Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 4. September 2007 / Timeline September 4, 2007
Version 3.53. September 2007, 5. September 2007
09/04/2007
Schakowsky uncovers 1,001 contractor deaths in Iraq
http://www.house.gov/list/press/il09_schakowsky/pr_contractordeaths_080607.shtml
Washington, D.C.-U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
announced that over 1,000 contractors have been killed in Iraq
since the war began in March 2003. Congresswoman Schakowsky
obtained this information after contacting the U.S. Department of
Labor to request the latest numbers on contractor injuries and
deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. Under the Defense Base Act, claims
for deaths and injuries for employees of federal government
contractors are filed with the Department of Labor, which had
received 1,001 death claims as of June 30, 2007. Schakowsky
released the following statement in response to this news.
"This is a sad, but significant milestone. Until now, the American
people have largely been kept in the dark about the true costs of
the war in Iraq. Although most of these contractors are Americans,
the Department of Defense refuses to include their deaths in the
total number of U.S. causalities in Iraq. The Pentagon has reported
that 3,668 Americans have died in Iraq when in actuality that
number is much higher.
I asked the Department of Labor for this information because the
American people deserve to know how many Americans have been
injured or lost their lives in Iraq. Sadly, hundreds of American
families are grieving over the loss of their loved ones while our
government fails to publicly acknowledge their service and
sacrifice.
The American people are not getting the full story about the role
and scope of military contractors in Iraq. Under current law,
Congress can't even get a straight answer from the Pentagon about
how many contractors are operating inside of Iraq, and yet the
American taxpayer is expected to foot the bill. According to some
estimates, there are as many as a 100,000 military contractors
operating inside Iraq.
I have been working to provide transparency and oversight to an
industry with little oversight. The use of private contractors
deployed with U.S. military personnel overseas, in particular armed
security-contractors, remains one of the biggest grey areas of the
entire war effort. My bill, H.R. 897, the Iraq and Afghanistan
Contractor Sunshine Act, would let Congress get information about
private contracts and require reporting of contractor injuries and
deaths. I am determined to get to the bottom of this issue so that
the American people can understand the full extent and true costs
of this war."
In May 2007, the House unanimously passed a contracting oversight
amendment offered by U.S. Representatives Schakowsky and Price
(D-NC) to the Defense Authorization Bill. The amendment would
create a database to collect descriptions contracts, including the
value of the contracts, amount of overhead spent, total number of
personnel employed on the contracts and other general information.
The Schakowsky/Price Amendment will make certain that Members of
Congress will have access to this database and that they can
request to view individual contracts. Currently, Congress is unable
to provide oversight of these contracts because they do not have
access to them.
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