New figures show U.S. troops are now outnumbered by another force in Iraq: private contractors. According to the Los Angeles Times, there are more than 180,000 U.S.-paid private contractors in Iraq. That’s more than the number of U.S. troops and civilian government officials combined. Most of the contractors are Iraqis. Twenty-one thousand are Americans, and 43,000 from other countries. The number is likely higher because not all security contractors were counted in the total.