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CACI insists its workers were always subject to the military chain of command, and notes that it has been cleared of any wrongdoing and continues to hold government contracts. It has called the lawsuit "frivolous."

"CACI personnel were never in charge of military personnel in Iraq," the company said in a statement. "Civilian contractors do not give orders to military personnel."

But some experts say that focusing on the chain of command misses the more important issue.

"Most people, including many people in the military, find it stunning to turn over an integral, mission-critical role like interrogation in a military prison to a private contractor," said Singer.

The United States is not only reliant on private contractors for work overseas, but also at home. This year the government will spend 275 billion dollars -- more than 10 percent of the federal budget -- on contracts to carry out its daily business.
In his book 'The True Size of Government', Paul Light of the Brookings Institution estimates the federal budget funds a "shadow government" of nearly 12 million contractors, about one-half of them in defense That means contractors outnumber civil servants and military personnel by two to one.

And as the military has trouble finding young people to sign up during wartime, and some seasoned troops leave for far more lucrative jobs in the private sector, Pentagon officials expect the role of contractors to expand further.

Brian Hilferty, a spokesperson for Lt Gen Franklin L Hagenbeck, the Army's top personnel officer, told IPS that private contractors would also be used to recruit new soldiers.
As the use of contractors grows, so does the cost of U.S. occupation. Last week Congress approved an additional 25 billion dollars for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and seven percent more for the rest of the Pentagon's programs, in a 417.5-billion-dollar defense bill.

In a victory for the Pentagon, legislators backed down on language requiring the military to reveal the private security contractors it hires for work in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay (a prison for detainees in President George W Bush's "war on terrorism") in Cuba.

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