TIME Mag FACTOID: An Iraqi cement factory

[underpants]

$15 million
Value of a contract awarded to an American firm to build a cement factory in Iraq with taxpayer dollars

$80,000

Amount an Iraqi businessman spent (using Saddam's confiscated funds) to build the same factory, after delays prevented the American firm from doing it




Time

[JNelson6563]

1. I saw this in a hearing on

Iraq funding recently. I wish I could remember who it was that brought this up.

We're getting shafted on so many levels.

Julie

[underpants]

2. Do they get to keep the money?

I meant to put that on the original post.

Is there a performance requirement?

I calculate that out of $22Billion there could be 1,467 such projects. Now there is already $2.1 Trillion in things the Pentagon can't find (Rummy announced 9/10/01), we paid for them but we don't know where these things are. This includes some M1A1's and a Salvage ship.

Also there are currently (ironically) 1,400 different accouting systems in use in the Pentagon.

So keeping track of these new expenditures X thousand miles away, dealing with a foreign language, different currency, and hostile setting should be NO PROBLEM!!!

[charlie]

3. This affirms the anecdotes

the lady who writes the Baghdad Burning weblog has been posting:

As May was drawing to a close, his manager told him that someone from the CPA wanted the company to estimate the building costs of replacing the New Diyala Bridge on the South East end of Baghdad. He got his team together, they went out and assessed the damage, decided it wasn’t too extensive, but it would be costly. They did the necessary tests and analyses (mumblings about soil composition and water depth, expansion joints and girders) and came up with a number they tentatively put forward- $300,000. This included new plans and designs, raw materials (quite cheap in Iraq), labor, contractors, travel expenses, etc.

Let’s pretend my cousin is a dolt. Let’s pretend he hasn’t been working with bridges for over 17 years. Let’s pretend he didn’t work on replacing at least 20 of the 133 bridges damaged during the first Gulf War. Let’s pretend he’s wrong and the cost of rebuilding this bridge is four times the number they estimated- let’s pretend it will actually cost $1,200,000. Let’s just use our imagination.

A week later, the New Diyala Bridge contract was given to an American company. This particular company estimated the cost of rebuilding the bridge would be around- brace yourselves- $50,000,000 !!

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2003_08_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#106208201838841818

more...

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2003_09_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#106436048107865414

[underpants]

5. I'll bet I know what they say creates that number

Insurance. I'll guarantee you that is a huge part of that figure.

Of course insurance is one of the reasons KBR is giving for not building the facilities for our troops over there. But at the same time "things are getting better" and "We are making it much safer for the Iraqis" but apparently not they people being paid to do NOTHING!

And our guys and girls suffer.

Thanks for the link to the blog.

[ComerPerro]

4. That is fucking bullshit

There is no excuse for that.

[underpants]

6. Kick

Sorry I don't usually do this........okay yeah I do. :kick: