WASHINGTON - Companies awarded $8 billion in contracts to rebuild Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites) have been major campaign donors to President Bush (news - web sites), and their executives have had important political and military connections, according to a study released Thursday.
The study of more than 70 U.S. companies and individual contractors turned up more than $500,000 in donations to the president's 2000 campaign, more than they gave collectively to any other politician over the past dozen years.
The report was released by the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based research organization that produces investigative articles on special interests and ethics in government. Its staff includes journalists and researchers.
The Center concluded that most of the 10 largest contracts went to companies that employed former high-ranking government officials, or executives with close ties to members of Congress and even the agencies awarding their contracts.
Major contracts for Iraq and Afghanistan were awarded by the Bush administration without competitive bids, because agencies said competition would have taken too much time to meet urgent needs in both countries.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031030/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_contracts_2
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