AP: Army Probes War Contractor Fraud

[Eugene]

Army Probes War Contractor Fraud

By JOHN HEILPRIN
The Associated Press
Saturday, January 27, 2007; 5:07 PM

WASHINGTON -- From high-dollar fraud to conspiracy to bribery and bid rigging,
Army investigators have opened up to 50 criminal probes involving battlefield
contractors in the war in Iraq and the U.S. fight against terrorism, The
Associated Press has learned.

Senior contracting officials, government employees, residents of other countries
and, in some cases, U.S. military personnel have been implicated in millions
of dollars of fraud allegations.

"All of these involve operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait," Chris Grey,
a spokesman for the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, confirmed Saturday
to the AP.

-snip-

Special agents from the Army's major procurement fraud unit recently were
dispatched to Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, where they are "working closely and
sharing information with other law enforcement agencies in the region," Grey said.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/27/AR2007012700913.html

[bluerum]

1. damn - what kind of sleazy low life mercenary would take advantage

of an endeavor as virtuous and honorable as mass murder --- errr I mean war.

[Frustratedlady]

2. I see one case was being tried in Rock Island, Illinois.

I wonder if they will allow that whistle blower from the RI Arsenal to testify, or did that happen and I missed it? She complained about no-bid contracts and someone didn't like it.

[Independent_Liberal]

3. K&R!

You know what I have in mind. Halliburton, KBR, Carlyle, Lockheed Martin, Titan, Blackwater, CACI, Custer Battles, DynCorp, etc.

[Blue_Tires]

4. and the hits just keep coming

no one can point to ONE positive thing that the merc firms have brought to iraq or anywhere else...but for some reason, these firms are only getting bigger and richer by the day....

[Pastiche423]

5. The ARMY probes?

Shouldn't that be an independent investigation?

[sutz12]

6. It's about damn time! nt

[autorank]

7. K&R The teardown continues, with a new object. FOPs

"Friends of the President" Who could this be - one of those Dick Cheney companies, one of those companies who continues to support Bush out of pure self interest, or a bunch of them.

I'd say that

"50 criminal probes" is a bit of a clue :)

In fact, I'd say that this is the next installment of the "Teardown".

[galloglas]

9. "Friends of the President" K'n'R

Well soon, hopefully, the "Friends of the President" will be Rocco in cell 7, "Big Ernie" in cell 12, and Hannibal Lecter sharing a cell with Bush and Cheney.

[fed-up]

8. kicking for a fifth rec n/t

[Pachamama]

10. They and the Congress should start investigations with Blackwater and Halliburton/KBR...

...that would be a good start...

[autorank]

11. Maybe this is a trap for * and the WH.

What did * do when the honest Federal prosecutors started following through on legitimate corruption
cases? He replaced them.

Now, this announcement. It's not 4-5 cases, it's 50. If * lets this go, then he's in for "the horror"
- literally looking into the abyss. What does he do in such a case by past history. He gets rid of
the people prosecuting or influences them in some way.

If he does try to influence this, then the change he makes will be his admission of guilt and will hit
the airwaves and press in a huge way making it look like he's guilty in all 50 cases! and a total crook.

Very interesting. The anti-* faction wins either way. If he does nothing, the 50 investigations
start producing results at a hectic pace and it's a disaster. If he does move to stop this, he takes
a huge hit short term.

[OKNancy]

12. kick

[frogcycle]

13. Army investigates war contractors for fraud, bribery

01/28/07 AP: Army investigates war contractors for fraud, bribery

From high-dollar fraud to conspiracy to bribery and bid rigging, Army investigators have opened as many as 50 criminal inquiries involving battlefield contractors in the war in Iraq and the U.S. fight against terrorism...

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1169987612231780.xml&coll=2

[Sherman A1]

14. Yup, Saw it in the local paper here too...

I would have to say.... better late than never, but it is far, far too late. Amazing what having a Democratic Congress will do to get the boys off their duffs.....

[Benhurst]

15. Gosh, maybe fraud, bribery and corruption have something to

do with the Pentagon's missing $TRILLION.

[JohnyCanuck]

16. Waste, fraud and abuse - and old, old story.

Waste, Fraud, and Abuse:
Another Day at the Pentagon
by Chris Townsend


When I was a teenager apprenticing at being a trade unionist and a left winger both, two of my favorite books were Labor's Untold Story and History of the Great American Fortunes. I recommend them to any readers desiring a review of our own history as working people here in the United States. Both are monuments to working-class scholarship as well. Way back then, I was introduced to dog-eared copies by union old-timers who figured that a young militant like me might benefit from their contents. I sure did.

It was in the pages of these two volumes where I first discovered that -- over the course of U.S. history -- countless unscrupulous businessmen made instant and often massive fortunes by bilking and defrauding our government. More often than not, this meant our armed forces. Back in the 1800s, millions were made selling inedible foodstuffs to the Army, providing ships to the Navy that were not seaworthy, and selling arms and munitions at top-dollar prices that were so poor in quality as to be useless, even dangerous to soldiers in the field. Every imaginable kind of fraud was perpetrated by these incipient Robber Barons, who all systematically took advantage of whatever conflict was underway or looming as a means to get rich quick at taxpayers' expense.

The last 100 years has seen this criminal phenomenon grow exponentially. The overcharging and stealing is often done more professionally than in the past, but the price paid by our government is larger than ever. But, that said, nothing could have prepared any of us for the kleptomaniacal bonanza that has followed on the heels of September 11th and the Iraq invasion. For the sheer size and scope of the fraud and looting, no moment in human history can compare to what is happening today. The schemers and stealers of past years were small-time operators by today's standards. Every expensive restaurant around the Pentagon is jammed on a daily basis with operators in the pay of today's Robber Barons, all looking to coax lucrative and do-nothing contracts out of their armed forces procurement staff lunch guests.

Working here in Washington, D.C. has provided me with a front-row seat to the crime of robbing the Pentagon. In addition to our uniformed armed forces service members -- now quite visible as their enlarged numbers go to-and-from their daily duties here in the D.C area -- one can see the steady growth of every conceivable kind of military contractor, service provider, vendor, hardware or software salesman, equipment peddler, consultant, etc. Never in the history of the world has a military agency -- our Pentagon -- had so much money to spend in so short a time. This is what a "money for nothing" moment looks like, I am sure.

http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/townsend270107.html

[sakabatou]

17. Doesn't this happen in almost every war

If not every war?

[frogcycle]

18. yes but

nowhere near this level

[sakabatou]

19. ::nods::

[lovuian]

20. Its way behind doing this perhaps democratic Congress

is got them a bit worried...gotta pin it on somebody

[Earth_First]

21. Next week's headline: Army Finds No Widespread Criminal Activity; Report Finds

"While several cases of misconduct were found in it's investigation, the Army found no widespread criminal activity in a report that the Army released late last night."

I agree, this should be a complete independent investigation.

[Vidar]

22. But they might sack a few secretaries & file clerks just to make

America safe.

[classysassy]

23. Support the troops

give back the stolen money.