US Pays Millions In Cost Overruns For Security in Iraq

More profiteering, I know, you're as shocked as I am. It is nice to have our taxypayer money going to British firms that deal in war instead of healthcare for American children. Yeah, that makes sense...

The U.S. military has paid $548 million over the past three years to two British security firms that protect the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on reconstruction projects, more than $200 million over the original budget, according to previously undisclosed data that show how the cost of private security in Iraq has mushroomed.

The two companies, Aegis Defence Services and Erinys Iraq, signed their original Defense Department contracts in May 2004. By July of this year, the contracts supported a private force that had grown to about 2,000 employees serving the Corps of Engineers. The force is about the size of three military battalions.