Having served in the British Army, most can speak good English and all are familiar with British weapons, tactics and military customs.

There are currently 3,500 Gurkhas serving in the British army, and recruiting more is not a problem. Because of high unemployment in Nepal, a job in the British army is like winning the lottery. British military pay is more than 30 times what a good job in Nepal will get you. There are over sixty applicants for each of the few hundred openings each year. The men who don't make it into the British army, can try getting into the Indian Army Gurkha units. There are about ten times as many Gurkhas in the Indian army, but the pay is only a few times what one could make in Nepal, and the fringe benefits are not nearly as good. Then again, you're closer to home.

When the SAS quietly sought Gurkha recruits they found fifty willing to try out. A dozen of these passed the screening and survived the training. That’s a slightly higher pass rate than the usual SAS volunteers (British citizens serving in the army or Royal Marines). This was not surprising because Gurkhas have an outstanding military record. Such mercenary duty is now a tradition in the Gurkha tribes, where warriors, and things like loyalty and courage, have been held in high esteem for centuries. Nepal was never conquered by the British, although they did fight a war with the colonial British army in the early 19th century. Although the Nepalis lost, they became allies of the British after a peace treaty was worked out. It was during these border wars that the British noted the military prowess of the Gurkha tribesmen. The British colonial army in India tended to hire from tribes and ethnic groups that appeared to make better soldiers, and Gurkhas soon made a reputation for themselves in British service. Since then, over half a million Nepalis have served in the British army, with about ten percent of them dying in combat (over 80 percent of those during the two world wars.)

The United Kingdom now pays retired Gurkha soldiers at the same rate as other British soldiers. That means a Gurkhas annual pension is nearly $12,000. The average income in Nepal is about $200 a year. The British pension (for 15 years service) makes veterans living in Nepal quite wealthy, by Nepalese standards. However, an increasing number of Gurkhas have been retiring in Britain, instead of returning to Nepal. Britain is the nest place for retired Gurkha soldiers to find a job. Being a bodyguard is one of the more attractive second careers for retired Gurkhas in Britain. There are several companies in Britain that specialize in providing Gurkhas for security work. Many Gurkhas were hired for key security jobs in Iraq, and then Afghanistan. These Gurkhas earned a reputation of reliability that has spread, as has the number of potential employers.

The SAS wanted Gurkhas because most speak Urdu (the most common language in Pakistan and widely used in Afghanistan) and Gurkhas, being from South Asia, can more easily pass as locals. That plus their military experience and skills all of which are enhanced by the SAS training and experience.

President Obama said, "The United States -- along with our allies and partners -- will maintain a limited military presence in Afghanistan to train, advise and assist Afghan forces and to conduct counterterrorism operations against the remnants of al-Qaida."

Contractors answer to a firm contracted by a federal agency. They can serve a variety of purposes: combat, security, logistics, health services, transportation, food service; hence the tongue-in-cheek "private army" label for the private military contractor industry.

"The military is unable to effectively execute many operations, particularly those that are large-scale and long-term in nature, without extensive operational contract support," according to a 2013 Library of Congress report.

More than 3,000 contractors remained in Iraq last year. A DOD contractor census shows that 39,609 contractors are still in Afghanistan alongside 10,000 troops. "Those numbers are way too low," said Chip Hauss, government liaison for the Alliance for Peacebuilding, who also is a professor at George Mason University and Oberlin College graduate. He agrees the true numbers are hidden by the "black budget." Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told us the best way to fight al-Qaida and ISIS, given Americans' reticence about using our troops, is "by mercenaries," and it seems we are now doing so.

According to former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, private military contractors were used "without any supervision." Although the Department of Defense has taken steps to better regulate private military contractors, oversight is still lacking. The Library of Congress reported in 2013 that "lack of data makes it difficult to determine to what extent the billions of dollars spent [on contractors] ... have contributed to achieving the mission."

While we may be saving face by troop withdrawal, we are not saving money. At least $200 billion was officially awarded in contracts during the Iraq war in addition to nonpublic "black" budgets. According to the Pentagon's Tenth Quadrennial Review of Military compensation, private military contractors made higher salaries ($165,000 per year, excluding benefits) than sergeants in the military ($63,340 a year, excluding benefits).

Iraqis tortured by contractors at the Abu Ghraib prison with electric shock, sexual violence and broken bones are still in court for compensation from a company, CACI International, which continues to receive government contracts.

Private military contractors are the "military-industrial complex" Eisenhower warned about back in 1961. Contractors serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are paid with U.S. government funds, but the law hides them and their money. If we're leaving, whether for moral reasons or to free funds for domestic programs, that has to include contractors. If we are staying, we have a right to oversight against unjust murder and torture, to know what we are paying for, and to see where the money goes.

BY: Robert Weiner, an Oberlin College graduate, is former spokesman for the White House and for the House Government Operations Committee. Daniel Wallace is a policy analyst in Washington, D.C., at Robert Weiner Associates and Solutions for Change.