E Pluribus Unum

I'm going to tell you something you don't know:

[T]he total number of contractors killed in Iraq [is] at least 917, along with more than 12,000 wounded in battle or injured on the job, according to government figures and dozens of interviews.

The numbers, which have not been previously reported, disclose the extent to which contractors — Americans, Iraqis and workers from more than three dozen other countries — are largely hidden casualties of the war, and now are facing increased risks alongside American soldiers and marines as President Bush’s plan to increase troop levels in Baghdad takes hold. ...

BTW, the term "contractor" can refer to anyone from a truck driver to a soldier of fortune..and anyone in between. I don't know how much privatization there was in previous US wars, but this sounds new -- and especially deadly -- to me.