In the Rear, with the Gear

The "subcontracting" of military supply and service functions began in earnest in the Reagan years--and has continued pretty much unabated since. The logic behind it (though I don't think any data exist to back that claim up) was that civilian contractors would be cheaper and more effective at peeling potatoes, doing laundry, cutting hair, delivering mail, driving supply trucks, and so on.

Well, that system is being put to the test in Iraq, and it's failing miserably. Civilian contractors, who aren't threatened with firing squads for deserting their jobs, are doing so. And I can't blame them. However, every truck driver who quits (especially in the middle of a supply run) means that soldiers and Marines don't get ammo and water and food, corpsmen and medics don't get medicines and bandages, hospitals don't get blood, vehicles don't get fuel, and so on.

The first sentence of the article makes you think that the big problem is the lag in "reconstruction projects." While it's true that those projects are suffering, it would seem that soldiers not getting ammunition and water would be a bigger story. But what do I know?