When Most U.S. Forces Leave Afghanistan, Contractors May Stay
Should the Afghan government sign a security agreement, the U.S. plans to keep between 6,000 and 9,000 American troops in Afghanistan even after the U.S. and NATO's combat mission officially ends late in 2014.
Beginning in 2015, the remaining troops would train Afghan soldiers and mount operations against any remnants of al-Qaida.
But they wouldn't be the only ones who stay behind: U.S. troops would almost certainly be outnumbered by civilian contractors.
Ever since the U.S. ramped up its forces in Afghanistan in 2007, during the Bush administration, the contracting force has grown at an even faster clip.
In December 2007, there were 25,000 American troops, compared to 36,000 contractors.
In March of this year, the number of U.S. troops stood at about 66,000 — supported by a contracting force of 108,000.
Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, monitors military spending. "The contractors are there doing jobs to support the troops and those jobs in previous wars were often done by other troops," he says.
Gone are the days when soldiers suffered through kitchen duty or cleaned latrines. Now those jobs are being done by young contractors from places like Sri Lanka.
"It's not very cost effective to recruit people and put them in a career job in the military and then have them peel potatoes," Harrison says.
The U.S. has spent hundreds of billions of dollars in Afghanistan, a lot of that paying for contracts. Because there's no final decision on the number of U.S. troops, it's hard to know how many contractors will be needed after 2014.
Officials expect that the U.S. will maintain a presence at Bagram Air Field, a sprawling facility north of Kabul. And American training teams will likely be spread around at Afghan bases throughout the country.
Harrison says operating in Afghanistan has consistently cost twice as much as in Iraq. Part of the reason is Afghanistan lacked decent roads and buildings and bridges before the Americans invaded in 2001.
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