Oil smuggling suspects awarded Pentagon Iraq contract
By Claudio Gatti
Published: January 21 2005 02:00 | Last updated: January 21 2005 02:00
A Jordanian family implicated in oil smuggling in violation of United Nations sanctions against Iraq was awarded a $72m (€55.5m, £38m) Pentagon contract to supply fuel to coalition forces after the fall of the Saddam regime.
The contract was cancelled after just one week, once it became clear that the company, which had little experience in the fuel supply and transportation sector, would be unable to meet its obligations.
The episode, in March 2004, is further evidence of the problems that arose in the allocation of contracts for supply and reconstruction in Iraq after the US-led invasion.
The contract was the result of one of 10 tenders arranged after KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, was accused by US congressmen of overcharging the US Army Corps of Engineers by up to $61m for petrol supplied to troops in Iraq - a charge Halliburton denies.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/e6900838-6b52-11d9-9357-00000e2511c8.htmlI'm sure MSM will be all over this corrupt activity in Iraq.