May 15, 2008
Get Out with a 'Planned' Withdrawal
A conversation with retired British Army General, Michael Rose about his book Washington's War: From Independence to Iraq.
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May 14, 2008
Insurance Fraud in Iraq
It may be the biggest, most pervasive fraud taking place among US-funded contractors in Iraq.
Two contractors are now under criminal investigation for failing to obtain required insurance but charging for it anyway, according to the Associated Press. There may be many more soon to bear the same scrutiny:
The investigation of two companies located in Tikrit -- Sakar al-Fahal and al-Jubori -- led the Army Corps of Engineers to scour its records for evidence of fraud by other contractors hired with billions of U.S. dollars to help rebuild Iraqi infrastructure devastated by the war, the documents reveal.
Under federal law, all contractors doing work overseas for U.S. government agencies are required to insure their civilian employees, many of whom are handling dangerous jobs in hostile areas. The medical and disability insurance is called Defense Base Act coverage, a reference to the federal law mandating it. The State Department and US AID have their own in-house program, but other contractors must go to much more expensive private insurers.
According to the General Accountability Office, Defense contractors were paying up to $21 in workers' compensation premiums for each $100 in workers' salary, compared with as little as $2 in insurance costs for contractors employed by the State Department. The contractors' insurance premiums are borne by the government, which also pays the workers' claims if an injury or death is directly caused by a "war-risk hazard."
That has spawned a long, festering multi-billion-dollar problem and it has grown like a tumor in Iraq where contractors equal the numbers of US troops. As USA Today reported three years ago:
The Defense Department wants to overhaul a controversial $5.5 billion workers' compensation insurance program for its civilian contractors overseas after discovering that it is paying up to 10 times more for the insurance than other government agencies while leaving taxpayers exposed to large uncovered claims.
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Pile On: More Allegations of Cover Up at State
Another claim of cover up at the State Department comes from former State Department officials on Monday who told Senate Democrats that the department shut them up on findings of widespread corruption within the Iraqi ministries.
"The Department of State's actual policies not only contradicted the anti-corruption mission but indirectly contributed to and has allowed corruption to fester at the highest levels of the Iraqi government," said Arthur Brennan, who served as director of the State Department's Office of Accountability and Transparency at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
Delivering his statement to the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, the long-time Republican and former New Hampshire judge added:
"The embassy effort against corruption, including its new centerpiece, the now defunct Office of Accountability and Transparency, was little more than 'window dressing."Although Brennan only served in Baghdad a few months, his claims carry more weight because he is not the first to claim that fraud has been overlooked by the State Department. The State Department's former inspector general, Howard Krongard, resigned last November after being accused of thwarting numerous fraud investigations stemming from contracts in Iraq.
Even more curious is the predicament of Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, the former head of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity, who testified before Congress about rampant corruption in Iraq. The Iraqi Judge said that nearly four dozen of his staff members were killed while working for him. Radhi is now seeking asylum, but apparently, the State Department has been dragging its feet.
Notes TPMMuckraker:
One of the former officials testified that "a senior State Department official had ordered agency employees not to give al Radhi references or contact him" for help with his asylum.
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May 10, 2008
Back in the News
Blackwater's security contract is up and running in Iraq despite last September's shooting that left at least 17 Iraqis dead at a Baghdad intersection:
The State Department has just renewed its contract to provide security for American diplomats in Iraq for at least another year. Threats by the Iraqi government to strip Western contractors of their immunity from Iraqi law have gone nowhere. No charges have been brought in the United States against any Blackwater guard in the September shooting, either, and the F.B.I. agents in Baghdad charged with investigating whether Blackwater guards have committed any crimes under United States law are sometimes protected as they travel through Baghdad by Blackwater guards.
So reports The New York Times.
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May 08, 2008
Harassment Charges must be 'Independently Investigated'
The Times puts pressure on KBR for allegedly harassing Iraqi women employees:
It is also all too probable, unfortunately, that the men whom they accused of demanding sex in return for pay rises and promotion behaved as men in similar circumstances have behaved before -- boorishly, aggressively and confident that they would not be found out.
Here's the editorial: Scandal in Baghdad
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May 07, 2008
Targeting Contractor Tax Havens
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., announced plans to offer an amendment to the fiscal 2008 emergency Defense Department supplemental to restrict any of the supplemental funds from going to firms that set up offshore subsidiaries to avoid paying U.S. taxes.
Havens have been a long cherished business practice by US-funded contractors.
Farah Stockman with The Boston Globe again began fanning the flames on the use of tax havens last month, triggering the attention of Henry Waxman's oversight congressional committee: Top Iraq contractor skirts US taxes offshore.
She followed up last week with Shell firms shielded US contractor from taxes.
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May 01, 2008
Jury Deadlocked over Contract Bribe
How did this happen? A jury in Rock Island Illinois said they were deadlocked on the Bush Administration’s prosecution of a former middle-level sub-contractor for KBR that the federal government has targeted for more than three years.
The story first surfaced here: Subcontractors Hit Halliburton with Multiple Lawsuits
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April 19, 2008
Embassy Construction Complete
And the manager of First Kuwaiti makes a rare public statement:
"This is a remarkable accomplishment for our company and for the thousands of individuals whose hard work has made it possible. We are proud of our record of achievement in Iraq and regard the completion of the new U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad as an absolute success."
He adds that the project would not have been possible without the active support of the Kuwait Government, which facilitated the immigration of workers for the project, and assisted greatly with the re-export of construction materials; exempted the import and export of materials from customs; and provided extraordinary facilities for the staging of shipments to Iraq.
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