by D. Cupples | Since the Iraq War started, our government has relied more heavily on private contractors than ever before -- and even honest contractors tend to cost us taxpayers far more than government employees would cost for similar services.
According to congressional testimony from Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen (an others), our government failed to ensure that enough trained personnel were available to handle contracts and monitor contractors. In other words, the taxpayer money pot hasn't been fully guarded. The Washington Post recently reported:
“Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), the subcommittee's chairman, noted that the Defense Contract Audit Agency has reported that $10 billion of about $57 billion in contracts for services and reconstruction in Iraq "is either questionable or cannot be supported because of a lack of contractor information needed to assess costs." He added that more than 80 separate criminal investigations are underway involving contracts of more than $5 billion.
“Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a subcommittee member who has investigated the contract issue during her trips to Iraq and Kuwait, stressed that ‘if people are not fired or demoted or if there is not a failure to promote in the military because of massive failure of appropriate oversight and management, things will not change.’”
Is it any wonder that contractor waste, fraud and abuse are so rampant?
Related BN-Politics Posts:
* High Cost of Private Contractors
* Billions Over Baghdad: Poor Accounting Enabled Fraud
* $1 Billion in Military Hardware Missing
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