The company has contracts to haul fuel, and 319th members are riding along as armed escorts.

1. they are there to help haul feul, to get Iraqs economy up and going.
2. the military uses contractors from B&R and other companys like SAIC, Ratheon, Lockeed Martin, because it is cheaper than using it own soldiers to do the work.
3. If B&R weren't there, the soldiers would have to cover down and do thier job. We would require more soldiers and they would have to stay longer.

BTW: I like the part that says this was a subsidiary of Haliburton. There are loads of contractors out there. And whoever is in office, if they worked for a large corporation, they would have a connection to any one of them similar to this. Especially Brown and Root. In Military Intelligence they are all over the place, and they have been so for many years, especially in the Washington Area, around Ft Meade and the NSA, Pentagon Etc.

Best,
Justin