according to State and Defense Department figures obtained by the Los Angeles Times. Including the recent troop surge, 160,000 soldiers and a few thousand civilian government employees are stationed in Iraq.

An article released today by MSNBC revealed that the "Defense Department put U.S. troops in Iraq at risk by awarding contracts for badly needed armored vehicles to companies that failed to deliver them on schedule, according to a review by the Pentagon’s inspector general. The June 27 report, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, examined 15 contracts worth $2.2 billion awarded since 2000 to Force Protection, Inc., and Armor Holdings, Inc."

Further investigation into these contractors by TruthOrLies.org, Force Protection Inc and Armor Holding Inc, has revealed some startling information.

According to the Force Protection Inc website, "Force Protection's Buffalo Mine Protected Clearance Vehicle was selected as an "actor" in the summer blockbuster movie, TRANSFORMERS, in theaters July 3, 2007. In the movie, which is a DreamWorks / Paramount picture in association with Hasbro, the Buffalo MPCV transforms into a Decepticon named Bonecrusher."

This move has, no doubt, made this company millions of dollars in additional profits.

Further research into Armor Holdings has also revealed some interesting information. According to their official website, "Armor Holdings is listed #3 on FORTUNE Magazine's 2006 "100 Fastest-Growing Companies List" and a member of the S&P Smallcap 600 Index." In addition, according to their Investor Relations Financial Reports, their stocks have steadily climbed since 2003, the year the Iraq War began.

According to the MSNBC article released today, "auditors found several contracts issued by the Marine Corps on a sole-source basis to Force Protection even though it knew there were other manufacturers that might have supplied the vehicles in a more timely fashion." However, it seems as if Force Protection had minimal problems in supplying the producers of the hit film "Transformers" with a stunt vehicle in a timely fashion.

The MSNBC article indeed criticized the ineptitudes displayed by Force Protection and Armor Holdings. In fact, in one paragraph, it points out that Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) was quoted as saying "...it’s been business as usual...the lives of our soldiers took a back seat to who got the contracts.”

One must wonder how far Slaughter dug into the facts surrounding these contractors, which would have revealed the real reasons why our soldiers took a backseat.

These companies share an eerie resemblance to contractors such as Halliburton and Carlyle Group, who have continually made profits the priority over our soldiers.