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The U.S. State Dept. is reaching out to independent contractors to train other private contractors who will be deployed as "civilian police" -- hired guns for so-called peacekeeping missions taking place in Haiti and other geopolitical hotspots. The senior adviser selected for the task "must oversee pre-deployment training currently being conducted" by Dyncorp International, Civilian Police International and Pacific Architects and Engineers/Homeland Security Corporation, according a recently released procurement document.

Advocates say Rendon helps fight propaganda from Islamic fundamentalists. Critics say the Pentagon's use of media firms such as Rendon blurs the line between public relations and propaganda.

Corporations carry out some of the most horrific human rights abuses of modern times, but it is increasingly difficult to hold them to account. Economic globalization and the rise of transnational corporate power have created a favorable climate for corporate human rights abusers, which are governed principally by the codes of supply and demand and show genuine loyalty only to their stockholders.

The federal response to Hurricane Katrina was a fiasco and, unfortunately, procurement was part of the problem. As time goes on, more and more contracting issues come to light.

The Pentagon expects to increasingly rely on contractors to advise Iraqi officials and train Iraqi security forces as U.S. troops are drawn down.

On Capitol Hill inquiries have been launched into everything from the Pentagon's use of prewar intelligence to bolster the case for the war to the Defense Department's reliance on public relations firms to shape the images and messages of war.

Six current and former employees of Best Buy filed a race- and sex-discrimination lawsuit Thursday against the consumer electronics chain in federal court in San Francisco, accusing it of denying better-paying sales and managerial jobs to African Americans, Latinos and women in favor of white men.

As the handover deadline approached, the US officials on the board had gone on a spending spree, directing billions from the Development Fund for Iraq to projects that were in many cases poorly planned or had already received substantial US taxpayer funding commitments.

"Is it putting the cash to the best use for the people of Iraq? Or is it still rewarding US companies with lucrative contracts?"

Austrade is refusing to release the identity of all Australian companies with reconstruction work, claiming many want details kept secret for security reasons. But last year, the Federal Government was more willing to reveal the identities of the companies.