1. …there were approximately 137,000 contractors working for the Pentagon in its region. There were 113,376 in Afghanistan and 7,336 in Iraq. Of that total, 40,110 were U.S. citizens, 50,560 were local hires, and 46,231 were from neither the U.S. not the country in which they were working.

    Put simply, there are more contractors than U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

    — from Time magazine’s Battleland blog. These contractors are set to stay in Afghanistan long after U.S. troops leave. (via govtoversight)

    (via voluntaryexchange)