Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Dead Contractors

For those who follow issues regarding overseas contractors, there's a new in-depth report on casualties and contingency contracting just published. A draft is available for reading. For the initiated, it's mostly familiar territory.

Dead Contractors (click the download link for PDF)
The Unexamined Effect of Surrogates on the Public's Casualty Sensitivity
By Steven L. Schooner & Colin D. Swan
Journal of National Security Law & Policy, forthcoming 2011
It's nice to see casualty data and a request for an honest debate on the role of contractors in US military operations all in one place. But given politics at home over the last ten years, an open and honest debate is unlikely to occur.

There's only a passing mention to missing personnel in some footnotes.

Defense Base Act Case Summary - page 48



My cynicism says nothing will change until the oxes are gored of those who wage war from behind their desk chairs .

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