U.S. begins drawdown of Iraqi contractors

BAGHDAD, March 4 (UPI) -- U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, has ordered a cutback in the use of civilian contractors as the troop drawdown begins.

There are 150,000 contractors working for the U.S. military in Iraq, more than the total number of U.S. service personnel, The Christian Science Monitor reports. About 39,000 contractors are U.S. nationals, while 70,000 are from other countries, including Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Nepal, and the rest are Iraqi.

In his Jan. 31 directive, Odierno asked his commanders to substitute Iraqi employees for the contractors who do most of the housekeeping chores on U.S. bases.

"This initiative supports our desired end state of a stable, sovereign and prosperous Iraq," Odierno said. "It's the right thing to do, so let's move out."

Unemployment in Iraq remains high, estimated at 18 percent. More than one-quarter of young men in their 20s, the prime age for insurgent fighters, are believed to be "underemployed."

"Employment of Iraqis not only saves money but it also strengthens the Iraqi economy and helps eliminate the root causes of the insurgency -- poverty and lack of economic opportunity," Odierno said in the Monitor report.