Hightower Lowdown

Alongside the 68,000 men and women in uniform whom our nation has committed to Afghanistan, an even larger army is deployed. It's a private army of military contractors, amounting to, on average, 65% of the total Pentagon force in Afghanistan during the past two years--the highest level of contractors used as military support in America's long history of war.

These private employees provide everything from military logistics to security, and they mostly do the job. But some have performed shamefully, undermining the mission and credibility of our soldiers.

Which raises the question of why the Pentagon has made the military dependent on them--especially on so many of them. The corporations--from Blackwater to Wackenhut--are not there for patriotism, but for profit. They get huge contracts, often through no-bid sweetheart deals, and they suffer little punish