As U.S. Army Reservist Charles Graner Jr. ponders 10 years of prison life for torturing Iraqi prisoners, he might want to also consider how the Pentagon punished two civilian defence companies whose employees conducted themselves in manners no less foul: with fat, high-dollar contracts to serve up more of the same.

Despite calls from human rights groups to end ties with the firms, the U.S. has awarded CACI International and Titan, both being sued over Iraqi prisoner torture allegations, with $16- and $164-million (U.S.) contracts, respectively.

A U.S. Army report accused CACI International's Steven Stefanowicz of ordering actions that "equated to physical abuse." Titan's John Israel was charged with lying under oath, while the employee-of-the-month award goes to Adel Nakhla, accused of raping a young Iraqi boy. Along with other assorted human rights violations, investigators found much of the civilian staff had received no formal military interrogation training. In a brash biting of the hands that feed them, both firms have dismissed the accusations in the Army's report as "baseless."

» Scott Saxon