The US military has failed to provide adequate oversight for tens of billions of dollars paid to private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, a congressional report has said.
The US government also has no central record of who the contractors are, what they do or how much they are paid, according to the Wartime Contracting Commission report.
"In short, the environment in Iraq and Afghanistan continues to be a place for waste, fraud and abuse," Michael Thibault, the co-chair of the commission, told the House Oversight and Government Reform's national security subcommittee on Wednesday.
The US military's dependence on private sector employees has now grown to "unprecedented proportions," the report added. More on Al Jazeera.