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November 16, 2007
Baghdad Embassy Investigations Detailed
Two key players in charge of the $736-million new U.S. Embassy project in Baghdad for more than two years have been named as targets of a US Justice Department investigation.
Both James L. Golden and Marry French work for the US State Department and both have become well-known and controversial figures among those who have worked on the sprawling project that is now said to be rife with construction problems and months behind schedule.
Golden is a hard-driving, independent contract employee hired by the State Department to oversee the project. He often led planning meetings and guided the selection of subcontractors with an influential hand.
French is the embassy project coordinator based in Baghdad. As an employee of the US State Department, she was responsible for assuring that the project was directed according to law.
Golden also is known for his hard-driving approach, his close relationship with the prime contractor, First Kuwaiti Trading and Contracting, and a penchant for identifying sole-sourced subcontractors to work on the project. Although Golden is a contractor himself, many believe he was authorized -- both tacitly and implicitly -- with sweeping authority and decision-making.
Mary French is often singled out by those familiar with the project for frequently ignoring warnings about shortcomings on the project, complaints about worker abuse, poor working conditions and allegations of labor trafficking at the project. She is also noted for a strong ambitious streak and many say that the embassy is her first large-scale project.
Both are said to have been working under enormous pressure from above to do "whatever it takes to get the project done" as part of the State Department's goal to establish a permanent, large-scale presence in Baghdad.
The two have regularly ignored emails and phone calls from me over the past two years regarding these assertions.
More to come, meanwhile,
Glenn Kessler with The Washington Post has the story.
Posted by davidphinney at November 16, 2007 11:03 AM
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