – According to reports, some $34 billion has been wasted by the United States on service contracts with the private sector in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to a report issued by Reuters, The money waste has been mentioned in a study that is being finalized for Congress.
The findings by a bipartisan congressional commission were confirmed to Reuters by a person familiar with the draft of the study, which is due to be completed in coming weeks.
The most complete look so far at the misuse of US contracting funds in Afghanistan and Iraq show that more than $200 billion has been doled out in the contracts and grants over nearly a decade.
This has been highlighted in the analysis by the Commission on War Crime Contracting and the details were previously reported by the Wall Street Journal.
It is believed to depict a full image of the US contracting workforce magnitude in Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to a source who has provided information based on anonymity has said, more than 200,000 contractors have been on the US payroll at times in Iraq and Afghanistan
There are fewer than 100,000 US troops in Afghanistan and some 46,000 forces in Iraq.
The source further added, the tally of private sector contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan can be surprisingly difficult to obtain since many US contractors are outsourced to subcontractors who depend on temporary labour.
The report has blamed federal agencies for a lack of oversight on misuse of funds.
It has warned of further waste when the programmes are transferred to Iraqi or Afghan control as the United States pulls out its forces.
The United States is to withdraw all of its forces from Iraq by the end of the year and has also started Afghan drawdown recently.
