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No private contractors have so far faced prosecution despite their implication in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq, according to a new Pentagon report.

The Labour Ministry's overseas employment officer Ismael Kargbo declined to reveal the name of the company, but said the government had contracted a wage of roughly $100 per month for each of the workers, plus perks such as free international telephone calls.

With little experience, a tiny company owned by Sunnye Sims was asked to help set up and run screener assessment centers in a hurry at more than 150 hotels and other facilities. Her company eventually billed $24 million.

Rebuilding Iraq is seen by the Bush administration as a major foreign policy priority but three U.S. government reports released this week -- the latest on Sunday -- indicate ambitious reconstruction goals are falling short.

Deaths of Iraqis and foreigners working for U.S. companies in Iraq are increasing more rapidly than American contractor deaths as insurgents target reconstruction projects, according to a Pentagon inspector.

The United States risks having "little to show for billions" of dollars spent on Iraqi reconstruction because of rising security costs and mismanagement, a new report said.

The U.S. military has hired private companies at a cost approaching $1 billion to help dispose of Saddam Hussein's arsenal in Iraq. That spending has created fierce competition for specialized workers that's draining the military's ranks of explosives experts. Experienced military explosives specialists can earn $250,000 a year or more,

Efforts to rebuild water, electricity and health networks in Iraq are being shortchanged by higher-than-expected costs to provide security and by generous financial awards to contractors, according to a series of reports by government investigators.

Why are commandos leaving the military? Many officials say the cause is the hiring of skilled operators by private security firms that are protecting contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If hired, the Colombians would join a swelling population of heavily armed private military forces working in Iraq who are seeking higher wages in dangerous jobs and what some critics say is a troubling result of efforts by the U.S. to "outsource" its operations in Iraq and other countries.

Stuart Bowen finds poor controls and waste in reconstruction.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Police have moved in to disband protesters opposing construction of a gas fired power generator and pipeline in Somerton, a Melbourne neighborhood. The demonstrators, from Friends of the Earth Melbourne, say the generator will destroy the fragile ecosystem of the Merri Creek today and over the weekend.

A growing number of civilian employees of U.S. companies contracting with the military have come home wounded - both physically and psychologically - by their on-the-job experiences in Iraq.

Our soldiers are hired from within the citizenry, unlike the hated Hessians whom George III recruited to fight against the American Revolutionaries. But like those Hessians, today's volunteers sign up for some mighty dangerous work largely for wages and benefits - a compensation package that may not always be commensurate with the dangers in store, as current recruiting problems testify.

Mazin al Nashi's worries escalated when he learned that the fledgling Iraqi insurgency had put a $250,000 bounty on the heads of interpreters. He had never received any body armor from Titan.

Mazin al Nashi's worries escalated when he learned that the fledgling Iraqi insurgency had put a $250,000 bounty on the heads of interpreters. He had never received any body armor from Titan.

Bechtel Group Inc. agreed to sell its equity in the troubled Dabhol power project for $160 million, according to people involved in the transaction, edging India closer to ending a four-year dispute that has plagued its efforts to boost foreign investment.

Guard recruiters find themselves in a "bidding war" for highly skilled service veterans, who are being offered lucrative contracts to work as private security contractors in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.