All of the bit players we are paying for are soldiers in the Iraq war. Semantics be damned.
In a war zone everyone contributing to the logistics of the war is part of the war effort and a warrior. These support roles are traditionally performed by regular army forces, with coordination of the military.
But in this war, the criminals running our government have shamefully "hidden" or disguised the magnitude of the effort we are involved in. Multi-billion dollar no-bid contracts without oversight? We do not have a Congress worthy of the name.
We are using mercenaries to supplement not having enough soldiers to fight this war.
We are using various private firms such as Halliburton because we don't have enough Army there to run the logistical support of the war.
This "privatization" of major components of running a war is a shameful disgrace. These private firms are just corporations making obscene profits, enabling the administration in their war aims, being a party to the immoral slaughter and theft we are perpetrating in Iraq. Crimes financed by the US Treasury.
It is said that corporations have no morals. but the humans that run corporations cannot hide behind that transparent façade - they are responsible for what they set into motion. They are intrinsically responsible for the actions of their employees (even contractors), even if no court will ever hold them to account.