Posted by D. Cupples | Robert Novak's opinion piece in yesterday's Washington Post evinces either ignorance of the various investigations into Blackwater USA (and government contracting generally) or a knee-jerk defense of Blackwater -- motivated by what, I cannot fathom.
Maybe Mr. Novak didn't watch all 5 hours of the House Oversight Committee hearings last week, which made two things clear: 1) both the committee and the Justice Department are still investigating Blackwater, and 2) the Committee is also addressing the broader question of whether use of contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan is a good deal for us taxpayers.
After discussing a couple lawyers who stand to make money from the private lawsuit against Blackwater (filed by family members of Blackwater contractors who died in Iraq), Novak bizarrely concluded:
"What could have been a serious inquiry into the role of private firms performing tasks that cannot be handled by the United States and its overburdened military was inseparable from a precedent-setting private lawsuit. They were attached from the moment trial lawyers seeking a big payout solicited help from Democrats seeking a political advantage."
This logical jump baffles me. Private lawsuits don't change the fact that the Congress is still investigating 1) Blackwater and other contractors, 2) how well federal employees are monitoring contractors, and 3) whether the taxpayers are getting a good deal.
As BN-Politics discussed over the last few weeks, Blackwater may have 1) illegally smuggled weapons into Iraq, which may have ended up in enemy hands via the black market; 2) repeatedly engaged in undue violence against Iraqi civilians; and 3) routinely overcharged the taxpayers for its services.
The committee's investigation turned up some frightening evidence carrying broad implications. For example, several State Department employees gave testimony and emails suggesting that State Dept. inspector general Howard Krongard has blocked investigations into fraud involving Blackwater and other contractors (see committee letter to Krongard). Days before the committee's hearing, State Dept. employees informed the committee that they'd been threatened over their planned cooperation with Congress's investigation into State Department oversight of contractors.
We've also learned that Iraqi officials have repeatedly complained to U.S. officials (long before the September16th shooting of Iraqi civilians) about Blackwater's use of violence, but U.S. officials did nothing to rectify the situation.
Relatively new evidence also suggests that former Justice Department official Peter Keisler turned a blind eye to fraud and abuse by contractors tied to Iraq, because such probes would create bad press for the President.
When the people who are supposed to monitor contractors do a bad job, we taxpayers have a huge issue on our hands. If it weren't for Rep. Henry Waxman and the House Oversight Committee's various investigations, we'd have little knowledge of any of this.
Because the investigations are still in progress, it's too early to know whether Blackwater did anything wrong. Similarly, it's too early to defend Blackwater. And yet, Mr. Novak seems to be doing just that by dismissing congressional probes of Blackwater as partisan or greed connected. For examples of other problems we taxpayers have had with contractors, see the posts linked below.
* Contractor Fraud: Driving Up Healthcare Costs?
* Time for Pentagon to Get Serious about Contractor Fraud
* Tax Dollars Funding Luxury Travel
* How the Energy Dept. Incinerated Tax Dollars
* New Orleans Still Suffering after 2 Years and Billions of Tax Dollars
* Billions over Baghdad: Poor Accounting Allowed Waste & Fraud
* Officials Allowed Oil Companies to Underpay Royalties
* Defense Dept. Rewarding Bad Contractor Performance?
* How the Defense Dept. Flushes Dollars Down Latrine
* Contractor
UNISYS in Trouble Again
* Gov. Contractors: Driving up War's Costs
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