I heard a very off-the-record statistic (OK, more like a guesstimate) through an acquaintance of an acquaintance in Iraq who drives trucks for a contractor there that something like 1 in 10 contractor employees to date have been killed, at least in his company. A lot of road bombs, gun attacks etc. where drivers, mechanics and other personnel personnel meet very grisly ends don't get reported by the media, or at least not to the same extent as military deaths. Private contracting companies aren't obliged to disclose how many of their employees die on the job, apparently. Does anyone know if there are reliable estimates of American contractor employee deaths in Iraq?