For those of you new to the issue of the privatization of the military, I'd highly recommend P.W. Singer's book
Corporate Warriors. It's an insightful and well written (and left-leaning) account of how the military has been privatized over the past decade or so. In short, the U.S. isn't the only one, and it didn't start with the Bush administration.
Singer (the author) is great - he's a security analyst at Brookings and he goes deep into global situations, particularly in Africa. He names names and points fingers, particularly at companies, but he's not a wingnut or a tinfoil-hatter.