The use of private contractors in Iraq by the U.S. military is far greater than in past conflicts and has cost the government $85 billion through 2007, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released Tuesday.

CBO estimates that, as of early 2008, there were at least 190,000 private contractors or subcontractors working on U.S.-funded projects in the Iraq theater, which includes Iraq, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Most of the work performed by contractors, according to CBO, deals with logistical support, construction projects, food services and providing petroleum products. The report examined data from 2003 through 2007.

“According to rough historical data, the ratio of about one contractor employee for every member of the U.S. armed forces in the Iraq theater is at least 2.5 times higher than that ratio during any other major U.S. conflict, although it is roughly comparable with the ratio during operations in the Balkans in the 1990s,” the report says.

Democrats have been critical of the heavy use of contractors in U.S. operations in Iraq and seized on the report.

“The Bush administration’s move to outsource large portions of the Iraq war effort sets a dangerous precedent,” Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad , D-N.D., who requested the report, said in a release. “The increasing use of private contractors restricts accountability and oversight; opens the door to corruption and abuse; and, in some instances, may significantly increase the cost to American taxpayers.”

Of the $85 billion spent through 2007, the Pentagon awarded contracts costing $76 billion, while the State Department spent roughly $4 billion and the U.S. Agency for International Development spent about $5 billion, according to the report.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Congress has appropriated about $859 billion for costs related to Iraq, Afghanistan and other military activities, according to the latest estimates by the Congressional Research Service. Of that amount, CRS estimates, about $653 billion will go toward Iraq operations.

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