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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.
Iraqi workers, particularly the oil workers, are overwhelmingly opposed to any plans to privatise their country's oil industry.
Privacy advocates and anti-war campaigners in the US are outraged at revelations that the Defense Department and a private contractor have been building an extensive database of 30 million 16-to-25-year-olds to assist military recruiters.
An ultra-secretive network rules independent oil trading. Its mentor: Marc Rich
The Pentagon expects to complete the conversion of Lockheed Martin Corp.'s $4.1 billion C-130J cargo aircraft contract into a more highly regulated defense contract.
THE HAGUE -- In sharp contrast to the formal climate negotiations, representatives of communities affected by the fossil fuel industry, countries threatened by global warming's rising tides and grassroots groups working for international environmental justice opened the First Climate Justice Summit today.
L-3 Communications has landed a contract with the U.S. Army to provide "intelligence support services in Iraq" worth up to $426 million, another sign that the eight-year-old defense contractor could be on the road to one day rivaling industry heavyweights like Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
The new order, which comes despite lingering questions about the company's past billing, replaces an earlier agreement that expired last June but had been extended through this spring to ensure a continuous supply of food, sanitation, laundry and other logistical services for the troops.
Private security contractors operate outside the military chain of command and are not subject to military law, which can lead to resentment and confusion in the field. Contractors, many of them veterans of years in combat, complain that young U.S. troops lack their experience and judgment under pressure. Yet each group cannot carry out its mission in a hostile Iraq without the other.
The lawsuit, the first to be brought against a foreign company since Saddam Hussein was removed from power in 2003, threatens to discourage other investors from spending money in Iraq, further slowing reconstruction efforts since the war.
Two whistleblowers who allege that a Fairfax-based contractor cheated taxpayers out of tens of millions of dollars on reconstruction projects in Iraq can proceed with their lawsuit, a judge has ruled. But parts of the ruling could have negative consequences for those who file similar claims against other contractors, according to a lawyer for the whistleblowers.