Since the Cold War ended, a downsized U.S. military has increasingly turned to private contractors to fill positions once held by military personnel. In U.S.-occupied Iraq, most of the jobs involve logistical support, but several thousand contractors also work as armed security guards or help interrogate Iraqi prisoners. The privatization trend went largely unnoticed until April, when insurgents in Fallujah murdered four civilian security guards and burned and mutilated their bodies. Soon afterwards, at least two contract interrogators were implicated in prisoner abuses at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison. The incidents have renewed questions about the effectiveness and legal status of private contractors operating in war zones and the wisdom of the Pentagon's increasing reliance on private contractors. Supporters of privatization say the military's use of contractors saves taxpayers money and improves efficiency by freeing up soldiers for strictly combat operations.

Mary H. Cooper specializes in environmental, energy and defense issues. Before joining CQ Researcher as a staff writer in 1983, she was a reporter and Washington correspondent for the Rome daily newspaper l'Unita. She is the author of The Business of Drugs (CQ Press, 1990). She also is a contract translator-interpreter for the U.S. State Department. Cooper graduated from Hollins College in English.