Posted by D. Cupples | The State Department is reacting oddly to the scandals involving contractor Blackwater USA. The Associated Press reported:
"The State Department may phase out or limit the use of private security guards in Iraq, which could mean canceling Blackwater USA's contract or awarding it to another company in line with an Iraqi government demand...."
In another breath, officials said they likely won't cancel the contract, because the Department lacks "manpower and equipment, notably helicopters."
Last week's House Oversight Committee hearing revealed that the Department paid $1,200+ per day for each Blackwater guard -- about six times what a soldier would cost. (See invoice.) That price covers Blackwater's overhead (e.g., helicopters) and profits. Blackwater CEO Erik Prince said that he hires ex-soldiers -- people, incidentally, with taxpayer-funded training. (See hearing video.)
Couldn't the State Department beef up and save money (at least the amount of Blackwater's profits) by directly hiring ex-soldiers and buying its own helicopters?
In 2000, Blackwater had only $200,000 in federal contracts. Since then, the company has enjoyed roughly $1 billion in federal contracts. Prince told the Oversight Committee that 90% of Blackwater's business comes from federal contracts. (Hearing video) The upshot: we taxpayers have funded Blackwater's phenomenal growth.
Prince estimated Blackwater's profits at 10%: if accurate, roughly 100 million tax dollars have already gone into Blackwater's coffers. (Hearing video) How many helicopters or ex-soldiers could the State Department have paid for with that $100 million?
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ordered a "comprehensive review" of contracting issues, including Blackwater. Will it be objective? Two weeks ago, evidence surfaced that the department's Inspector General Howard Krongard had blocked investigations into contractor fraud (including one targeting Blackwater). Are State Department officials the best people for this job?
Just last week, Rice also decided that the State Department should increase its monitoring of Blackwater. This was in response to the September 16th killing of 17 Iraqi civilians by Blackwater guards. Shouldn't the State Department have started monitoring Blackwater months ago? Iraqi officials repeatedly complained (months before the September shooting) about Blackwater's reportedly excessive force, yet U.S. officials did nothing to rectify that.
For more examples of questionable dealings with contractors, click links below:
* Aussie Contractors Shoot Two Iraqi Women; P.W. Singer on Blackwater et al.
* State Dept. Staff Threatened for Cooperating with Congress re: Blackwater
* Have U.S. Officials Protected Blackwater?
* New Evidence of Blackwater's Bad Behavior...
* Justice Dept. Official Turned Blind Eye to Contractor Fraud?
* Contractor Fraud: Driving Up Healthcare Costs?
* Time for Pentagon to Get Serious about Contractor Fraud
* How the Energy Dept. Incinerated Tax Dollars
* New Orleans Still Suffering after 2 Years and Billions of Tax Dollars
* Tax Dollars Funding Luxury Travel
* 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
* Gov. Contractors: Driving up War's Costs
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