Poor handling of Iraq contracts meant millions lost to taxpayers
Many liberals like to go on about war profiteers. Sure, there’s plenty of people making money on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and you can argue back and forth about whether it’s right or wrong. Personally, I don’t get worked up about companies providing services to the U.S. government as it fights this global war on terrorism. There’s a need, and somebody is going to fill that need. I do have a problem with corruption, and unfairly jacking up prices to take advantage of the American taxpayer.
Unfortunately, several of my fellow service members, especially those approving contracts overseas, have fallen into the category of “corrupt”. Here’s a short list:
• LEE-DAVIS: Maj. Gloria Davis allegedly told Army investigators before her death in December 2006 that she received $225,000 in bribes from Kuwait-based businessman George H. Lee and his son. Army investigator also said she knew of other payments by the Lees to U.S. contracting officers. No charges filed, but military seized Davis’ bank accounts and suspended Lee and his company from doing business with government.
• MAJ. JOHN COCKERHAM: Federal grand jury in Texas last August indicted Cockerham, his wife Melissa and sister Carolyn Blake on bribery, conspiracy and money-laundering charges, accusing them of taking at least $9.6 million in bribes in 2004-05 while Cockerham was contract officer in Kuwait. Largest bribery case to emerge so far in investigation into contractor fraud
• LT. COL. BRUCE HOPFENGARDNER: Hopfengardner pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud. Sentenced to 21 months in prison and fined $144,500 for accepting cash and gifts while serving in Iraq.
All of these individuals are part of a wider investigation of military members and contractors which shows the…
…flaws in the U.S. system of bids between private contractors and the U.S. military officers who doled out billions of dollars in contracts since 2003, often with little oversight…
“Bribery and kickbacks are common with big projects,” said Ali al-Nemash of the Kuwait Transparency Society, a private organization that seeks to combat graft and corruption. “They call it ‘gifts,’ but it is bribery.”
I worked contracts in Iraq, although I was not at the level to actually award contracts to anyone. I did make recommendations, however, and the contractors I dealt with were well aware of that. More than once, I was offered a “gift”. In my case, it was nearly always something very minor and inexpensive. I learned early on, however, that receiving a “gift” of any kind was a good way to have that some vendor come back later and use the supposed “friendship” he had displayed as an argument for more business.
The biggest bribery case brought so far involves Maj. John Cockerham, a former Army contracting officer, his wife and sister. They have been charged in U.S. federal court with receiving $9.6 million in bribes from companies seeking contracts to provide bottled water and other supplies.
Part of the problem is, these contracting officers generally have little or no contracting experience before they are thrown into the position. I know I didn’t. Also, they are usually in the duty for only the time they are actually in country - about a year. I have no doubt that plenty of waste and abuse is a direct result of those inexperienced contractors thinking that once they are gone, they won’t be found out.
Poor record-keeping, overwork and inadequate supervision contributed to the problem, as a relative handful of personnel scurried to support complex operations — set up quickly in the run-up to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq — which have lasted far longer than foreseen.
A handful of soldiers and civilians and military officers working out of a small office in the bleak Kuwaiti desert found themselves doling out contracts totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, often with little contracting experience.
Several former civilian contractors who worked in Iraq spoke of a climate where costs didn’t seem to matter, where equipment disappeared without accountability and where inept managers were simply shifted from job to job rather than fired.
“I think some people just saw all that money coming through and decided to take a piece of it for themselves,” one of them said.
Category :
Tags :
Similar Posts:
- Blackwater may be out, but the security business continues to flourish
- KBR truths and lies
- Some British expect ‘humiliating’ retreat from Basra
- Guantanamo psych nurse tells all (or nearly all)
- Army admits to "errors" in Tillman case
- Iraqi bill to allow Baathists back into the government
- Iraqi Army and Police leaders often corrupt
- Army to pay Captains $20,000 to stay on
- Contractors in Iraq, and my mixed feelings
- The cover-up began soon after Tillman’s death
Leave a Reply