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Government lawyers said a major law to fight contractor fraud applies to contracts issued by the Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran Iraq from shortly after the 2003 invasion until it handed over power to an interim Iraqi government last June.

Halliburton is launching an ad campaign featuring real employees as the government services contractor faces lawsuits claiming that a truck convoy ambushed by insurgents April 9, 2004, was used as a decoy to draw attention away from another group delivering fuel.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who chairs the armed services subcommittee that oversees Army and Air Force programs, said he had serious concerns about the suitability of an "other transaction authority," or OTA, as the contract vehicle for the Future Combat Systems, noting Congress approved such agreements for small research or limited prototype projects, especially those intended to attract nontraditional defense contractors.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute says the rapid growth in private sector firms supporting military operations has worked well. From logistics to paramilitary security, the private sector is increasingly playing a critical role on the battlefield.

If the World Bank's board had applied the same kind of "due diligence" to Paul Wolfowitz that they purport to apply to major development projects, they might have uncovered a significant conflict-of-interest that could have led them to rethink their embrace of the architect of the Iraq war.

Based on a review of recently distributed federal-procurement documents, the U.S. government is actively soliciting the help of mercenaries whose sole function will be to locate and rescue missing or captured Drug War personnel.

When U.S. service members are accused of wrongdoing, they are investigated and, if necessary, court-martialed. That's not the case with civilians. Dozens of U.S. and British soldiers have been prosecuted for misconduct in Iraq - but not a single contractor.

Those throwing conniption fits over the United Nations' failure of oversight on Iraqi oil revenues might want to meditate a bit on the role of the U.S. government in all this before they further embarrass themselves denouncing perfidious foreigners.

 MARK COLVIN: War today isn't just about privates; it's also about privatisation.

The use of private contractors on the battlefield has been a distinctive element of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Benzene vapors concern officials a week after the Texas City disaster