Posted by The Crux | Friday's New York Times reported:
"Contracts worth $6 billion to provide essential supplies to American troops in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan - including food, water and shelter - were under review by criminal investigators, double the amount the Pentagon had previously disclosed.
"In addition, $88 billion in contracts and programs, including those for body armor for American soldiers and material for Iraqi and Afghan security forces, are being audited for financial irregularities...
"Taken together, the figures, provided by the Pentagon in a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, represent the fullest public accounting of the magnitude of a widening government investigation into bid-rigging, bribery and kickbacks by members of the military and civilians linked to the Pentagon's purchasing system....
"Representatives from both parties... [assailed] the Pentagon for having failed to overhaul the procurement system more than two years after Congress had identified serious problems in defense contracting and passed legislation aimed at helping the Pentagon correct them."
Perhaps they should look beyond "bid-rigging, bribery and kickbacks" and start connecting dots....
The Pentagon's Deputy Inspector General thinks it's all about "isolated incidents," saying that "the real issue is a lack of control, a lack of integrity and lots of opportunity and lots of money."
Yes, there probably are isolated incidents -- lots of them, given that "lots" of opportunities and money are involved.
In a detailed letter last week, the U.S. House Oversight Committee blatantly accused State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard of blocking investigations into contractor waste and fraud Iraq (BN-Politics and Committee letter). The Washington Post cites the following email exchange between Deputy Inspector General William Todd and State Department investigator John DeDona regarding waste and fraud re: the $592 million U.S. Embassy project in Iraq:
[Todd wrote]: "I know you are very frustrated. John, you need to convey to the troops the truth, the IG told us both Tuesday to stand down on this and not assist, that needs to be the message."
[DeDona replied]: "Unfortunately, under the current regime, the view within INV [the investigations office] is to keep working the BS cases within the beltway, and let us not rock the boat with more significant investigations."
In other words, let's go after the small-time criminals and leave the big fish alone. If that sort of "culture of corruption" could thrive at the State Department, then why is it hard to believe that such corruption may have erupted at the Defense Department?
The it's-wartime-and-we-were-befuddled argument doesn't hold water. Over the last 10 years, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has urged the Defense Department to do a better job of both negotiating and monitoring contracts.
Over the last 10 years, the Justice Department has repeatedly revealed the potential for abuse in government contracting through the hundreds of contractor-fraud cases it has prosecuted.
The we-didn't-know-what-to-expect defense is simply not believable -- and it's not just defense contractors that have questionably handled our tax dollars. For examples, see the related posts listed below:
* Inspector General Blocked Investigations into Waste & Fraud?
* Have U.S. Officials Protected Blackwater?
* Billions over Baghdad: Poor Accounting Allowed Waste & Fraud
* Yet Another Contractor Bilks Taxpayers
* Gov. Contractors: Driving up War's Costs?
* Contractor Fraud: Driving Up Healthcare Costs?
* How the Energy Dept. Incinerated Tax Dollars
* New Orleans Still Suffering after 2 Years and Billions of Tax Dollars
* How the Defense Dept. Flushes Dollars Down Latrine
* U.S. Embassies: Still More Examples of Contractor Problems
* Contractors Offering Bribes to Army Personnel?
* Taxpayers Losing Money to Engorged Contractors
* Audit Red-Flags Contractor in Iraq
* Defense Dept. Rewarding Bad Contractor Performance?
* Insurance Companies Get Away with Over-billing Medicare
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