( – promoted by mishima)
The question above is asked on the site of the Commission on Wartime Contracting as to their recently released report.
Remember the meme at the beginning of the War Drum Beating and the easy certain Corporate “No Bid Contracts” in support of the Wars and Occupations: “They’re the only ones in the World who can do the organizing and work needed in support of our Military and the Coalition of Willing!”
Never mind they were connected by the hips to those beating the drums, never mind they were only paper pushers tens of thousands of miles away and sub-contracting out all the work, never mind the many issues of lost billions, shoddy work, bonuses, waste and corruption that almost instantly started coming to light and even with that they were given more, not even handshakes, just here ya go Pallets with Shrink wrapped Blocks of Cash, Millions and Billions, freshly printed and minted!!
I had similar questions as this LTE writer asks, well before the report was issued the other day and this posted today, but than again many of us have had the questions of Defense Spending for years, with extremely little questioning from the greater masses. Especially us Veterans of our previous failed policies as we’ve watched our brothers and sisters being short changed for their service, short changed and no questions or willingness from the greater masses who don’t serve!
No tea parties over billions lost in Iraq?
Where are the tea parties? Where is the outrage from the purveyors of the vaunted, unregulated “free market?”
The Wartime Contracting Commission reports that tens of billions have been wasted on private sector contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, due to “poorly defined work orders, inadequate oversight and contractor inefficiencies.”………..
The following was released a few days ago, yet I’ve heard very little talk from the talking heads, Especially the opinionated right wing spinmeisters, they have alot to say about everything else, in this country or so called libertarians and very little from the left, All War Drum Beating Supporters Of, remember there was some seventy five plus percent in favor of destroying an innocent country and many still in favor of occupying two countries while bombing another!
Commission on Wartime Contracting
Contingency Contracting In Iraq and Afghanistan
Interim Report to Congress: 121page PDF
Since 2001, Congress has appropriated about $830 billion to fund U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over that period, America’s reliance on contractors has grown to unprecedented proportions to support logistics, security, and reconstruction efforts related to those operations. More than 240,000 contractor employees-about 80 percent of them foreign nationals-now work in Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting the Department of Defense. Additional contractor employees support the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Dude, Where’s My Money?
Waste, Fraud, and Abuse: three words used in an official report describing what has happened to the 380 billion US dollars spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Contractor oversees security guards in Afghanistan
A major security contractor is running an office overseeing armed guards in Afghanistan, a situation at odds with the Pentagon’s claim that military officers would be in charge of such sensitive work.
A new report on wartime spending to be made public Wednesday at a congressional hearing says the contractor, Aegis Defense Services, has operated with limited U.S. government supervision……………
War contractor bonuses an outrage
Yes, bonuses paid to the contractors that rival the corporate bonuses paid here…………..
US military wasted taxpayer money in Iraq: Report
The first audit released by US Congressional Commission of Wartime Contracting reveals that the military has wasted huge sums of its USD 834b budget on contractors.
The 121-page report on security, logistics and renovation contracts indicates that the US government has failed to oversee the defense expenditures it disbursed to key contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. The report refers to large-scale cases of fraud and mismanagement of contracts during the so-called ‘war on terror’, which have cost American taxpayers ‘billions’ of dollars……………..
Following today’s release of the Commission on Wartime Contracting’s interim report to Congress, Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) asked Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to review the Commission’s findings and address a number of critical issues of “immediate concern.”…………..
Again the question should be asked “No tea parties over billions lost in Iraq or Afghanistan?” which won’t be answered even at further so called “teabaggin” rallies, certainly not by the speakers invited!
This goes along with another question asked years back now by a GoldStar Mom, “For What Noble Cause Mr. President?”!!
Oh, before I go, one more issue and another question, especially to the masses who never serve but cheer on:
3 comments
for a while now, as my husband is a contractor and most of our friends are as well.
What gets me is the money these companies make and how much we are paying out to these guys.
I’ll break it down a bit: So lets say that employee makes $30 bucks an hour working DoD through a contractor. Well, the contractor charges Uncle Sam double that to cover their overhead costs (as I’ve also seen when working with temp agencies). Contractor Corp, Inc. makes a profit all while helping the government do their job in Fighting The War.
Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to hire the employee to work for the government directly and eliminate the middle man contractor? It seems as if we are doing things backwards, paying out double what it would normally cost for government labor.
Now, I know that the contractor is picking up the benefits, health care, etc, so the government doesn’t have to pick up the tab for the extras, but in the long run, aren’t we losing money rather than saving money using these companies?
And it doesn’t help that the contractors offer higher pay so these guys leave the military to do the same job for contractor for more money. At least over here, that is how it’s done. All our friends left their service posts to make more money for contractors. They do the same job, but now working for Contractor Corp, Inc.
I think that if Obama wants to create jobs, he should take back the ones we are overpaying for. Doing business this way only benefits those who are making a profit from the war. And the taxpayers are paying extra for it.
It’s like that old joke that a toilet seat costs thousands of dollars in Congress. Or in this case, billions. Except the toilet seat is expensive labor.
Banks own the joint here
WTF?!?!
Change, seems like more of the same to me.