Since September 11th 2001 private companies have been making hay providing intelligence services in the U.S., but now Congress is demanding cut backs to something described as not quite a “revolving door” the Washington Post reports (8/6/2007). According to the CIA boss private contractors account for one third of the CIA workforce, but he admits that their work is “not efficiently managed”. Nevertheless people searching for a profitable return for their investment look to such companies which are showing huge increases in dividends thanks to sizeable government contracts> in many cases their managers will have influential friends in the Pentagon, people like Donald Rumsfeld, the architect of much of post 7/11 policy.
A “revolving door” seems to me just what private contractors have at the expense of tax payers. In Iraq workers live in luxury apartments rather different to the more basic provisions for the armed forces. The mercenary forces (for that’s what many private personnel are) are paid rather better: many were formerly members of the armed services.

This is true of former UK soldiers to, including highly trained former SAS personnel. A petition has been placed on the 10 Downing Street website. It deserves support!