From Prostitutes to Super Bowl Tickets-Federal Probe REVEALS How Contractors In Iraq Cheated USA

[kpete]

TRIBUNE INVESTIGATION

Inside the world of war profiteers
From prostitutes to Super bowl tickets, a federal probe reveals how contractors in Iraq cheated the U.S.

By David Jackson and Jason Grotto | Tribune reporters
February 21, 2008

Inside the stout federal courthouse of this Mississippi River town, the dirty secrets of Iraq war profiteering keep pouring out.

Hundreds of pages of recently unsealed court records detail how kickbacks shaped the war's largest troop support contract months before the first wave of U.S. soldiers plunged their boots into Iraqi sand.

The graft continued well beyond the 2004 congressional hearings that first called attention to it. And the massive fraud endangered the health of American soldiers even as it lined contractors' pockets, records show.

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In the absence of oversight, some Middle Eastern businessmen would offer "Rolex watches, leather jackets, prostitutes, and the KBR guys weren't shy about bragging about the fact that they were being treated to all that stuff," said Paul Morrell, whose firm The Event Source ran several mess halls as a KBR subcontractor.

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more at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-kbr-war-profiteers-feb21,0,195925,full.story

[WinkyDink]

1. Wholesale graft and theft of our billions? I'm shocked, SHOCKED!

[sattahipdeep]

2. Klondike gold rush for contractors....

Unlike traditional wars, which eventually come to an end, the Global War on
Terror as defined by the Bush administration can have no end: it is a permanent
war—the perfect war for a company that has become an essential component of the permanent government.
Political change causes scarcely a ripple. As one former SAIC manager observed
in a recent blog posting: "My observation is that the impact of national elections
on the business climate for SAIC has been minimal. The emphasis on where federal
spending occurs usually shifts, but total federal spending never decreases.
SAIC has always continued to grow despite changes in the political leadership in Washington."

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/03/spyagency200703?currentPage=8

[sattahipdeep]

3. Global Command and Control contract - Boeing and SAIC

Weighing about 35 pounds, each system includes two air vehicles, a control unit and ancillary equipment.
The Class I UAVS can operate in complex urban and jungle terrains with vertical takeoff and landing
capability, and can be operated autonomously or controlled by dismounted soldiers.
First prototype deliveries and flight tests are scheduled for December 2008.

http://www.boeing.com/ids/news/2006/q2/060524a_nr.html

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Well I can't R, but I can still K