Tag: Commission on Wartime Contracting

Iraq and Afghanistan: Wasting Tens of Billions of Dollars

First I have a question, already know the answers, not related directly to this report nor the Wars of Choice but is as to the economy, as to anyone interviewing this Gov. Walker.

Why is it when questions are being pointedly asked to him about his battle with the public sector employee’s, and especially as to collective bargaining, his constant response is just how broke that state, and many others are, that as soon as he says everyone must sacrifice whoever is asking the questions doesn’t forcefully ask what about those tax cuts passed and signed within his first month?

I didn’t hear one mention, question or statement by anyone, admit I tuned in a tad late, about those tax cuts, not one!

Now onto the recently released report, where much of our treasury, on the credit card, has gone and readily flushed down the drain by the tepublicans especially, who not only don’t want the past decade brought up they certainly don’t want the country reminded of not only the spent but the lost billions.

Report: Billions lost on contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan

February 25, 2011 – A new report blasts the U.S. government for wasting tens of billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan by relying too much on contractors and doing too little to monitor their performance.

The interim report from the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan points out that contractors in the war zones sometimes have exceeded the number of military personnel. Numbering 200,000, contractors now roughly match the military force.

“Misspent dollars run into the tens of billions,” the report said. The 64-page report was released Thursday and will be followed up next week with a hearing on how to improve contractor accountability.

“War by its nature entails waste. But the scale of the problems in Iraq and Afghanistan also reflects the toxic interplay of huge sums of money pumped into relatively small economies and an unprecedented reliance on contractors,” the report said.

Sen. James Webb, D-Virginia, who helped establish the commission three years ago, said Friday that its latest proposals deserve attention from Congress and the Department of Defense and called for a hearing on the matter. {continued}

For your convenience, and mine, I uploaded the pdf so others can read it who may not want to download it, just below.



Iraq and Afghan: Interim report from the Commission on Wartime Contracting

You can visit the Commissions site with link below to read the pdf press release as well as their other links.

Commission on Wartime Contracting

KBR linked to “the vast majority” of fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan

 

April Stephenson, the director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), told the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan on Monday that Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) is connected to “the vast majority” of alleged fraud cases in the Iraq and Afghanistan combat zones.

Plus, the majority of the $13 billion in “questioned” and “unsupported” bills to the Pentagon were submitted by KBR, reports the Washington Post. “KBR’s work accounts for 43 percent of the Pentagon’s audited Iraq contracting dollars”.

“I don’t think we’re aware of a program, contract or contractor that has had this number of suspensions or referrals,” Stephenson said…

Stephenson also revealed that some $553 million in payments have been suspended or blocked because contract officials questioned them or said they were invalid.

Since 2004, 32 cases of alleged bribery, overbilling, or other fraud have been sent to the inspector general for possible legal action.