Buck Naked Politics

Contractor Gets Millions for Work the Defense Dept. Barely Uses

by D. Cupples  |  According to the Washington Post, the National Defense Center for Environmental Excellence (NDCEE), which is now run by a private firm called Concurrent Technologies, has received $670 million in contracts and earmarks since 1991 to create technologies for the Defense Department's use. The Defense Department, however, has made little use of the NDCEE's work.

The Project on Government Oversight's executive director reasonably commented:

"Something is very wrong here. Why is the government pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a contractor whose work it isn't using?"

Administration Warned about Using Security Contractors in Iraq

By D. Cupples | Between the high costs and the questionable services, the Bush Administration should have considered reducing its reliance on private contractors a few years ago.   Today's Washington Post reports:

"The U.S. government disregarded numerous warnings over the past two years about the risks of using Blackwater Worldwide and other private security firms in Iraq, expanding their presence even after a series of shooting incidents showed that the firms were operating with little regulation or oversight, according to government officials, private security firms and documents."

Pattern: Wasted Tax Dollars in Mid-East and at Home

Posted by D. Cupples | It seems that a pattern is emerging.  Today's New York Times reports:

"After the United States has spent more than $5 billion in a largely failed effort to bolster the Pakistani military effort against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, some American officials now acknowledge that there were too few controls over the money. The strategy to improve the Pakistani military, they said, needs to be completely revamped." (NYT)

This is not surprising. In September, a Vanity Fair article described transfers of literally tons of U.S. cash to Iraq from 2002-04 -- more than $12 billion dollars, of which about $9 billion simply disappeared.

Justice Dept. Avoids Hearing on Contractor Rape Case

by D. Cupples |  Yesterday, a House Judiciary subcommittee held a hearing about U.S. law enforcement in Iraq.  The hearing was prompted by reports that Jamie Leigh Jones, a former employee of contractor Halliburton/KBR had been vaginally and anally raped by multiple co-workers, held captive, and warned that she would lose her job if she left Iraq for medical treatment.

Republican Congressman Ted Poe (TX), whom Jones' father contacted while Jones was held captive, stated last week that the Justice Department and State Department have refused to brief him on the rape investigation.  The House subcommittee had invited a Justice Department representative to attend the hearing, but Justice refused to send one.  ABC News reports:

Congress Considers High Cost of Private Contractors

by D. Cupples & Damozel  |  A recent House-Senate conference report expresses, in part, concern over the cost of hiring private contractors for national intelligence services.  The report states that government employees cost, on average, $126,500 a year -- while contractors' employees cost about $250,000.

Translation: we taxpayers pay almost twice as much for private contractors as we would pay government employees to perform the same services. Unfortunately, it's not just intelligence contractors.  Examples are below.

Contractor Gets $30+ Million but Didn't Build Anything

By D. Cupples |  Even before the Iraq war, it was common for government contractors to find creative ways to bilk us taxpayers out of money: defense contractors, insurance companies, drug companies, hospitals, general equipment suppliers....  Since the Iraq war, we cannot scan news reports or government records without running smack into evidence of contractor fraud.

The latest story, printed Friday, indicates that the U.S. Military paid a Florida contractor nearly $32 million to build offices and barracks for Iraqi military units -- but nothing was ever built, because the project was abandoned.  USA Today reported:

Revisiting the 1980s Privatization Myths

by D. Cupples | Yesterday, someone with an invalid email address (and maybe a pseudonym) left a comment at one of my posts that seemed fueled by the type of anger that invariably seized Elmer Fudd when eluded by the Waskally Wabbit.  My post was about Florida congressional candidate Alan Grayson, who has an impressive record of fighting government contractor fraud -- an issue that, according to my mother, I focus on far too much.

I’m glad that Mr. Fudd dropped in, because his comments reminded me that some myths about privatization still need debunking.  In part, he wrote:

Florida Congressional Candidate Fights Contractor Fraud

by D. Cupples |  Hiring private contractors to provide recurring government services makes no sense to us fiscal conservatives who grasp basic math. Contractors tend to cost more than government employees, if only because profits add to the costs.  Adding waste, fraud and abuse to the mix only further drives up taxpayers' costs. Making matters worse, Bush Administration officials have fertilized the ground for fraud by cutting government staff that oversees and holds contractors accountable.

Especially since the Iraq war, many contractors have provided shoddy service while gorging on us taxpayers like tics on a dog.

Did U.S. Govt. Officials Cover up Rape in Iraq?

Posted by D. Cupples |  According to ABC News, former Halliburton/KBR employee Jamie Leigh Jones (now age 22) was gang raped by coworkers in Iraq.  A rape kit indicates that she was vaginally and anally raped, but the kit has disappeared.

Instead of contacting law enforcement, Jones' employer reportedly put her under guard in a shipping container (with a bed) and told her that she would lose her job if she left Iraq for medical treatment.  A sympathetic guard let her use a phone, and she called her father -- who called Rep. Ted Poe, (R-TX).   Poe called the State Department, who sent agents to rescue Jones from the container.  More than two years later, the Justice Department has not brought criminal charges against the rapists or the people who kept Jones in the container.

Blackwater Faces Civil Suit over Iraqi-Civilian Shootings

By D. Cupples |   On top of a criminal investigation, government contractor Blackwater now faces a civil suit over its guards having questionably shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians.  The shootings are only part of an impressive list of allegations against the company, including illegal weapons smuggling and grand theft airplane (as in, Blackwater contractors were accused of taking an Iraqi military jet despite being asked not to).

Is there any end to the negative news about Blackwater, whose phenomenal growth we taxpayers have funded?  The Associated Press reports:

Brother Says State Dept. IG's Testimony False?

Posted by D. Cupples  |  At a recent House Oversight Committee hearing State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard (accused of impeding a probe into illegal arms smuggling by Blackwater) initially said that despite "ugly rumors," his brother Alvin ("Buzzy") is not involved with Blackwater.

Krongard said that he'd asked Buzzy six weeks earlier and that Buzzy had denied involvement. Naturally, Oversight Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) directly asked Buzzy for details.  Buzzy's story doesn't gel with the Instpector General's.

FEMA: Poor Management or Corruption?

Posted by D. Cupples |  It's not just defense spending that should send taxpayers' eyebrows up to their hairlines.  Last year alone, FEMA reportedly wasted $30 million maintaining trailers for Mississippi's Hurricane Katrina victims.

In one case, FEMA spent $229,000 on contracts to support one family in a single trailer for one year.  Wouldn't it have been more cost effective to build a modest house?  Today'sWashington Post reports:

Oversight Hearing: State Dept. Official's Brother Tied to Blackwater; Republicans Oppose Probe

Posted by D. Cupples |  Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee questioned State Dept. Inspector General Howard Krongard, whom employees have accused of impeding investigations into waste, fraud and other crimes that could embarrass the Bush Administration or some corporate supporters.

Krongard allegedly impeded a Justice Department probe into whether contractor Blackwater had illegally smuggled arms into Iraq, which is why Krongard's brother Alvin ("Buzzy") became a focal point.

After 6 Years and $20+ Billion, Airport Security Still Lacking

Posted by D. Cupples |  When we ordinary folk fly, airport security staffers make us wait in lines, take off our shoes, and throw out our tweezers.

Somehow, investigators from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) managed to get past airport security carrying ingredients that could be used to make explosives....

FBI: US Contractors Killed 14 Iraqis Without Cause

 Posted by Cockney Robin | I always had a vague notion that these soldiers of fortune one heard about were ruthlessly efficient, cool-headed cyborgs with nerves and sinews of steel.  Apparently not. Consider Blackwater. On Sept. 16, a preoccupied mother failed to notice a roadblock, and in consequence saw her son's head blown away before being slaughtered herself. 

We in Britain or America wouldn't have to worry about being blown back to Creation by the timorous, hysterical mercenaries of Blackwater, who---having killed the negligent driver and her son---then panicked and fired at everyone in sight. (NYT) Better to mow down everyone than take chances, I suppose.

GAO: Defense Dept. Still Bumbling Along re: Acquisitions

Posted by D. Cupples |  Every dollar that goes toward waste, fraud or abuse is a dollar that we could instead use to pay down our national debt or take care of legitimate needs.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) -- likely our most non-partisan entity, as it answers to both parties in Congress -- is turning blue faced.  Since 2003, the GAO has repeatedly reviewed the U.S. Defense Department's efficiency re: acquiring weapons systems and has repeatedly found major room for improvement....

There's Something About Blackwater

Posted by D. Cupples   |These days, there's always something to investigate about government contractor Blackwater.  If it's not the reportedly reckless shooting of civilians or killing of the Iraqi Vice President's bodyguard, it's the alleged milking of taxpayers or the possible theft of Iraqi military aircraft.   

Yesterday, MSNBC reported:

"Federal agents are investigating allegations that the Blackwater USA security firm illegally exported dozens of firearm s sound suppressors — commonly known as silencers — to Iraq and other countries for use by company operatives, sources close to the investigation tell NBC News."

It's normal for soldiers to use silencers in covert operations, but nobody knows why Blackwater security guards needed silencers to openly protect diplomats. 

According to MSNBC, exporting silencers without State Department paperwork carries criminal penalties of up to 10 years' prison and $1 million in fines per incident (i.e., it's a serious crime).  Blackwater has strong ties to the State Department: the company protects State Department personnel in Iraq and had State Dept. contracts last year totaling $600 million.

Links to more Blackwater info are on the next page.

Defense Dept. to Take Over State Dept.'s Security Contracts: Will it Matter?

Posted by D. Cupples  |  Yesterday, control of Iraq security contracts was moved from Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice to Defense Sec. Robert Gates. (New York Times)  This comes a week after Rice testified before the House Oversight committee -- and failed to directly answer numerous questions about the State Department's failure to monitor contractors' job performance and billing.

In other words, Rice did a bad job -- so we'll let someone else try.  Will the change do any good?

The Defense Department hasn't done a stellar job of protecting us taxpayers from unscrupulous  contractors.  Consider former Halliburton subsidiary KBR, for example.  Years before the Iraq  war, KBR paid $2 million to settle a Justice Department suit alleging that KBR had defrauded the government during work at a California military base back in the ‘90s.  In 1997, the GAO found that KBR had over-run its estimated costs by 32% on work in the Balkans.

And yet, the Defense Department awarded KBR huge contracts relating to the Iraq war. How did KBR conduct itself under the new contracts?...

Army Investigating Contractor Bribes -- and Shouldn't Stop There

Posted by D. Cupples |  From Memeorandum, the Associated Press reported:

"A team of specially trained investigators will hunker down in an Army office north of Detroit on Monday to begin poring over hundreds of Iraq war contracts in search for rigged awards.

"This team of 10 auditors, criminal investigators and acquisition experts are starting with a sampling of the roughly 6,000 contracts worth $2.8 billion issued by an Army office in Kuwait that service officials have identified as a hub of corruption."

Army officials shouldn't limit the scope to small-time corruption cases, while bigger schemers go free. This isn't a left-field possibility: evidence suggests that State Department investigators were pressured to focus on smaller cases and to not make waves over bigger ones.

Uncovering bribery is important, but false billing and shoddy performance likely cost the taxpayers more -- and corruption goes beyond Kuwait's borders, likely stretching into our own homeland.

In 1863, Congress passed the False Claims Act to combat contractor fraud. Contractors found guilty of fraud can be barred from receiving other contracts, which may be why many contractors settle False Claims Act suits without admitting or denying guilt....

Oversight Hearing: Rice was Evasive, Republicans Don't Want Probe

Posted by D. Cupples |  At yesterday's House Oversight Committee, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was mostly cucumber-cool, but she didn't give many direct answers.  This forced some committee members to use up part of their alloted 5 minutes repeatedly repeating their questions. (Hearing video.)

For example, Rice acknowledged a "lacuna" (loophole) in regulations, which allowed security contractors to dodge legal consequences for potential crimes, like shooting Iraqi civilians. (New York TImes)  The loophole was created 3+ years ago.

Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) repeatedly asked:  Why did you wait until now to work on closing the loophole?  Hodes pointed out that incidents of questionable contractor violence have been reported since at least 2005.

In response, Rice kept repeating that the State Department acknowledges the loophole and agrees that it should be closed.

Everyone at the hearing clearly spoke English, yet Rice's answers suggest that the admirably articulate Secretary of State didn't even hear some questions. That's how it went with most issues....