James Steele (United States Army officer)

James Steele is a consultant and retired United States Army officer whose military career and work as a military contractor from Vietnam to the Iraq War drew controversy for allegations of abuse and war crimes.

Steele's military career began during the Cold War, assigned to postings in Central and South America. He was involved in the "dirty wars", training counter-insurgency commandos who later carried out violations of human rights. He later served in the Vietnam war. From 1984 to 1986, during the Salvadoran Civil War, Steele operated as a counterinsurgency specialist and was a member of a group of United States special forces advisers to the Salvadoran Army. In 1986 he was implicated in the Iran contra affair. In 2004, early in the Iraq War, Steele was sent by Donald Rumsfeld to serve as a civilian adviser to Iraqi paramilitary Special Police Commandos known as the Wolf Brigade.