David Phinney: pentagon Archives

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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November 28, 2007

Christmas Greeting for US Soldiers

My friend Jodie passed this along:

A Great Idea!!!
When you are making out your Christmas cards this year, please
include one to:

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington,D.C. 20307-5001

If you approve of the idea, please pass it on to your friends.

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November 09, 2007

Army Mulls over New Logistics Contract

With KBR's multi-billion military logistics contract in Iraq and elsewhere coming to an end in December, the Army tackles a recent protest on how to award the new contract -- and possibly extend KBR's work.

Last June, the Army's Sustainment Command awarded the fourth version of its LogCAP contract to three firms: KBR of Houston; former contract holder DynCorp International LLC of Fort Worth, Texas; and Fluor Intercontinental Inc. of Greenville, S.C. Successful protests were filed the following month with the General Accounting Office, which determined that the Army badly mishandled the evaluations of five bid proposals for the lucrative contract.

Gov Exec surveys the landscape: Army weighs options as GAO sustains protests of logistics contract.

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November 01, 2007

New Military Support Contract 'Improperly Awarded'

A new 10-year, $150 billion arrangement for providing logistical support U.S. troops around the world should be reconsidered, according to a lead government agency charged with reviewing federal contract awards. The contracts assigned the work to KBR, Fluor and DynCorp, but the General Accountability Office is challenging the deals with KBR and Fluor, according to USA Today.

The GAO claims that the Army didn't give weighty enough consideration to Pentagon auditors' concerns about the past performance of KBR and found that Fluor received "unequal treatment" in the contract competition:

The Army approved Fluor's proposal even though the proposal relied on different assumptions than those listed in the contract solicitation -- a shortcoming that hurt other bidders' proposals, the GAO said.

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October 24, 2007

Privatized War is Here to Stay

Taking the stance that the U.S. is fighting a war in Iraq with more private contractors than military personnel with a ratio estimated at around 180,000 contractors to 160,000 uniformed personnel, Reuters columnist Bernd Debusmann dishes up his realistic analysis:

Even if there were political will to stop using civilians for roles previously carried out by the military, it would take years to reverse a relentless trend towards outsourcing that began with the end of the Cold War and has accelerated since.

Here's the Reuters column.

Meanwhile, The New York Times weighs in with a review of the US State Department's explosive reliance on outsourcing in troubled spots: State Department Use of Contractors Leaps in 4 Years.

The amount of money the State Department pays to private security and law enforcement contractors has soared to nearly $4 billion a year from $1 billion.....

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October 21, 2007

Read It: 'Suicide Is Not Painless'

New York Times columnist Frank Rich delivers a scathing analysis of Pentagon and US government-guided procurement in Iraq begins with the suicide of Charles D. Riechers, 47, the second-highest-ranking procurement officer in the United States Air Force who killed himself by running his car’s engine in his suburban Virginia garage several weeks ago.

Riechers' job had been previously held by an officer named Darleen Druyun, who was sentenced to nine months in prison for securing jobs for herself, her daughter and her son-in-law at Boeing while favoring the company with billions of dollars of contracts. The Bush-appointed Pentagon inspector general delivered a report on Druyun to Congress was full of holes in 2005. "Specifically, black holes: dozens of the report’s passages were redacted, as were the names of many White House officials in the report’s e-mail evidence on the Boeing machinations."

Where is that inspector general now?: Joseph Schmitz, was already heading for the exit when he delivered his redacted report. His new job would be as the chief operating officer of the Prince Group, Blackwater’s parent company.

Blackwater's Lobbyist: Paul Behrends, who first represented the company as a partner in the now-defunct Alexander Strategy Group. That firm, founded by a former Tom DeLay chief of staff, proved ground zero in the Jack Abramoff scandals.

Alexander may be no more, but since then, in addition to Blackwater, Mr. Behrends's clients have included a company called the First Kuwaiti General Trading and Contracting Company, the builder of the new American embassy in Iraq.

FYI: Paul Behrends now is a Partner with C&M Capitolink LLC, a subsidiary of Crowell & Moring, the law firm now representing First Kuwaiti. Attorneys Robert Nichols and Angela Styles, President Bush’s former procurement policy director, took First Kuwaiti's account to the firm last year.

Rich Continues:

That Vatican-sized complex is the largest American embassy in the world. Now running some $144 million over its $592 million budget and months behind schedule, the project is notorious for its deficient, unsafe construction, some of which has come under criminal investigation. First Kuwaiti has also been accused of engaging in human trafficking to supply the labor force. But the current Bush-appointed State Department inspector --guess what -- has found no evidence of any wrongdoing.

Both that inspector general, Howard Krongard, and First Kuwaiti are now in the cross hairs of Henry Waxman’s House oversight committee. Some of Mr. Krongard’s deputies have accused him of repeatedly halting or impeding investigations in a variety of fraud cases.

Here's the column Suicide Is Not Painless.

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September 28, 2007

A Review of an Alleged Million-Dollar Bribe

Update on Jeff Mazon, a KBR contract officer being accused of taking bribes from businesses seeking work to support the US military in Iraq: Country Club Hills man accused in Iraq war kickback scheme.

Mazon faces four counts of major fraud and eight counts of wire fraud. Under way in federal court in Rock Island, Mazon's trial has shed light on other allegations of wartime contracting abuse, implicating another contracting firm. Neither he nor his lawyer returned a call for comment. -- Daily Southtown

Sources tell me the man who allegedly bribed Mazon, Ali Hijazi, is still free in Kuwait doing business, despite extradition requests by the US Justice Department. (.... Perhaps Hijazi knows too much and no one wants him blathering in US courts?) Hijazi's company, La Nouvelle, has been the subject of inflated contracts during congressional hearings when Republicans were in control of Congress and they disclaimed allegations of La Nouvelle's padded contracts as wartime exigencies.

Interestingly enough, Mazon's story is related to allegations that the US embassy contractor in Baghdad had also been engaged in bribing KBR contract officers.

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September 21, 2007

'War-Zone Procurement System in Disarray'

Up, up and away:

Criminal investigators are now scrutinizing $6 billion in spending on Pentagon contractors operating in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan that (allegedly) provide essential supplies to American troops -- including food, water and shelter, according to congressional testimony Thursday. That's up from a previously acknowledged $3 billion.

An additional $88 billion in Pentagon spending in the region is also being audited. The New York Times reports on the congressional hearing:

"In a combat environment, we didn’t have the checks and balances we should have in place," said Shay D. Assad, director of defense procurement and acquisition policy. "So people who don't have ethics and integrity are going to be able to get away with things."

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July 18, 2007

Thoughts on War Contractors

The Christian Science Monitor surveys thinkers and pundits about the battlefields filled with contractors -- now estimated to be as high as 180,000 in Iraq:

Everything from who controls their activities to who cares for them when wounded remains unresolved, say experts in and out of the military. This has led to protests from families in the United States as well as concerns in military ranks about how contractors fit into the chain of command.

Peter Singer, foreign policy specialist at the Brookings Institution in Washington: "This is a very murky legal space, and simply put we haven't dealt with the fundamental issues.... What is their specific role, what is their specific status, and what is the system of accountability? We've sort of dodged these questions."

Loren Thompson, Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.: "Every war is unique, but the heavy use of private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan is likely to persist in future conflicts.... Relying on market sources is intrinsically more flexible than using government workers, and nobody seriously believes that the market will fail to respond to multibillion dollar opportunities even when danger is involved."

Dina Rasor, coauthor of the excellent new book, "Betraying Our Troops: The Destructive Results of Privatizing War": The "military-industrial complex" that former President Eisenhower warned of has been overshadowed by the "war-service industry," she says. The complex relied on the cold war to keep its budgets high, knowing that the weapons it produced probably would never be used. The war-service industry, by contrast, "doesn't build weapons but has to have a hot war or an occupation going on in order to keep its budgets high." Constituencies will be built within the military and in Congress to promote this growing industry, she predicts.

Lawrence Korb, former assistant secretary of Defense: Predicts that the number of contractors providing military logistics support will shrink, in part because the US effort in Iraq will wind down at some point and in part because the US plans to increase the armed forces by 92,000 soldiers and marines over the next five years. Looking ahead to the need for peacekeeping and stabilization in future conflicts, Dr. Korb says, "I can't imagine doing it again without thinking it through."

Jana Crowder, Knoxville, Tenn., a "stay-at-home mom with four kids" who runs a website for moral support during the seven months her husband was an engineering contractor in Iraq: "I had no idea what I was getting into," she says. "I found a whole different war zone out there -- contractors coming home physically and mentally damaged. I didn't even know what PTSD was, but I had guys calling me up saying they had nightmares, that they couldn't sleep, that they were hallucinating and crying.... PTSD doesn't know whether you're wearing a uniform or not."

(Speaking of PTSD among contractors, Anthony Feinstein suggests in Iraqslogger that an online evaluation developed for war journalists may be suitable for contractors as well.)

Here's The Christian Science Monitor's Silent Surge in Contractor 'Armies.

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July 05, 2007

Armed Contractors: Transparency and Accountability

The Congressional Research Service distributed its new study on private security contractors operating in Iraq to members of Congress:

The use of armed civilians to perform security tasks that were formerly performed by the military raises new transparency, accountability, legal, and symbolic issues, and practical issues regarding the possible long-term effects on the military.

Here's the PDF report, thanks to the Federation of American Scientists, a group supportive of opening government sources.

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June 25, 2007

Oops: Another KBR Cost Overrun

KBR forgot to keep accurate records of gasoline distribution, quartered employees in living spaces that may be larger than necessary and served meals that appeared to cost $4.5 million more than what was being eaten, according to a new Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction audit. SIGIR selectively distributed the report to favored news outlets on Sunday in anticipation of a Monday release.

The report is all about one KBR task order in the Green Zone, the place where order is supposedly the best -- and one assumes where wartime exigencies are the least.

The Washington Post reveals from a reading:

KBR managed its housing at its Camp Hope inside the Green Zone, resulting in most of its employees living in more spacious quarters than those they support.... Ninety percent of KBR employees were assigned to trailer spaces without roommates, meaning KBR employees appeared to have better housing than Army captains.

The SIGIR report surveys a "small sliver" of KBR's Green Zone business -- a task order for supplying gasoline, food services, and housing and various morale and recreation services.

KBR failed to use an internal meter in gas pumps that tracks how much fuel is used, according to the report.

When auditors looked at the database in September 2006, it showed that 12,622 liters had been issued for December 2006 -- "a future date and an obvious impossibility," the audit said.

Here's The Washington Post's curtain raiser to the report: Audit of KBR Iraq Contract Faults Records For Fuel, Food.

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May 24, 2007

The Contractor's Fight at Home

War for Hire: Dan Rather explores the "invisible army" in Iraq and the combat contractors face. In an extended online report for HD.net scheduled for June 4, Rather portrays the 100,000 or more civilian contract workers as being caught in the "crosshairs," whose uncounted casualties and injuries go overlooked in daily Pentagon briefings and the news media.

Interviews Include: Injured contractors who have returned to the United States only to battle for disability and medical coverage with their former employers to heal their wounds and rebuild their lives. Video from Iraq constantly suggests to viewers that the civilian truck drivers remain a largely-unarmed and untrained "soft" targets.

One contractor now missing a leg and struggling with serious loss of sight, recalls that before he took a job with KBR, President Bush announced "mission accomplished" and "major combat is over."

See It Now: Americancontractorsiniraq.com links to the entire program. The Website's founder, Knoxville, Tenn., resident Jana Crowder weighs in heavily on behalf of the challenges contractors face.

Congress Speaks: Several lawmakers in US Congress also share their thoughts about the lack of attention contractors receive. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., notes that the uncounted presence of contractors supporting the U.S. mission in Iraq "is completely unknown to the American people."

That may not be the case in the coming weeks. Major broadcast and newspapers are preparing similar reports, which echo a 2005 story originally reported by CorpWatch: 'Adding Insult to Injury.'

One Shortcoming in Rather's Report: The lack of attention to how many casualties and injuries have occurred among third country nationals and Iraqi nationals who are laboring under the U.S. flag.

Reuters Does Notice: in a Wednesday story:

The war in Iraq is killing nine civilian contractors a week on average, roughly three times the rate of last year, and U.S. government statistics show that non-Americans do most of the dying.... The contractors -- mostly Iraqis and nationals from more than 30 developing nations -- perform jobs from guarding senior U.S. officials to translating, cooking meals, driving trucks, cleaning toilets and servicing weapons systems and computers.

How many of those TCNs and Iraqi nationals are collecting their benefits as guaranteed by the Defense Base Act remains unexplored territory.

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May 23, 2007

Under Scrutiny: Contractors in Iraq Named

The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction has investigated individual projects in the past to identify mismanagement, waste or fraud. Now investigators are setting their sights on a top-to-bottom review of all contracts within a single company to determine if companywide problems contributed to the projects' success or failure, SIGIR spokeswoman Denise Burgess Tells USA Today.

Under the SIGIR Microsope: Parsons, Blackwater, Aegis Defence Services and BearingPoint.

Reports are also expected on DynCorp International, and contract management by the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence and the Army Corps of Engineers, GovExec reports.

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Baghdad Laborers Train for Jailer Jobs

Three thousand Iraqis are rushing through prison-guard training at the U.S.-funded academy in Jordan so they can guard the detainees being rounded up during the "surge" in Iraq.

Former farmers, shopkeepers and restaurant workers will train for six weeks before being deployed at tent cities for the detainees now being erected in the Baghdad area.

Contractors Doing the Training: The American instructors are employed by two Virginia-based security-training companies, Civilian Police International LLC and MPRI, a unit of New York-based L-3 Communications Holdings Inc.

So reports Bloomberg:

The U.S. has spent more than $400 million to build and maintain the Jordan facility and train Iraqis in the past three years. Still, the center may be shut once the final group of guards graduates in August; Iraq's Interior Ministry now insists on teaching future recruits back home.

More: Preparing for the Iraq Prison Surge

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May 21, 2007

Abu Ghraib: Faulty Response and Investigations Found

Abu Ghraib Revisited: "Allegations of detainee abuse were not consistently reported, investigated, or managed in an effective, systematic, and timely manner."

That's the finding of a new classified report released in redacted form last week by the Department of Defense Inspector General.

Crediting the News Media: Although the report fails to credit New Yorker writer Seymour Hersh and CBS news for first bringing attention to the detainee abuse and torture, it does ackowledge the news media. "Reports of detainee abuse by special mission unit task force personnel dated back to June 2003, but we believe it took the publicized abuse at Abu Ghraib [in spring 2004]... to elevate the issue to the Flag Officer level."

Contractor Involvement: "Not withstanding the highly publicized involvement of some contractors in abuse at Abu Ghraib, we found very few instances of abuse involving contractors."

Secrecy News highlights the report. and links to the pdf file.

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May 18, 2007

The World Bites Back: Wolfowitz Gets the Boot

The World has Spoken: Wolfowitz's lasting legacy may very well be his role in planning and managing the Iraq war while serving at the Pentagon.

The Petty Salary Rigging: for his girlfriend at the World Bank meant nothing. In the world's eyes, his executive handiwork only reflects the more lurid bid rigging for contractors in Iraq. Contractors paid with billions of dollars in cash seized from the Iraqi people that was then squandered and lost.

The World is Watching: If the US Congress needed only Monica Lewinsky to drive a US president to impeachment, why can't the World Bank president get the boot for giving raises to his girlfriend? Especially when you can count the number of contractors in Iraq on a soldier's maimed hand that the Bush administration has prosecuted for theft, fraud and murder. (It is amusing that Robert Bennett, the lawyer representing Wolfowitz in this current ordeal, also represented Clinton during his impeachment.)

Financing War the Wolfowitz Way: "There's a lot of money to pay for this (war) that doesn't have to be U.S. taxpayer money, and it starts with the assets of the Iraqi people...and on a rough recollection, the oil revenues of that country could bring between $50 (billion) and $100 billion over the course of the next two or three year..... We're dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon." [Source: House Committee on Appropriations Hearing on supplemental war spending, 3/27/03]

Wolfie's Girlfriend was a Means to an End:

Most staffers saw Wolfowitz's role in Iraq policy as governance gone horribly bad, the ribbons became a symbol of anger, a silent demand for the big boss's resignation. At World Bank, Blue Ribbons Became Attire Of Their Ire.

The Washington Post:

Staff members described a celebratory mood inside the World Bank's headquarters near the White House, with people embracing, singing songs and hoisting flutes of Champagne.

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May 17, 2007

Gulf Catering Wins More Business

Target for Constant Whining: Although repeatedly accused of labor abuse and possible human trafficking of workers, Gulf Catering won another multimillion-dollar contract to feed US troops.

Rest assured: The Pentagon looked into the allegations and found no substance to them. The unfounded badgering and rumors about the Saudi firm are all just malicious attacks -- no doubt.

The Sole Subcontractor: Gulf Catering will be building and operating food services for 11 dining facilities serving US soldiers and sailors throughout Kuwait under a US contract held by Agility Defense & Government Services (formerly PWC Logistics). Agility won the one-year, fixed-price contract from the Defense Logistics Agency with options for two more years. Total Potential Worth: $127 Million, according to an Agility press release.

FALSE ALARM?: A source in Iraq alleged in March that dozens of Indian workers found employment conditions with Gulf Catering so bad that "they are running away at night from their camps here at Stryker and jumping the wire.... I am concerned for them because they are running and no where to go..... The embassy is in the Green zone ten miles away.... and you have to go in the red zone to get to it from here."

Running away? The source said that Americans brought the Indians back to the camp. None of the low-paid workers had identification or passports. The documents were taken away from them by a manager before they ran away, the source was told. The Indian workers said they were quitting their jobs be they were being beaten. One said he had been handcuffed to a post for hours.

One unnamed source does not make this allegation worth a news story: So, I checked into it. I emailed Gulf Catering but received no reply. I phoned. A person took a message. I was told someone would get back to me. No one did.

The Army had no Idea: And referred the inquiry to Halliburton's KBR, which holds the prime contract with the Army for maintenance and dining at Camp Stryker. Gulf Catering is a favored KBR subcontractor there. KBR said:

KBR has determined the information you have to be incorrect and does not involve KBR or its subcontractor. However, we can assure you that KBR does not condone and will not tolerate any practice that unlawfully compels subcontractor employees to deploy, perform work or remain in a place against their will.

I asked the KBR person in Iraq for a Gulf Catering contact. No response.

In the News: Gulf Catering landed on The Washington Post radar for labor abuse and possible labor trafficking as early as July 1, 2004. Deftly written by Ariana Eunjung Cha, Underclass of Workers Created in Iraq tells the story of Dharmapalan Ajayakumar from India:

Ajayakumar, 29, a former carpenter's assistant from this coastal town, was not there by choice.... He said he was tricked into going to Iraq by a recruiting agent who told him the job was in Kuwait. Moreover, he said, the company skimped on expenses by not providing him and other workers with adequate drinking water, food, health care or security for part of their time in the war zone.... "I cursed my fate -- not having a feeling my life was secure, knowing I could not go back, and being treated like a kind of animal," said Ajayakumar, who worked for less than $7 a day.

The Indian recruiter Subhash Vijay had hired Ajayakumar and other workers to work for Gulf Catering of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which was subcontracted to Alargan Group of Kuwait City, which was subcontracted to the Event Source of Salt Lake City, which in turn was subcontracted to KBR of Houston. They were issued ID cards that said ""Brown & Root," a subsidiary to Halliburton.

The New York Times ran a similar story earlier that year about another group of Indians, Indian Contract Workers in Iraq Complain of Exploitation:

Officials from Gulf Catering Company, a Saudi company hired by KBR to provide food services at six American bases in Iraq, confirmed that it employed the four men. But the officials denied that the men had been exploited, underpaid or prevented from leaving Iraq.

"The passports are only kept for safekeeping," said Nico Smith, the company's human resources manager. "When they wanted to resign we never said they can't go."

Taking Away Passports: The Pentagon found last year that the practice of "holding and witholding" passports was "wide spread" among companies working under US-funded contracts in Iraq. It is a red flag for labor trafficking.

In the Pentagon's words: "This practice violates the law under Title 18 U.S. Code." That's a serious violation punishable by fine and prison, but no company or individual has yet been publicly penalized.

More on the subject here.

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The Slick Wolfowitz Oil Plan

What a Banker: "There's a lot of money to pay for this (war) that doesn't have to be U.S. taxpayer money, and it starts with the assets of the Iraqi people...and on a rough recollection, the oil revenues of that country could bring between $50 (billion) and $100 billion over the course of the next two or three year..... We're dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon." [Source: House Committee on Appropriations Hearing on supplemental war spending, 3/27/03]

"Relatively soon": Hey, everything is relative. Rome wasn't build or destroyed in a day.

War in Iraq Costs: A Half-Trillion-Dollars and Counting: Receipts for the war in Iraq to will soon be ringing up to $564 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.

Iran meets Iraq over oil pipeline: US-led occupation authorities in Iraq have backed plans to build an oil pipeline to Iran to help speed up the flood of oil out of the country. (BBC 03/01/04)

Iraq invites oil bids from Iran: Iraq has invited Iranian firms to bid for contracts to build at least four oil refineries across the country, Iraq's oil ministry said on Wednesday in a sign of growing ties with the United States' regional foe. (Arabianbusiness.com 05/17/07)

Energy Independence: Imagine President Bush announcing a national plan to achieve US energy independence by 2011 the day after the 9-11 attack in 2001. We may have already been half way there in reaching the goal.

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May 11, 2007

Democrats Adding Up the Numbers

Congress Does the Math: Not only are there 145,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, there are over 100,000 private contractors working U.S. funded contracts. Many of them are doing jobs that the military once did. They may not be Americans, but they are drawing their pay stubs from the U.S. treasury -- making them the largest deployed private military force in history.

Defense News, cash cow for Army Times and largely supported by defense contractor advertising, acknowledges the facts.

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May 02, 2007

'Top Secret' Material May Have 'Devastated' U.S. Iraq Mission

Massive amounts of "top secret" material stored in the living trailer of the former Camp Cropper prison commander was "extremely sensitive" and could have devastated the U.S. mission in Iraq if it had been leaked, an investigator said Tuesday.

The hearing on allegations that Army Lt. Col. William H. Steele aided the enemy by allowing three juvenile prisoners to make unmonitored cell phone calls to their families, among other things, came to a close Tuesday with the explosive claim that Steele possessed material that could ruin the U.S. Iraq mission.

The final witness, Special Agent Thomas Barnes of the Army's procurement fraud unit, said his team searched Steele's work tent and living trailer on February 22 at Camp Victory after Steele had left his Camp Cropper command. In Steele's trailer, Barnes said, according to The Los Angeles Times:

"I was shocked at the material we found....I'd never seen that amount of classified material not properly stored, not properly labeled and not properly protected....I believe if those documents were compromised, it could have been devastating."

What was that material? It's classified, of course, and the hearing was alternately open and closed to the press, so there's no indication of what the "devastating" documents might contain. But we do know that Steele was accused of downloading some 18,000 classified computer files onto CDs before he left Cropper.

Without naming his source, investigative reporter Wayne Madsen suggested on April 30 that the classified files may be related to Abu Ghraib and contain graphic images involving inmates that were once under U.S. supervision "The investigation of Steele may have something to do with the homo-erotic materials, including photos and videos, spirited from the Abu Ghraib prison, some of which were released to the media."

Steele is also accused of improper relationships with two Iraqi women: a detainee's daughter and an interpreter. Details about the relationships have yet to be offered.

In 1993, Florida prosecutors alleged that Steele kept food from his 11-year-old stepson and struck him for failing to do chores and homework. He faced felony charges of aggravated child abuse and resisting a law enforcement officer, but the charges were dropped because Steele allowed court protection for the boy, public records show.

Whistleblower Retribution?: Prior to that Incident, Steele had a brief but controversial career with the Hernando County Sheriff's office in central Florida. Steele's friend, Mo Lubee told Fox 13 in Tampa that Steele was a whistleblower in the department and had been targeted for retribution.

"There was the incident with the sheriff's office where he pulled over a deputy from another county who was drunk driving. He wanted to arrest him, the brass wouldn't, and from that point on he was an unwelcome member of our local sheriff's department," Lubee recalled.... Lubee says the abuse case was retribution for Steele's whistle blowing, and he thinks the same thing is happening to Steele in Iraq.... "In my mind, he (Steele) was conducting an investigation and it involved information coming evidently from a detainee and his daughter." he said.

Here's The Los Angeles Times story.

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May 01, 2007

Smokin' Saddam: Cuban Cigars?

The latest from Camp Victory Hearing: At Tuesday's hearing to decide if the former military commander at Camp Cropper prison in Iraq must stand trial on charges that he aided the enemy, it was said that Steele bought Cuban cigars for one-time prisoner Saddam Hussein.

Misappropriation of Funds? Two witnesses said Army Lt. Col. William H. Steele violated military rules by approving the use of U.S. funds to buy Cuban cigars for Saddam.

U.S. Special Agent Steven Mickelberg said he asked Steele about the use of expenses to buy the cigars. "He said that they were for a high-value detainee, one which he indicated was Saddam Hussein, and that his purchase was authorized and that anything he wanted he got."

Who are these Special Agents? Special Agents Steven Mickelberg, John C. Nocella and Thomas Barnes all testifed against Steele..... What agency are they from? Do they have an hidden axe to grind on Steele? Hmmmmmm........

The Associated Press has the story.

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Civilian Contractor Casualties

Latest SIGIR Report:

Since Iraq reconstruction began, 916 death claims for civilian contractors working on U.S.-funded projects in Iraq have been filed. In the quarter ending March 31, 2007, the Department of Labor reported 146 new death claims. [The State Department] reports that 16 U.S. civilians died in Iraq this quarter. Since the beginning of the U.S. reconstruction effort, 224 U.S. civilians have died in Iraq.

The rest -- from around the world, probably not entirely counted -- simply died working under U.S.-funded contracts.

At least 3,351 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The British military has reported 146 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 20; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, six; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Romania, one death each.

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War in Iraq Costs: A Half-Trillion-Dollars and Counting

Receipts for the war in Iraq to will soon be ringing up to $564 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.

That's more than ten times the $50 billion that the Bush administration once predicted before the war started in March 2003.

"It's worth it," Bush said last May, when the tab was about $320 billion. "I wouldn't have spent it if it wasn't worth it."

What Could That Money Buy? A college education for about half of the nation's 17 million high-school-age teenagers; preschool for every 3- and 4-year-old in the country for the next eight years; a year's stay in an assisted-living facility for about half of the 35 million Americans age 65 or older, Ron Hutcheson with McClatchy Newspapers suggests.

I prefer thinking that it could also buy a lot of research and development for energy independence. That, in turn, could produce a whole new generation of exports for the U.S. economy, improve the environment, enhance education, create jobs, reduce the thirst for imported oil and, perhaps, even spur oil producing nations to crack down on terrorism. It would be an enormous investment in the future with long-lasting returns.

Posted by davidphinney at 09:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Willing to Please

There once was a line of thinking that the sign of a good manager is when one knows his or her weaknesses and compensates those weaknesses with the strengths of a well-rounded staff. Good presidents also go out of their way to find the strongest thinkers of opposing views to help probe policies for their weaknesses and figure out where solutions can be strengthened.

Walter Isaacson explores this phenomenon in discussing former CIA director George Tenent and draws parallels to corporate life in the media:

George Tenet's woes, it seems to me, come from the very natural instinct to please rather than tell uncomfortable truths to those in authority. Watching Bill Moyers's show on how the media failed to question the march to the war in Iraq, I reflected on how I, likewise, when I was at CNN, was too willing to accept what those in authority were telling me. And reading Bob Dallek's new book on Nixon and Kissinger, I was reminded how Kissinger, someone I once wrote about, was too willing to cater to and collaborate with the darker impulses of Nixon.

Here's his blog on Huffington Post.

Posted by davidphinney at 09:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 30, 2007

Hearing Begins for Former Iraq Prison Commander

Some in Iraq say his code name is Cold Steele. Others say he is facing charges for "being too nice" to Iraqi prisoners.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. William H. Steele's hearing began today in Baghdad on charges that he aided the enemy while in command of the prison at Camp Cropper in Iraq.

Steele's chief attorney, Maj. David G. Barrett, complained during the opening session of the Article 32 hearing that his team had been denied the top secret security clearance to see evidence against their client.

"How can we cross-examine witnesses without that knowledge in such an important capital punishment case?" Barrett said.

At one point during the brief open session, Barrett said he had been thrown out of the office of Col. Mark Cremin, the prosecuting attorneys' boss, during an argument about the defense’s access to top secret evidence.

"Be careful what you say," said investigating officer Col. Elizabeth Fleming, who is presiding over the hearing.

"Yes, ma'am," Barrett replied.

The Associated Press has the story.

Posted by davidphinney at 10:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 29, 2007

Investigation of Former Camp Cropper Commander

The Article 32 Investigation for Lieutenant Colonel William H. Steele, will be held on Camp Victory starting April 30 and is estimated to last two to three days. Portions, but not all of the investigation hearing is open to press. No video cameras, cameras or other recording devices are allowed in the courtroom, nor will photos or video of the defendant or witnesses be allowed. Opportunities will be provided for filing stories. Attendance is limited to one representative per agency. There are only 12 seats available for media so priority will be given on a first come, first serve basis. Those media attending the hearing will be housed in transient quarters on Camp Victory. -- Public Affairs Office Multi-National Corps-Iraq.

Posted by davidphinney at 12:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 26, 2007

Charges Against Lt. Col. William H. Steele

The Charges Against Steele:
RELEASE No. 20070426-01
April 26, 2007

Charges announced
Multi-National Corps - Iraq PAO

Baghdad, Iraq- Lt. Col. William H. Steele has been charged with offenses under the provisions of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice.
These charges are merely an accusation of wrongdoing. Lt. Col. Steele is presumed innocent unless and until he his proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of any alleged offense.

CHARGE I: Violation of the UCMJ, Article 104
Specification: In that Lieutenant Colonel William H. Steele, did, between on or about 1 October 2005 and 31 October 2006, aid the enemy by providing an unmonitored cellular phone to detainees.

CHARGE II: Violation of the UCMJ, Article 134
Specification: In that Lieutenant Colonel William H. Steele, did between on or about 31 October 2006 and 22 February 2007, having unauthorized possession of classified information, violate Title 18, United States Code, Section 793(e), by knowingly and willfully retaining the same and failing to deliver it to the officer or employee of the United States.

CHARGE III: Violation of the UCMJ, Article 133
Specification 1: In that Lieutenant Colonel William H. Steele, did, between on or about 20 October 2005 and 22 February 2007, knowingly and wrongfully fraternize with the daughter of a detainee, wherein such acts constituted conduct unbecoming an officer in the armed forces.
Specification 2: In that Lieutenant Colonel William H. Steele, did, between on or about 1 December 2005 and 11 December 2006, knowingly and wrongfully provide special privileges to and maintain an inappropriate relationship with an interpreter, wherein such acts constituted conduct unbecoming an officer in the armed forces.

CHARGE IV: Violation of the UCMJ, Article 92
Specification 1: In that Lieutenant Colonel William H. Steele, did, between on or about 18 February 2007 and 21 February 2007, violate a lawful general regulation, to wit: paragraph 7-4, Army Regulation 380-5, dated 29 September 2000, by wrongfully and knowingly storing classified information in his living space.
Specification 2: In that Lieutenant Colonel William H. Steele, did, between on or about 1 September 2006 and 21 February 2007, violate a lawful general regulation, to wit: paragraph 4-32, Army Regulation 380-5, dated 29 September 2000, by improperly marking classified information.
Specification 3: In that Lieutenant Colonel William H. Steele, having knowledge of a lawful order issued by the 89th Military Police Brigade Deputy Commander, did, at or near Camp Victory, Iraq, on or about 22 February 2007, fail to obey the order.
Specification 4: In that Lieutenant Colonel William H. Steele, did, between on or about 18 February 2007 and 21 February 2007, violate a lawful general order, to wit: paragraph 2e, Multi-National Corps-Iraq General Order Number 1, dated 16 December 2006, by wrongfully and knowingly possessing pornographic videos.
Specification 5: In that Lieutenant Colonel William H. Steele, between on or about 1 October 2005 and 31 October 2006, was derelict in the performance of his duties in that he willfully failed to fulfill his obligations as an approving authority in the expenditure of Field Ordering Officer funds.

-30-

James Hutton
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army
Public Affairs Officer

Q&A: Responses to Questions Received Thu 4/26/2007 6:18 AM

Received 21 Apr:

Q1: Where do I get in touch with Lt. Col. Steele, or do you know his whereabouts? My understanding is that he is no longer stationed at Cropper. What happened?

A1. LTC Steele commanded a compound within Camp Cropper from October 2005 until he completed this assignment in September 2006. He then volunteered to serve in another position in Iraq. He is currently in pre-trial confinement at the Theater Field Confinement Facility (TFCF), pending court-martial charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Q2: How many American detainees are there presently at Cropper and Camp Bucca? What are the charges?

A2. Currently, three American citizens are in MNF-I Theater Internment Facilities. None of the allegations against Lt. Col. Steele are related to these individuals.

Received 23 Apr:

Q3: It has come to my attention that Army Lt. Col. William H. Steele is being detained in Kuwait and awaiting trial under the U.S. military code of Justice. Other military personnel related to this matter may also be held.

A3: Lt Col. Steele is being held in the TFCF in Kuwait. All US Military pre-trial prisoners within the CENTCOM AOR are held in this facility. Military post-trial prisoners are held in the TFCF until they can be transferred to permanent confinement facilities. The TFCF confines only U.S. military prisoners. No other military personnel are pending charges in this matter.

Q4: My understanding is that Lt. Col. Steele was the commander of the Camp Cropper prison. Correct? What are the dates of his Camp Cropper command and his responsibilities?

A4: Answered Above A1

Q5: My further understanding is that Lt. Col. Steele is being held for aiding and abetting imprisoned insurgents and American detainees? Correct? Others may also be involved?

A5: These charges are merely an accusation of wrongdoing. Lt. Col. Steele is presumed innocent unless and until he his proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of any alleged offense.

Lt. Col. Steele was charged on March 14, 2007 with the following offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ)

Posted by davidphinney at 01:03 PM | Comments (22) | TrackBack

April 25, 2007

U.S. Military Prison Officer Arrested in Iraq

A former top prison commander at Camp Cropper, Iraq, has been quietly under arrest for weeks and detained in Kuwait under charges that he was aiding the enemy, according to numerous independent sources.

U.S. officials arrested Army Lt. Col. William H. Steele, 51, as long as three weeks ago. In addition to charges that he was aiding insurgents, he also is accused of having personal relationships with Iraqi women, misappropriating government funds and conduct unbecoming of an officer. (The relationships may not have been sexual.)

U.S. military sources were contacted last Friday: But made themselves unavailable for comment to confirm or deny the charges. However, the Army released a statement Wednesday afternoon claiming that Steele faces nine charges, notably "aiding the enemy." (Press release below the fold)

Other charges: Include retaining classified material; failure to obey lawful orders; wrongfully storing classified materials; improperly marking classified materials; failing to obey an order from a superior officer; possession of pornography and dereliction of duty as an approving official for the expenditure of government funds.

Steel is charge with aiding the enemy because of accusations that he provided "an unmonitored cellular phone to detainees."

Steele's mother in Frostburg, Md., said by phone Friday that she hadn't heard from her son in three weeks and wasn't sure why. Attempts to contact his wife have been unsuccessful. Steele last resided in Prince George, Va., according to Army sources.

Camp Cropper is a high-value holding facility: for insurgents and others is where former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was held for a time. Located near the Baghdad International Airport, the prison camp has been identified as a place where torture has taken place that equals that of Abu Ghraib.

Former American detainees Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel were held without charges for months last year after being taken to Camp Cropper in mid-April, 2006. Both met with Steele briefly before being released, Vance said.

In a lawsuit against the U.S. government and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: Vance and Ertel claim they were subjected to constant abuse 24 hours a day.

Lights were kept on in their cell around the clock. They endured solitary confinement. They had only thin plastic mattresses on concrete for sleeping. Meals were of powdered milk and bread or rice and chicken, but interrupted by selective deprivation of food and water. Ceaseless heavy metal and country music screamed in their ears for hours on end, their legal complaint alleges.

They lived through "conditions of confinement and interrogation tantamount to torture", says the lawsuit filed in northern Illinois U.S. District Court. "Their interrogators utilised the types of physically and mentally coercive tactics that are supposedly reserved for terrorists and so-called enemy combatants."

Vance claims that during the months leading up to his arrest, he worked as an unpaid informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sometimes twice a day, he would share information with an agent in Chicago about the Iraqi-owned Shield Group Security, whose principals and managers appeared to be involved in weapons deals and violence against Iraqi civilians.

A third detainee: Joseph Trimpert, was also arrested the same day as Vance and Ertel and held until August 10, 2006. An anonymous posting on myspace.com seems to represent Trimpert's telling of his experience with photos of his release papers.

Opened in April 2003: The facility began modestly with some 150 detainees, but has since exploded to an estimated 3,000 under the recent U.S. military effort to crack down on insurgents in and around Baghdad. Since 2003, six inmates have died at the facility. according to the military. The latest death is still under investigation. The latest died April 4 and the cause of death remains under investigation.

Brutal treatment is apparently an ongoing problem among the detainees at Cropper, The Los Angeles Times reported April 8:

A former detainee from Camp Cropper, where Saddam Hussein and other high-profile prisoners have been held, said he once watched Sunni militants attack a former police officer whom they suspected of being an informer. He said six men, their faces hidden by towels, gathered around the victim in a dormitory at 2 a.m.

Two kept a lookout for U.S. soldiers while one man swung a sock stuffed with rocks at the inmate's head, he said. The man tried to get up, but another pressed him down with a foot to the chest. The attackers pummeled his head, spattering themselves with his blood, until he lost consciousness.

When they had finished, other prisoners dragged the victim to the front of the hall, where the U.S. guards would find him.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20070426-01
April 26, 2007

Charges announced
Multi-National Corps - Iraq PAO

-30-

James Hutton
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army
Public Affairs Officer

Q&A: Responses received Thu 4/26/2007 6:18 AM

Received 21 Apr:

Q1: Where do I get in touch with Lt. Col. Steele, or do you know his whereabouts? My understanding is that he is no longer stationed at Cropper. What happened?

Q2: How many American detainees are there presently at Cropper and Camp Bucca? What are the charges?

A2. Currently, three American citizens are in MNF-I Theater Internment Facilities. None of the allegations against Lt. Col. Steele are related to these individuals.

Received 23 Apr:

Q4: My understanding is that Lt. Col. Steele was the commander of the Camp Cropper prison. Correct? What are the dates of his Camp Cropper command and his responsibilities?

A4: Answered Above A1

Q5: My further understanding is that Lt. Col. Steele is being held for aiding and abetting imprisoned insurgents and American detainees? Correct? Others may also be involved?

A5: These charges are merely an accusation of wrongdoing. Lt. Col. Steele is presumed innocent unless and until he his proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of any alleged offense.

Lt. Col. Steele was charged on March 14, 2007 with the following offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ)

Posted by davidphinney at 11:29 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Spooky Business in a Strange World

The flood of emails continues pouring in about the short news story retelling Donald Vance's three-month imprisonment at Camp Cropper in Iraq.

Vance says he was acting as an FBI informant while working for an Iraqi-owned private security company. He claims he was witnessing the possible illegal sales of arms to insurgents and other nefarious doings and wanted to do something about it. Yet, the US military imprisoned him for some three months -- without charge or explanation.

Answers as to why Vance was held will hopefully come out in a lawsuit Vance is waging against former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. They may not be very flattering to the U.S. government.

MEANWHILE: I don't know who this new guy is that sent me the email below, but he seems to represent himself as the "third detainee," Joe Trimpert. Then again, the sender may be an imposter. But it is known that Trimpert was a "Third Detainee" arrested at the same time as Vance.

Vance accuses Trimpert of some pretty ugly business, including brutal acts against Iraqi civilians.

THE LINK: At myspace.com is an intriguing curiosity. (As of 05/16/07, I noticed the contents had been removed, but I previously copied the files. Email me if you are interested). Sent to me by the "Third Detainee," it portrays what appear to be release papers from Camp Cropper's detention facility with these provisions:

-- Disavow and renounce violence
-- Disavow membership to Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party.
-- Will not associate with anyone planning to harm Iraqi security forces

Vance says he never was compelled to sign conditions such as these.

Camp Cropper commander, Army Lt. Col. William H. Steele appears to have approved the release papers -- the same Steele arrested several weeks ago by the US Army for, among, other things, aiding insurgents, misappropriating government funds, and having relationships with Iraqi women.

Vance is a little concerned about this following email from the mystery sender:

"Mr. Phinney

Well,

I've been following Vance's story it's interesting and if there is really a God when judgement day comes, he will definitely have to Explain himself with in regards what to what Really Happened that Day on April 15th, 2006.

And that is all i pretty much have to say about the events that took place on April 15 th-2006 to the Day i was Released August 10th, 2006... Camp Cropper

Regards,
US200341DT

I'm not interested in an interview..."

Here's some bio material from the cryptic myspace.com link (complete with spelling errors, etc.): Just click below.....

-American Citizenship

-I was detained and Held at Camp Cropper from April 16th, 2006-August 10th, 2006

-Detainee Number given to Me: US200341DT

-Called a traitor, told I was going to be sent to Camp Delta/X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay Cuba.

-No access to a Lawyer, No phone Calls.

-Asked for a Copy of the Geneva Convention (Given to Me, but only in Arabic)

-Constatly loud music 24/7, U.S. Military/CiA,FBi/ questioning Me.. trying to get Me to say I was a member of "Al-Qaeda in Iraq"

-Living in a 12x12 Concrete Cell, with a Turkish Toilet aka a hole in the ground to take a crap in.

-Only allowed to go outside at Night for Recreation (I used to kill roaches) inside the play pen. Night Recreation because Americans aren't suppose to be in Camp Cropper.

-4 Doors down from me was Chemical Ali

-Wrote 11 Red Cross Letter's Home to America, Not a One of them Ever Reached the States.

-Constant sounds of the MP's (Military Police) playing with their Taser's all you would hear is this zap zap! noise.

-Requested Books to Read, issued em then taken away within minutes, also requested Soduku haha, PSP,Portable DVD player.

***My time in Camp Cropper Sucked more than Monica Lewensky !

Finally Released August 9th, 2006' (The Military/CiA/FBi) said there wasn't enough evidence regarding what really happened. I was given $20.00 bucks, had to pay for my own Ticket thou from Iraq to America. Not Even an apology for being held.

Only a letter of Release.

"Freedom"

-Lesson's Learned, Shit Happens when you least Expect it ("Murphy's Law")

-I suppose i could be still pining/dwelling over what happened, I've pretty much moved on since then. But what the heck is that going to accomplish dwelling on what happened. I know other Americans who are trying to win something, trust Me that incident will never leave the Soul, just gotta deal with it.

- I just feel sorry for my Iraqi counter-parts who might be innocent as well, just happened to be hanging out in a part of town at the wrong time.

-Once I received my so called Freedom from Camp Cropper I can just say it felt like that Movie The Shawshank Redemption times 50 over.

-It's not easy living with what happened in Camp Cropper, and a lot of lies put down by other Detainees/former co-workers.. if the Military were to release files on what really happened on April 15th, 2006' their could be a whole lot of embarrassment for all parties that endured a Vacation at Camp Cropper.

-But Oh Fracking Well, I emailed various news agencies in regards of being held, ect... but i made i clear I wasn't looking for any publicity, still not looking for any stardom like other detainees.. Sure you Can Speak Out but what i've read so Far it has not done a thing except to get a lot of Americans pissed off/ and more mistrust from Our Gov't.. rather you're Gov't.

-Why do i say you're Gov't i do share the same views as what has been written by other detainees regarding (torture or American's), and for anyone who happens to be still in Camp Cropper regardless of their Nationality., so much for due process.

-I do think half the detainees are probably not guilty in Guantanamo Bay Cuba, i couldn't imagine being locked up in GITMO for over a year i'd lose my mind.

-The one thing i missed while being held at Camp Cropper was Music, upon my release and back in America, i went out and bought a new ipod., since the Military/CiD/CIA/FBi confiscated my ipod, Macintosh G4, and bad ass Movietunes projector.

-Present Day, well just moving forward, what can you do? Live in the Past..? Not Me... I've seen some crazy things in my life Example From September 11th, 2001-October 3rd, 2001 I helped recovered Dead Americans from the Pentagon.. this can be verified. **There are still times i feel Dead/ and i'm pretty sure that perhaps other American detainees might feel this as well.

-What to do, that was Then..... This is Now..., i plan to save up as much $ then move outside of America probably to our neighbors in the South Mexico, i really have Desire to live in or work in America again., i spent sometime down in Mexico after returning from Iraq, did you know you can talk trash about the American Gov't down there and not have to worry about being locked up...(i however did not par-take) in such activites but met a lot of American Expatriates living down there, who moved out of America because of politics. I will probably do the same in the near future.

And in closing, i decided to put this up.. to give some insight, if i want celebrity status some day i will post my whole name on Here & perhaps go on Oprah...haha, Thanks but No Thanks. All American Detainees who were with Me should be counting their lucky stars including Me... We could have Easily been in there for Life......, and inshallah the Detainee's being currently held at Camp Cropper/Camp X-Ray/Abu Graib.. i hope they will win their Freedom ...
Who I'd like to meet:
-Jack Idema (American Prisoner of War/Detainee) Afghanistan 2004'

To Read more About Jack Idema visit www.superpatriots.us -Associated Press Photographer Bilal Hussein (Iraqi Detainee Camp Cropper April 12th,2006) I did see Bilal briefly in Cropper but didn't talk to him. I have been in contact with people at the AP via email/phone.

To Read more About Bilal Hussein visit www.ap.org

**The Road To Guanatanmo** 1-10 Video Series

This is pretty damn Close what it feels like to be Detaineed by the American Gov't and treated like an Insurgent even if you're found Innocent in the End....

Posted by davidphinney at 06:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 18, 2007

Wolfowitz: Girlfriend a 'Must Hire' for Iraq Contractor

It was very much business for a Defense Department contractor, SAIC: But behind the scenes, it looks like a lover or friend in high places may have been pulling the strings for the girlfriend of Paul Wolfowitz, Shaha Riza.

How did Riza land a moonlight gig with the Iraq contractor in 2003? At the request of the Defense Department, according to Reuters. (Riza was working for the World Bank, but forgot to tell the Bank about picking up some extra work in Iraq.) Her beau, Paul Wolfowitz, now president of the World Bank, was then-Pentagon No. 2 and a chief planner of the Iraq invasion at the time.

.... A spokeswoman for Science Applications International Corp., or SAIC, said the Defense Department's policy office directed the company to enter a subcontract with Shaha Riza, under which she spent a month studying ways to form a government in Iraq.

AND THEN SHE WAS PROMOTED: When Wolfie was nominated to be president of the World Bank by president Bush in 2005, he arranged to give Riza a high-paying promotion before she resigned and took a job at the U.S. State Department.

Riza's salary increased from $132,660 to $193,590: Riza was compelled leave the World Bank because of rules against lovers working closely together at the Bank, but the pay hike guaranteed her a cushy salary at her next place of business: the U.S. State Department.

Stay Tuned: There may be a story on how Riza, who carries a British passport, ended up at the State Department. (Did she just send in her resume with a job reference from Wolfie?)

Meanwhile: Senior Democratic congressmen and other critics are pushing for the resignation of Wolfowitz, saying his actions have undermined the campaign against corruption in the developing world that has been a hallmark of his World Bank tenure.

Here's the Reuters story.

More on the saga: Wolfowitz: Girlfriend's Shadowy Iraq Work and Wolfowitz Under Fire: Iraq in the Shadows.

Posted by davidphinney at 07:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 15, 2007

Wolfowitz: Girlfriend's Shadowy Iraq Work

Shaha Riza and long-time companion (read: heart throb) of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, apparently performed moonlighting services for a Pentagon contractor during the run up to the Iraq invasion while also working for the World Bank.

The Government AccountabilityProject (GAP) Notes: Riza worked as a "subject matter expert" on the Middle East at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) -- a major player in intelligence gathering prior to the Iraq invasion. At that time, Paul Wolfowitz was the Deputy Secretary of Defense, a chief architect to the Iraq campaign.

Bank Sources Verified: Riza never applied for nor received World Bank permission to provide these consultant services to SAIC.

A Blatant Employment Violation: Bank sources told Gap that Riza's undisclosed moonlighting for a Pentagon contractor would never have been tolerated at the Bank. They said her apparent secrecy would be grounds for dismissal. World Bank staff rules require employees to clear outside professional activities to prevent conflicts of interest.

"Multiple conflicts of interest probably existed," said GAP International Program Director Bea Edwards in a press release:

1) Riza was reportedly romantically involved with Wolfowitz at the time and the Iraq War was imminent.
2) SAIC was a defense contractor.
3) The World Bank had active projects in Iraq.

"International institutions, such as the World Bank and the United Nations, depend on mutual trust," said Edwards, who interviewed World Bank sources. "Member governments trust that employees work only to serve the institution's mission and that of the international community. A violation of that trust undermines the very foundation of international cooperation."

The Dating Game: Riza began dating Wolfowitz since 2002, the year he separated from his wife of 30 years. President Bush nominated Wolfowitz to World Bank president in 2005 while Riza was working in the bank's Middle East and North Africa (MENA) section.

Influential Friends: Bank regulations prohibit spouses or partners from supervising one another, so Riza was compelled to resign from the Bank -- but not before Wolfowitz first signed off on her promotion and salary increase. She then took that upgrade to a new position at the U.S. State Department, with a job reference from Wolfowitz, where her salary increased from $132,660 to $193,590. (Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earns $186,000.)

Riza carries a British passport and is of Saudi and Libyan descent.

Here's GAP's press release.

More on Wolfowitz and Iraq.

Posted by davidphinney at 07:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Private Security Contractors: 'Who Did the Shooting?'

Steve Fainaru of The Washington Post raises some repeatedly unanswered questions about the July shooting of an Iraqi taxi driver by a Triple Canopy detail in Baghdad. Two employees are now suing the company in U.S. court. They claim the company fired them for reporting the incident as a crime.

THIS raises a whole festering can of worms: U.S. authorities have either failed to acknowledge or failed come to grips with incidents involving the shooting of unarmed civilians by some U.S.-funded private security contractors:

The U.S. military has brought charges against dozens of soldiers and Marines in Iraq, including 64 servicemen linked to murders. Not a single case has been brought against a security contractor, and confusion is widespread among contractors and the military over what laws, if any, apply to their conduct. The Pentagon estimates that at least 20,000 security contractors work in Iraq, the size of an additional division.

Here's Fainaru's long-awaited story: Four Hired Guns in an Armored Truck, Bullets Flying, and a Pickup and a Taxi Brought to a Halt. Who Did the Shooting and Why?

Posted by davidphinney at 12:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 09, 2007

A U.S. Force of 300,000 to 360,000 Supporting the Iraq War?

Writer Don Monkerud adds up the numbers of US troops and contractors in Iraq for tompaine.org:

+ First he takes the high estimate of 120,000 contractors from the Associated Press.
+ Then adds the currently reported total U.S. military in Iraq at 145,000.
+ Plus another 20,000 for President Bush's surge strategy.

THAT ADDS UP TO: 285,000.

THEN THERE'S THE UNCOUNTED: John Pike with globalsecurity.org estimates another 30,000 are "in the theater" providing Operation Iraqi Freedom support. The Army and Marines have another 10,000 to 20,000 in Kuwait, and a nearby Air Force wing bombing group has 5,000. Current naval exercises in the Persian Gulf, which represents a show of force against Iran, include 10,000 U.S. personnel, the carrier groups Eisenhower and the Stennis, and 15 warships.

THOSE ADD UP TO: 65,000.

THE TOTAL SUM? 350,000. This doesn't count the more than 5,000 British combat troops and naval personnel -- down from a high of 40,000 during the initial invasion -- or the remaining troops from the diminished "Coalition of the Willing," such as Armenia, Estonia, Moldavia and Latvia.

FUZZY MATH? It's hard to say given the Pentagon's continuing reluctance to add up the contractors on the battlefield and in support of the US military or disclose actual troop numbers. But John Pike, a frequent consultant to broadcast network news programs, is usually is in the ballpark. Pike's operation, globalsecurity.org, is one of the best resources on all things military.

Monkerud's op/ed in tompaine.org concludes:

Manipulated figures and private military contractors provide the Bush Administration with political cover to escape public scrutiny and keep injuries, deaths and secret operations out of the public eye. A more accurate and honest view of participation in the Iraqi occupation by the government could give Americans more reason to oppose the waste of lives and resources on this ill-conceived, poorly planned, and disastrous venture.

Posted by davidphinney at 11:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 05, 2007

Detainee: 'My Name Used to Be 200343'

A year ago: Donald Vance learned what its like to be falsely accused by the U.S. military of aiding terrorists. He was held without charge for more than three months in a high-security prison in Iraq, and interrogated daily after sleepless nights without legal counsel or even a phone call to his family.

On Wednesday: The former private security contractor was honored for his ordeal in Washington and for speaking out against the incident. At a luncheon at the National Press Club, Vance received the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling, an award named in memory of Army helicopter gunner Ron Ridenhour who struggled to bring the horrific mass murders at My Lai to the attention of Congress and the Pentagon during the Vietnam War.

Vance was joined by former president Jimmy Carter, who won a lifetime achievement award, and journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran of The Washington Post who was recognised for his recent book, "Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone".

As hundreds at the luncheon finished their lobster salad, Vance, a two-time George W. Bush voter and Navy veteran, recounted the events of his imprisonment and the grief of his fiance and family. They did not know if he was alive or dead, he said. They were already making inquiries to the U.S. State Department on how to ship his body home.

He then drew a wider circle around his experience to include the countless others who have been held falsely without charge and denied normal legal constitutional protections under law. "My name used to be 200343," Vance said recalling his prisoner ID. "If they can do this to a former Navy man and an American, what is happening to people in facilities all over the world run by the American government?"

Vance's nightmare began last year on Apr. 15: When he and co-worker Nathan Ertel barricaded themselves in a Baghdad office after their employer, an Iraqi private security firm, took away their ID tags. They feared for their lives because they suspected the company was involved in selling unauthorised guns on the black market and other nefarious activity. A U.S. military squad freed them from the red zone in Baghdad after a friend at the U.S. embassy advised him to call for help.

Once they reached the U.S.-controlled Green Zone, government officials took them inside the embassy, listened to their individual accounts and then sent them to a trailer outside for sleep. Two or three hours later, before the crack of dawn, U.S. military personnel woke them. This time, however, Vance and Ertel, Shield Security's contract manager, were under arrest. Soldiers bound their wrists with zip ties and covered their eyes with goggles blacked out with duct tape.

The two were then escorted to a humvee and driven first to possibly Camp Prosperity and then to Camp Cropper, a high-security prison near the Baghdad airport where Saddam Hussein was once kept. Vance says he was denied the usual body armour and helmet while traveling through the perilous Baghdad streets outside the safety of the Green Zone or a U.S. military installation.

It was not the way the tall 29-year-old with an easy charm and keen mind had expected to be treated. Vance claims that during the months leading up to his arrest, he worked as an unpaid informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sometimes twice a day, he would share information with an agent in Chicago about the Iraqi-owned Shield Group Security, whose principals and managers appeared to be involved in weapons deals and violence against Iraqi civilians. One company employee regularly bartered alcohol with U.S. military personnel in exchange for ammunition they delivered, Vance said.

"He called it the bullets for beer program," Vance claimed while relating the incident during an interview this week at a cigar bar just walking distance from the White House.

Interrogators at Camp Cropper weren't impressed: Instead, his jailers insisted that Vance and Ertel had been detained and imprisoned because the two worked for Shield Group Security where large caches of weapons have been found -- weapons that may have been intended for possible distribution to insurgents and terrorist groups, Vance said.

In a lawsuit now pending against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the U

David Phinney

The ROUGH CUT .... phinneydavid (at) yahoo.com