| IRAQ: Misjudgments Marred U.S. Plans for Iraqi Police by Michael Moss and David Rohde, The New York Times Company May 21st, 2006 Field training of the Iraqi police, the most critical element of the effort, was left to DynCorp International, a company based in Irving, Tex., that received $750 million in contracts. The advisers, many of them retired officers from small towns, said they arrived in Iraq and quickly found themselves caught between poorly staffed American government agencies, company officials focused on the bottom line and thousands of Iraqi officers clamoring for help. |
| US: Bush Turns to Big Military Contractors for Border Control by Eric Lipton, The New York Times May 18th, 2006 The quick fix may involve sending in the National Guard. But to really patch up the broken border, President Bush is preparing to turn to a familiar administration partner: the nation's giant military contractors. |
| US: Playing Politics With Federal Contracts OMB Watch May 17th, 2006 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Alphonso Jackson suggested at a forum in Dallas that federal contracts would not be awarded to those who have political disagreements with President Bush. |
| US: Protestors Arrested at Halliburton Annual Meeting by Shaun Schafer, Associated Press May 17th, 2006 Sixteen people protesting Halliburton Co.'s role as a military contractor were arrested Wednesday outside a building where shareholders discussed spinning off the subsidiary that provides meals, clean laundry and other services to U.S. troops in Iraq. |
| US: Boeing to Pay Fine of $615 Million
by Peter Pae, The Los Angeles Times May 16th, 2006 Boeing Co. has reached a tentative agreement to pay $615 million to end a three-year federal probe into two high-profile Pentagon contracting scandals, the Justice Department said Monday. |
| IRAQ: Ugandan Guards in Iraq Face Abuse by Grace Matsiko, AllAfrica.com May 10th, 2006 Sources said two Ugandans slipped into a coma due to brutal assaults at the hands of foreign officers at Alasad Airbase after they queried terms of the contract. |
| KATRINA: Northrop Makes Pitch for Storm Aid by Leslie Wayne, The New York Times May 10th, 2006 The Northrop Grumman Corporation, the largest builder of warships in the world, was on a charm offensive here Tuesday. Armed with slides and charts, Philip A. Teel, who runs Northrop's shipyards, led a phalanx of executives who laid out their case for another $200 million from Congress to cover losses from Hurricane Katrina. |
| KATRINA: Trailer deals go to Fluor ally by James Varney, Times-Picayune May 9th, 2006 Through a partnership with a smaller, minority-owned company, a sprawling multinational firm whose federal contract for travel trailers was up for rebidding has landed four new deals that could be worth $400 million, federal records show. |
| US: CIA Nominee Linked to Bribery Scandal by Justin Rood, Talking Points Memo Muckraker May 8th, 2006 While director of the National Security Agency, Gen. Michael V. Hayden contracted the services of a top executive at the company at the center of the Cunningham bribery scandal, according to two former employees of the company. |
| KATRINA: Complaints put FEMA trailer contracts on hold by James Varney, New Orleans Times-Picayune May 5th, 2006 A batch of lucrative federal travel trailer contracts along the Gulf Coast has been put on hold, and other contracts could be in jeopardy, after three companies that lost a rebidding process lodged formal protests with the Government Accountability Office, according to federal attorneys handling the complaints. |
| KATRINA: Complaints put FEMA trailer contracts on hold Times-Picayune May 5th, 2006 A batch of lucrative federal travel trailer contracts along the Gulf Coast has been put on hold, and other contracts could be in jeopardy, after three companies that lost a rebidding process lodged formal protests with the Government Accountability Office, according to federal attorneys handling the complaints. |
| KATRINA: Storm contractors found to clean up in scams by Larry Margasak, Associated Press May 5th, 2006 While removing enough debris to cover Britain, contractors working on hurricane recovery have overbilled the government in a $63 billion operation that will get more expensive, according to a House report Thursday. |
| US: Katherine Harris in Hot Water Over Defense Contractor Associated Press May 4th, 2006 A political strategist who left U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris (news, bio, voting record)'s Senate campaign last month said Harris ignored her staff's recommendation to reject a defense contractor's $10 million appropriation request, now being challenged by a congressional watchdog group. |
| IRAQ: Green Zone Construction Boom by David Sarasohn, Oregonian May 3rd, 2006 In Baghdad, the United States is now building a monument to rank with Grand Coulee Dam, the Pentagon, Disney World and the Mall of America. It has elements of all four, plus a 15-foot stone wall and surface-to-air missiles. |
| US: Red Lights on Capitol Hill by Ken Sliverstein, Harpers May 3rd, 2006 I reported last Thursday that Shirlington Limousine and Transportation, Inc., a firm allegedly used by defense contractor Brent Wilkes to provide prostitutes to ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham, is headed by a man who has a long criminal rap sheet and is also a contractor for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It was Mitchell Wade, another defense contractor who has acknowledged bribing Cunningham, and who is cooperating with investigators, who reportedly told prosecutors about Shirlington's relationship with Wilkes and the latter's alleged pimping scheme. (Wilkes's attorney denies the charge.) |
| NETHERLANDS: The Dutch Try One of Their Own Over Links to Liberia by Marlise Simons, The New York Times May 3rd, 2006 Mr. van Kouwenhoven, 63, is also charged with war crimes. He is accused of supplying Mr. Taylor with militia fighters from his lumber companies. He is further charged with violating a United Nations embargo by smuggling weapons into Liberia. His trial, held under a new mix of national and international law, is drawing attention because it is the second time a Dutch court is prosecuting a Dutch businessman for being involved with human rights abuses on another continent. |
| US: Chief's Pay Is Docked by Raytheon by Leslie Wayne, The New York Times May 3rd, 2006 Raytheon directors punished the chief executive, William H. Swanson, by taking away almost $1 million from his 2006 compensation yesterday because he failed to give credit for material that was in a management book he wrote. |
| IRAQ: US Private Guards Kill Baghdad Ambulance Crewman by Maher Nazih, Reuters May 2nd, 2006 The incident drew an angry response from Iraqi officials, who often complain private foreign guards kill civilians with impunity |
| IRAQ: Death is a Price of Blood Money by Vasemaca Rarabici, Fiji Times May 2nd, 2006 In two weeks seven Fijian men serving as security guards in Iraq have died, leaving behind grieving wives and children with no fathers. But these are the risks they are willing to take, especially when you get to earn between $3000 to $6000 a month. |
| IRAQ: Huge fraud exposed in Iraq contracts
by Ewen Macaskill, The Age May 2nd, 2006 The report says: "Corruption is another form of insurgency in Iraq. This second insurgency can be defeated only through the development of democratic values and systems, especially the evolution of effective anti-corruption institutions in Iraq." |
| IRAQ: Blood is Thicker Than Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill, The Nation May 1st, 2006 For most people, the gruesome killings of four private security contractors were the first they had ever heard of Blackwater USA, a small, North Carolina-based private security company. Since the Falluja incident, and also because of it, Blackwater has emerged as one of the most successful and profitable security contractors operating in Iraq. |
| IRAQ: U.S. Pays for 150 Iraqi Clinics, and Manages to Build 20 by James Glanz, The New York Times April 30th, 2006 A $243 million program led by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to build 150 health care clinics in Iraq has in some cases produced little more than empty shells of crumbling concrete and shattered bricks cemented together into uneven walls. |
| IRAQ: Report on Iraq Reconstruction is Mixed by Liz Sidoti, Associated Press April 30th, 2006 Oil and gas production, which fuels Iraq's fragile economy, has yet to return to levels before the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. |
| IRAQ: Evidence of Fraud Found by Iraq Audit by T. Christian Miller, The Los Angeles Times April 30th, 2006 A watchdog agency sees poor oversight in a defunct U.S. program to let private firms train Iraqis to guard oil and power infrastructure. |
| IRAQ: USAID Provides Adviser to Iraq Government on Oil Law by Benoit Faucon, MarketWatch April 28th, 2006 At the request of the U.S. State Department, the agency is providing a petroleum advisor to Iraq from February to June through its contract with BearingPoint, USAID spokesman David Snider told Dow Jones Newswires in an e-mail. |
| IRAQ: Halliburton's Rebuilding of Pipeline as Disaster Waiting to Happen by James Glanz, The New York Times April 25th, 2006 The project's demise would seriously damage the American-led effort to restore Iraq's oil system and enable the country to pay for its own reconstruction. |
| US: Return passports to Iraq workers United Press International April 24th, 2006 The U.S. military in Iraq has demanded that the passports of all employees of contractors and subcontractors serving the military in Iraq be returned to them by May 1. |
| IRAQ: Commander Says Contractors Violating U.S. Labor Trafficking Laws by Cam Simpson, The Chicago Tribune April 23rd, 2006 Gen. George Casey ordered that contractors be required by May 1 to return passports that have been illegally confiscated from laborers on U.S. bases after determining that such practices violated U.S. laws against trafficking for forced or coerced labor |
| WORLD: Study Faults US health effort in Iraq, Afghanistan by Will Dunham, Reuters April 20th, 2006 The United States has botched efforts to improve public health in Iraq and Afghanistan, missing a chance to gain support in those countries, an independent report released on Wednesday said. |
| IRAQ: U.S. Contractor Admits Bribery For Jobs in Iraq by Griff Witte, The Washington Post April 19th, 2006 |
| US: Attorney Pursues Iraq Contractor Fraud by Yochi J. Dreazen, The Wall Street Journal April 19th, 2006 Lawyer uses Civil War-era law to go after frims for corruption, but Bush administration won't help. |
| US: Halliburton' Internment Camps by Ruth Conniff, The Progressive April 18th, 2006 KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary recently reprimanded for gross overcharging in its military contracts in Iraq, won a $385 million contract to build large-scale detention centers in case of an "emergency influx" of immigrants. |
| IRAQ: Businessman Pleads Guilty in Iraq Scheme
by Mark Sherman , Associated Press April 18th, 2006 With millions of dollars in Iraqi reconstruction contracts to be had, Philip H. Bloom offered up money, cars, premium airline seats, jewelry, alcohol, even sexual favors from women at his villa in Baghdad. |
| IRAQ: U.S. Contractor Bloom Pleads Guilty by Robert Schmidt, bloomberg April 18th, 2006 Contractor pleads guilty to conspiracy, bribery and money laundering in connection with a bid-rigging of Iraq reconstruction contracts. |
| IRAQ: Greased Up for Business by Marian Wilkinson and David Marr, The Sydney Morning Herald April 17th, 2006 Iraq's Halfayah oil field was the glittering prize sought in one of the dodgiest deals linked to the wheat board, write . |
| IRAQ: They Backed the Scam to the Bitter End by Marian Wilkinson and David Marr., The Sydney Morning Herald April 17th, 2006 Despite emerging evidence of AWB's kickbacks, the Howard Government continued giving the wheat trader its unconditional support. |
| IRAQ: US Firms Suspected of Bilking Iraq Funds by Farah Stockman, The Boston Globe April 16th, 2006 American contractors swindled hundreds of millions of dollars in Iraqi funds, but so far there is no way for Iraq's government to recoup the money. |
| IRAQ: Deceit by the truckload
by David Marr and Marian Wilkinson, The Sydney Morning Herald April 15th, 2006 It is the greatest international scam in Australia's history: the inside story on the wheat board kickbacks. |
| KATRINA: Rage renewed as FEMA redoes bids by James Varney, Times-Picayune April 12th, 2006 In a much anticipated rebidding of contracts to service travel trailers in Louisiana, the Federal Emergency Management Agency appears poised to dole out more than half the work to out-of-state companies, despite federal assurances that the process would favor local firms, FEMA documents show. |
| KATRINA: Army Corps overpaid on Katrina classrooms contract by Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY April 12th, 2006 The Army Corps of Engineers "could have, but failed to, negotiate a lower price" on a $39.5 million Hurricane Katrina contract for portable classrooms in Mississippi, according to a draft government report. |
| US: Who's watching the Presidio's gate?
by Julia Reynolds, The Monterey Herald April 9th, 2006 Congressional investigators have reported that the Army hired companies that repeatedly botched and even falsified their training records and procedures, and have placed people with criminal records as security guards at U.S. military bases. |
| US: Contractor sues Pentagon seeking to keep records secret by Rebecca Carr, Cox News Service April 3rd, 2006 An investigation is seeking to determine whether mechanical failures have caused Black Hawk helicopters to crash in Iraq. The quest for information began in 2003 after several Sikorsky employees told him they were worried that defective parts had caused a series of deadly crashes in Iraq that year. |
| KATRINA: FEMA Vows to Re-Bid Parts of Katrina Jobs The Associated Press March 30th, 2006 Portions of four major emergency housing contracts awarded after Hurricane Katrina are being re-bid to smaller, local companies in the Gulf Coast, the chief of the nation's disaster agency says. |
| KATRINA: FBI investigating Katrina contracts by Karen Turni Bazile, New Orleans Times-Picayune March 30th, 2006 The FBI has launched a multifaceted investigation into post-Hurricane Katrina spending in St. Bernard Parish, examining several public contracts including a $370 million debris pickup deal that parish officials granted without bids five days after the storm and gave again to the same firm later last year despite receiving lower offers, according to interviews with competitors and a parish official who have been questioned by federal agents. |
| IRAQ: Documents track Halliburton battle by David Ivanovich, Houston Chronicle March 29th, 2006 Federal auditors castigated Houston-based Halliburton Co. repeatedly for failing to control costs and adequately justify its billings when working to rebuild Iraq's southern oil industry, newly released documents show. |
| VIETNAM: Agent Orange Victims Gather to Seek Justice Reuters March 28th, 2006 Vietnam War veterans from the United States, South Korea, Australia and Vietnam gathered on Tuesday to call for more help for the victims of the Agent Orange defoliant used by the U.S. military. |
| US: Halliburton's Performance Worsens under Second Iraqi Oil Contract by Committee on Government Reform Minority Office, yubanet.com March 28th, 2006 Today Rep. Waxman released the first analysis of Halliburton's RIO 2 contract to restore Iraq's southern oil fields. The examination of previously undisclosed correspondence, evaluations, and audits reveals that government officials and investigators have harshly criticized Halliburton's performance under RIO 2. The documents disclose an "overwhelmingly negative" performance. |
| IRAQ: Navy Won't File Charges in Iraq Contractor Fracas by Griff Witte and Josh White, The Washington Post March 25th, 2006 Military investigators will not file charges after completing a investigation into an incident in Iraq last May in which a group of Marines alleged they had been fired on by U.S. security contractors. |
| KATRINA: FEMA breaks promise on Katrina contracts Associated Press March 25th, 2006 Officials said they awarded the four contracts last October to speed recovery efforts that might have been slowed by competitive bidding. Some critics, however, suggested they were rewards for politically connected firms. |
| US: Pentagon Orders Investigation Of Cunningham's MZM Earmark by Walter Pincus , Washington Post March 24th, 2006 Undersecretary of Defense Stephen A. Cambone ordered an internal study of how funding earmarked in a bill by then-Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) led to contracts for MZM Inc. to do work for the Pentagon's new agency: the Counterintelligence Field Activity. |
| KATRINA: House Panel to Review Several Post-Katrina Contracts for Waste and Abuse Associated Press March 21st, 2006 A House committee said Monday it would review several post-Katrina hurricane contracts for waste and abuse, citing recent concerns about limited oversight and the haste in which they were awarded. |
| IRAQ: Increase in Contracting Intelligence Jobs Raises Concerns by Walter Pincus, The Washington Post March 20th, 2006 By using contract employees for intelligence work, government agencies lose control over those doing this sensitive work and an element of profit is inserted into what is being done. Also, as investigations have revealed, politics and corruption may be introduced into the process. |
| IRAQ: British Companies Making a Fortune out of Iraq Conflict by Robert Verkaik , The Independent March 13th, 2006 A total of 61 British companies are identified as benefiting from at least £1.1bn of contracts and investment in the new Iraq. But that figure is just the tip of the iceberg. |
| IRAQ: The Fatal Divide at the Heart of the Coalition by Max Hastings, The Telegraph March 12th, 2006 US security contractors and regular US soldiers who are evangelical Christians," writes John Geddes, the ex-SAS soldier "see themselves in a crusade against the Muslim hordes. In my view, they're not much different to the Iraqi militiamen and foreign fighters who see themselves at the heart of a jihad against the Christian crusaders." |
| US: Defense Department Reviews Possible Halliburton Overcharges on Katrina Work by Pamela Hess, United Press International March 10th, 2006 A review of KBR's bills to the Navy by the Department of Defense's inspector general for work last year restoring damage by Hurricane Ivan suggest Halliburton subsidiary KBR may be charging the Navy too much in labor. |
| US: Contractor Found Guilty of $3 Million Fraud in Iraq
by Erik Eckholm, The New York Times March 10th, 2006 In the first corporate whistle-blower case to emerge from Iraq, a federal jury in Virginia yesterday found a contractor, Custer Battles L.L.C., guilty of defrauding the United States by filing grossly inflated invoices for work in the chaotic year after the Iraqi invasion. |
| IRAQ: Mystery as Men in Police Uniform Raid Baghdad Firm by Mariam Karouny, Reuters March 8th, 2006 Armed men in police uniform seized dozens of Iraqi private security guards from their firm's compound on Wednesday, police said, but officials contradicted each other over whether they were arrested or kidnapped. |
| US: Contentious Close in Private Security Contractor Whistleblower Case by Andrew Miga, Associated Press March 7th, 2006 |
| US: Private Security Cofounder Denies Bilking Government by John E. Mulligan, The Providence Journal March 7th, 2006 Cofounder Scott Custer says the company, which is facing war-profiteering charges, performed well under dangerous and "extremely difficult" conditions in Iraq. |
| US: Bechtel Contractor Based in Dubai Gets Lucrative U.S. Security Contracts by John Byrne and Ron Brynaert, The Raw Story March 6th, 2006 The revelation that a Dubai-based firm provides security consulting for myriad U.S. operations at home and abroad shows the increasing tendency of the U.S. government to privatize security efforts. |
| US: Arms Dealers Fight for Sales in Asia by Peter Pae, The Los Angeles Times March 6th, 2006 With Pentagon buying likely to slow, firms show off hardware in Singapore. |
| US: Fighting War Profiteering, Truman-Style by Sarah Anderson, Alternet March 6th, 2006 If Rumsfeld hopes to bask in Truman's aura as a military leader, he'd do well to take a stand against the rampant corruption that is occurring on his watch. |
| US: Congressman Gets Prison for Contractor Bribes by Tony Perry, The Los Angeles Times March 5th, 2006 US Congressman 'Duke' Cunningham sentenced to 8 years, 4 months Former congressman took millions in bribes. |
| US: Accountant Testifies for Custer Battles by John E. Mulligan, The Providence Journal March 4th, 2006 Kevin Carter, a Warwick accountant, says he reconciled most of the $12.8 million spent by the company that now stands accused of war profiteering. |
| US: Sometimes, Government is the Answer
by Moshe Adler, The Los Angeles Times March 4th, 2006 Thanks to Halliburton, U.S. taxpayers are getting an expensive lesson in the costs of private contractors. |
| US: Democrats Want Tougher Government Contracting Terms Reuters March 2nd, 2006 Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, a co-sponsor of the new bill, said the legislation would set new standards to "restore integrity to a federal contracting process that has too often been operated in a manner that neither ensures confidence nor that taxpayers get a fair return for what they have paid." |
| UK: UK attacked for Uganda arms deal by Karen Allen, BBC News March 1st, 2006 The UK has failed to act on promises to plug loopholes that allow the sale of arms to countries with poor human rights records, aid agency Oxfam says. It says that military vehicles were sold to Uganda by a South African subsidiary of the UK firm BAE Systems. |
| US: Being Timely Was Key to Halliburton Bonuses by David Ivanovich, The Houston Chronicle February 28th, 2006 Houston's Halliburton Co. earned nearly $100 million from its controversial no-bid contract to repair Iraq's oilfields and import fuel into that violence-torn country, Pentagon records show. |
| IRAQ: US Army to Pay Halliburton Unit Most Disputed Costs by By James Glanz, The New York Times February 27th, 2006 Even though the Pentagon auditors identified more than $250 million in charges as potentially unjustified, the Army has decided to reimburse Halliburton for nearly all of its disputed costs on a $2.41 billion no-bid contract to deliver fuel and repair oil equipment in Iraq. |
| IRAQ: Baghdad bid may leave AWB in cold
by Steve Lewis and Cath Hart, The Australian February 24th, 2006 |
| US: Defense Contractor Admits to Bribes by Mark Sherman, Associated Press February 24th, 2006 A defense contractor admitted Friday he paid a California congressman more than $1 million in bribes in exchange for millions more in government contracts in a scandal that prosecutors say reached into the Defense Department. |
| UAE: UAE, Jolted by Port Deal, Is Key Western Arms Buyer by Thalif Deen, Inter Press Service February 23rd, 2006 The United Arab Emirates (UAE), the centre of a growing controversy over its proposed management of U.S. port terminals, is one of the world's most prolific arms buyers and a multi-billion-dollar military market both for the United States and Western Europe. |
| IRAQ: Baghdad's Green Zone Rents Now Match Mayfair by Colin Freeman, The Telegraph February 19th, 2006 They look like just another rundown Iraqi neighbourhood, but a row of houses in Baghdad's Green Zone are the ultimate proof of the maxim: "location, location, location." |
| US: Iraq Propaganda Effort a Mistake, Rumsfeld Says by Mark Mazzetti, The Los Angeles Times February 18th, 2006 The Defense secretary says he ordered the planting of articles to stop after learning of it, although others have said the effort continues. |
| US: Judge Rules Iraq Security Contractor Disobeyed Court Order by Brendan Kirby, http://www.al.com/ February 18th, 2006 Firm principals, facing another case in Virginia, ordered to appear in Mobile for deposition. |
| US: Feds Seek 10 Years for Former Congressman on Bribe Charges by Onell R. Soto, San Diego Union-Tribune February 18th, 2006 Prosecutors have asked a federal judge to sentence former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham to the maximum 10 years in prison for putting “a 'for sale' sign upon our nation's capital” and taking more than $2.4 million in bribes. |
| US: Witness Faults Custer Battles Billing Practices by John E. Mulligan, The Providence Journal February 17th, 2006 Hugh B. Tant III, a retired general, testifies in a whistleblower trial against the Rhode Island-based company that an invoice seeking a $3.7-million profit for work in Iraq "appeared to be fraud." |
| IRAQ: Australian Wheat Mission About Repairing Relations ABC Rural February 17th, 2006 Trade Minister Mark Vaile will lead the trip with AWB boss Brendan Stewart, despite news overnight that the Iraqi Grains Board will stick to its decision to suspend trade with AWB. |
| IRAQ: Wheat Executives 'Helped Key Iraq Official' by Robin Pash, News.com.au February 17th, 2006 Australian executives used their positions as government-appointed advisers in Iraq to ensure the post-war survival of one of dictator Saddam Hussein's top trade officials. |
| IRAQ: Corrupt Iraqi Boss Promoted to Top Post in Australian Wheat Deal Lure by Marian Wilkinson, The Sydney Morning Herald February 17th, 2006 Autralian attempts to secure postwar contracts were part of Operation Hunta, and involved Autralian Wheat Board managers and AWB officials seconded to the occupation government in Iraq. |
| US: Witness Faults Billing Custer Battles Billing by John E. Mulligan, The Providence Journal February 17th, 2006 Hugh B. Tant III, a retired general, testifies in a whistleblower trial against the Rhode Island-based company that an invoice seeking a $3.7-million profit for work in Iraq "appeared to be fraud." |
| IRAQ: Bribes Offered in Australian Wheat Lobbying Drive by Marian Wilkinson and Cynthia Banham, The Sydney Morning Herald February 16th, 2006 An Australian government appointee to the US-led occupation government in Iraq attended a secret meeting with a businessman who had offered to bribe "influential people" in the new regime to secure wheat contracts. |
| IRAQ: A Permanent Basis for Staying by Tom Engelhardt , Tomdispatch February 16th, 2006 Nothing could be more concrete - though less generally discussed in our media - than the set of enormous bases the Pentagon has been building in Iraq. Quite literally, multibillions of dollars have gone into them. |
| US: Firm's Clients Benefiting from Contracts by Matt Kelley, USA Today February 15th, 2006 Republican Sen. Arlen Specter directed millions of dollars to companies represented by a lobbying firm headed by the husband of a top Specter aide. |
| IRAQ: Australian Corruption And 20,000 Iraqi Infant Deaths by Dr Gideon Polya, Countercurrents.org February 15th, 2006 |
| IRAQ: Australia May Be Forced to Suspend Wheat Monopoly by Owen Brown, Dow Jones Newswires February 15th, 2006 Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile, who defended the AWB's monopoly during a World Trade Organization gathering of trade ministers in Hong Kong in December, has attempted to separate the wheat exporter's privileged sales position from the ongoing inquiry into its business dealings with the former Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. |
| US: Quick Rise for Purveyors of Propaganda in Iraq by David S. Cloud, The New York Times February 15th, 2006 Mr. Bailey, a boyish-looking Briton, and Mr. Craig, a chain-smoking former Marine sergeant, then began winning multimillion-dollar contracts with the United States military to produce propaganda in Iraq. |
| US: Day in Court for Custer Battles by Pauline Jelinek , Associated Press February 15th, 2006 Whistleblowers Robert Isakson and William Baldwin are suing their former employer, Custer Battles, accusing company officials of defrauding the U.S. government of about $50 million while doing security work in Iraq. |
| US: Security Company on Trial for Fraud by John E. Mulligan, The Providence Journal February 15th, 2006 Defense contractor Custer Battles is accused in a whistleblower suit of war profiteering. |
| IRAQ: BHP's '$US100m Loan' for Saddam by Dan Silkstone,, The Age February 14th, 2006 BHP executives planned a $US100 million loan to Saddam Hussein's regime in a bid to curry favour and gain rights to explore a massive Iraqi oil field, the Cole inquiry was told. |
| IRAQ: Billions Wasted by Steve Kroft, CBS.com February 12th, 2006 Billions of dollars are unaccounted for, and there are widespread allegations of waste, fraud and war profiteering. |
| IRAQ: War’s Virtues May Be Debatable. The Profits Aren’t. by Hubert B. Herring, The New York Times February 12th, 2006 Some indisputable winners are clear now: military contractors. |
| IRAQ: Abu Ghraib Whistleblower Can't Find Job by David Martin, CBSNEWS.com February 10th, 2006 Torin Nelson was a civilian interrogator at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. He was not implicated in any of the abuses, but his name has been linked to the scandal, and he has been unable to hold a job as an interrogator ever since. |
| IRAQ: US State Department Contractors Kill Two Civilians by Jonathan Finer, The Washington Post February 9th, 2006 Gunmen in a convoy of three dark-colored GMC sport-utility vehicles opened fire on a taxi north of downtown Kirkuk, killing two men. |
| US: The Secret World of Stephen Cambone: Rumsfeld's Enforcer by Jeffrey St. Clair, CounterPunch February 7th, 2006 A Republican staffer on the Senate foreign relations Committee tells CounterPunch the little-known Cambone, who like so many others on the Bush war team skillfully avoided military service, has quietly become one of the most powerful men in the Pentagon, rivaling even Paul Wolfowitz. |
| INDONESIA: Indonesia to change security pay rules by Shawn Donnan, The Financial Times February 7th, 2006 Indonesia plans to revise guidelines governing the relationship between its military and foreign companies for which its soldiers provide security in conflict areas, the country’s defence minister said yesterday. |
| US: Defense Industry Frets about High Iraq Spending
by Bill Rigby, Reuters February 6th, 2006 |
| IRAQ: Dog of War Builds 62m Business
by Tracey Boles, The Sunday Times February 5th, 2006 Tim Spicer makes fortune from Pentagon deal. |
| IRAQ: Dog of War Builds £62m Business by Tracey Boles, The Sunday Times February 5th, 2006 Tim Spicer makes fortune from Pentagon security deal. |
| US: Former Official in Iraq to Plead Guilty to Contract Fraud by James Glanz, The New York Times February 1st, 2006 Court papers depict a sordid exercise in greed and corruption that was spread much more widely that previously known. |
| US: Official to Plead Guilty in Iraq Contract Scheme
by Mark Sherman, Associated Press February 1st, 2006 Robert J. Stein Jr., a former contracting official for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, acknowledged his role in the conspiracy in a signed statement that has been filed with the court. |
| IRAQ: Sierra Leoneans Complain Work Too Hard, Some With Fake Certificates by Sahr Musa Yamba, allArfrica.com January 30th, 2006 Reports say many went with fake certificates while others complain the work was too hard so they could not fit in the work plan of the company that took them to Iraq. |
| US: Minority Stake in Halliburton's KBR Will Be Sold by Renae Merle, The Washington Post January 28th, 2006 |
| IRAQ: Seized Money Found Squandered by Coalition Associated Press January 28th, 2006 "Tens of millions of dollars in cash had gone in and out of the South-Central Region vault without any tracking of who deposited or withdrew the money, and why it was taken out," says a report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, which is in the midst of a series of audits for the Pentagon and State Department. |
| IRAQ: Corruption, Missing Millions and Two Dead Contractors by Deborah Hastings, Associated Press January 28th, 2006 After securing contracts with the Iraqi government potentially worth hundreds of millions, someone killed Dale Stoffel. |
| IRAQ: Rebuilding Found to Fall Short by James Glanz, The New York Times January 27th, 2006 The American-financed reconstruction program in Iraq will not complete scores of promised projects to help rebuild the country, a federal oversight agency reported. |
| KATRINA: Louisiana Tires of Its Rogues by Miguel Bustillo, Los Angeles Times January 27th, 2006 Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho), who sits on the pivotal appropriations committee which oversees all major spending bills, compared fraud in Louisiana to fraud in Iraq. |
| US: Halliburton's 2005 profit 'Best in our 86-year history' by Lynn J. Cook, The Houston Chronicle January 26th, 2006 After three years of losing money, Halliburton reported a hefty profit for 2005 and announced that all six of its divisions posted record results. |
| IRAQ: Audit Describes Misuse of Funds in Iraq Projects
by James Glanz, The New York Times January 25th, 2006 A new audit of American financial practices in Iraq has uncovered irregularities including millions of reconstruction dollars stuffed casually into footlockers and filing cabinets, an American soldier in the Philippines who gambled away cash belonging to Iraq, and three Iraqis who plunged to their deaths in a rebuilt hospital elevator that had been improperly certified as safe. |
| IRAQ: Cronyism and Kickbacks by Ed Harriman, London Review of Books January 25th, 2006 Auditors who have discovered Iraq’s deepening financial crisis have been ignored. They asked the US ambassador and the US military commander in Iraq for their views. Neither replied. The US State Department was to submit estimates of how much it will cost to complete all American-funded projects in Iraq to the White House Office of Management and Budget. The Office won’t discuss the matter. Earlier this month, Brigadier-General William McCoy told reporters: ‘The US never intended to completely rebuild Iraq . . . This was just supposed to be a jump-start.’ |
| US: Whistleblower suspended by Pentagon oversight committee The Raw Story January 24th, 2006 A senior fraud investigator for the Pentagon who has crusaded against military contractor overcharges for seven years has been suspended for "insubordination," according to an article written by Eric Rosenberg for the Hearst News Service, RAW STORY has learned. |
| UN: Probe of Peacekeeping Fraud and Contracts Abuse by Thalif Deen, Inter Press Service January 24th, 2006 The abuses relate mostly to U.N. supplies and services -- both in the department of management and the department of peacekeeping operations. |
| US: $20 Ice Trays Rile Whistleblower But not Pentagon by Steh Borenstein, KRT NEWS SERVICE January 24th, 2006 Defense Department fraud-hunters dismiss data from retired officer about inflated prices. |
| UN: Waste and Fraud Found in Peacekeeping Work
by Colum Lynch, The Washington Post January 24th, 2006 Eight Procurement Officials Suspended |
| IRAQ: Rebuilding Effort Badly Hobbled, Report Says by James Glanz, The New York Times January 24th, 2006 The first official history of the $25 billion American reconstruction effort in Iraq depicts a program hobbled from the outset by gross understaffing, a lack of technical expertise, bureaucratic infighting, secrecy and constantly increasing security costs, according to a preliminary draft. |
| IRAQ: Halliburton Gave Troops Foul Water, Workers Say Reuters January 23rd, 2006 A Halliburton Co. subsidiary provided water to U.S. troops at a camp in Iraq that was twice as contaminated as water from the Euphrates River, former employees of the company said on Monday. |
| KATRINA: FBI uncovers fraud, creates hurricane task force to probe corruption Associated Press January 23rd, 2006 |
| KATRINA: FBI uncovers fraud, creates hurricane task force to probe corruption Associated Press January 23rd, 2006 Federal dollars are rolling into the Gulf Coast for hurricane recovery -- and the FBI is finding some fraud, on the part of public officials. |
| IRAQ: All is Not Quiet on the Military Supply Front by Timothy O'Brien, The New York Times January 22nd, 2006 In the world of military contractors, times like these - when a sudden, pressing need intersects with a limited number of suppliers - have all the makings of full-blown financial windfalls. |
| KATRINA: Government overpaid $32 million for Katrina evacuation contract by Leslie Miller, Boston Globe January 20th, 2006 A bill for busing evacuees from New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was $32 million more than it should have been, and the government paid it without question, the Transportation Department inspector general said Friday. |
| KATRINA: CH2M Hill Gets Another Clean-up Contract by Gordon Russell and James Varney, The Times-Picayune January 20th, 2006 CH2M Hill, a national company based in Denver, landed the deal for the collection and disposal of about 30,000 damaged and abandoned cars, trucks, buses and boats littering public streets and rights of way. |
| INDIA: Recruitment of Workers or Human Trafficking? by Rajmeet Singh, The Tribune (India) January 19th, 2006 The lid on the recent "drivers recruitment" scam in Chandigarh by a Delhi-based recruiting agent allegedly for the banned Kuwati Transport company, KGL Ltd, has finally blown off. |
| KATRINA: DOT Audit Probes Katrina Evacuation Fiasco by Tim Sharrock, Reconstruction Watch January 19th, 2006 The fed is looking into contracts for evacuation of New Orleans awarded to the FAA and a transportation company with ties to Bush. Did the agency and the company do anything at all post-Katrina? |
| US: State Department Probes Claims that Army Contractors Engage in Human Trafficking by Cam Simpson, The Chicago Tribune January 19th, 2006 The State Department office charged with monitoring human trafficking is investigating alleged abuses of workers who are part of an undocumented pipeline used to deliver thousands of Asians to labor on U.S. military bases in Iraq. |
| SOUTH AFRICA: Shaik asset seizure in SA court BBC News January 19th, 2006 Mr Shaik was found guilty of receiving money from the French arms company, Thomson-CSF, to facilitate a deal worth more than $4bn. |
| LIBERIA: Can Africa's first woman president get Liberia back on track? by Emira Woods, Christian Science Monitor January 17th, 2006 Now that Liberia is struggling to transition to peace and democracy, the US government cannot turn its back on this resource-rich, yet fragile country. |
| IRAQ: Some Rebuilding Funds Go Untraced by Scott J. Paltrow, The Wall Street Journal January 17th, 2006 Investigators Have Yet to Pursue U.S. Contracting Money That May Be Missing |
| WORLD: Security Firms Try To Evolve Beyond The Battlefield by Renae Merle, The Washington Post January 17th, 2006 The industry grew rapidly when the government and corporations paid hundreds of millions of dollars for armed guards after Sept. 11, 2001, and the invasion of Iraq. Now many industry insiders reason that demand for private security in Iraq will begin to decline, and they want to expand beyond just toting guns. |
| The Incredible Shrinking Company
by Christopher Moraff , Dollars and Sense January 15th, 2006 Between 2002 and 2005, St. Augustine, Fla., exercise equipment vendor Raul Espinosa watched mystified as, one after another, a series of Air Force contracts he had placed bids on were given to other companies. Of the 14 bids that Espinosa has documented, his company, FitNet International, did not win one. To his surprise, Espinosa learned that some of the competitors he was losing contracts to had never even bothered to bid on them. |
| US: Class-action case sought over Katrina oil spill by Ellen Wulfhorst, Reuters January 13th, 2006 Attorneys argued in federal court on Thursday over whether homeowners whose property fell victim to an oil spill from Hurricane Katrina can band together and sue Murphy Oil Corp in a class-action lawsuit. |
| US: 600 People Monitoring Hurricane Contracts
by Charles R. Babcock, Washington Post January 13th, 2006 The federal government has sent nearly 600 auditors and investigators to the Gulf Coast region to monitor $8.3 billion in contracts awarded to help victims of last year's hurricanes, according to year-end figures released by the Department of Homeland Security. |
| US: Fed Contract Website Found Insecure by John Markoff, The New York Times January 13th, 2006 The General Services Administration has shut a Web site for government contractors after a computer industry consultant reported that he was able to view and modify corporate and financial information submitted by vendors. |
| US: Katrina Contract Payments May Be Limited by Lara Jakes Jordan, Associated Press January 12th, 2006 In one instance, investigators found that mathematical errors contributed to $3 million in overbilling by a private contractor providing food and lodging at base camps across Louisiana. |
| US: Army May End Lockheed Spy Plane Contract Associated Press January 12th, 2006 The Army is expected to cancel a Lockheed Martin Corp. contract to build a new spy plane, according to industry and Pentagon officials, despite efforts by the defense contractor to solve problems that include lightening the plane's weight. |
| KATRINA: Tiers of Subcontractors Bleed Off Reconstruction Money
by Gordon Russell and James Varney, Newhouse News Service January 9th, 2006 The blue-tarp roof, a symbol of hurricane damage in south Louisiana and Mississippi as recognizable as curbside debris, may wind up as a post-Katrina emblem of government waste reminiscent of the Pentagon's fabled $435 hammers and $640 toilet seats. |
| US: Economists Say Cost of Iraq War Could Top $2 Trillion by Bryan Bender, The Boston Globe January 8th, 2006 Tally exceeds White House projections. |
| IRAQ: Punjab Youths Hoodwinked to Serve US Army in Iraq by Ajay Bharadwaj, DNA India January 7th, 2006 Human trafficking is not a new phenomenon in Punjab. However, it is the landing of young aspirants in Iraq that has started raising hackles. |
| IRAQ: Unscrupulous Travel Agents Push Punjab Youths to Iraq Jobs WebIndia123.com January 7th, 2006 One claimed a travel agent sent him to Kuwait from where he was forced to go to Iraq. He was held captive in Iraq and forced to work for several hours every day for a pittance. |
| US: Boeing-Lockheed Granted Monopoly by Andy Pasztor and Jonathan Karp, Wall Street Journal January 7th, 2006 The Pentagon has given preliminary approval to a joint venture between Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. for military-rocket launches, endorsing a rare monopoly that could set a precedent for defense contractors facing slower military spending, said industry and government officials. |
| US: Pentagon Foot-dragging on Contractor's Labor Trafficking by Editorial, Macon Telegraph January 4th, 2006 Privatizing many military support operations in combat zones may have yielded savings in reduced overhead. But human trafficking practiced by some foreign subcontractors - involving forced prostitution and forced labor - has tarnished our reputation. |
| US: Katrina Oil Spill Clouds Future Of Battered Suburb by Betsy McKay, Wall Street Journal January 3rd, 2006 When the levees that protected Chalmette gave way to Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29, about 1,800 homes were inundated with floodwaters carrying nearly 1.1 million gallons of oil from a nearby refinery. |
| US: Laws for Gov't Contractors under Human Trafficking Spotlight by Francis Helguero, The Christian Post January 2nd, 2006 A human trafficking bill seen as a tougher upgrade to current laws is set to be signed into law by President Bush. However, concerns are being raised about enforcement of 2003 trafficking laws applying to U.S. government overseas contractors. |
| IRAQ: Pentagon Paid Sunni Clerics To Aid Propaganda Effort by David S. Cloud and Jeff Gerth, The New York Times January 2nd, 2006 A Pentagon contractor that paid Iraqi newspapers to print positive articles written by American soldiers has also been compensating Sunni religious scholars in Iraq in return for assistance with its propaganda work, according to current and former employees. |
| UN: Advisory Board Press Conference for Iraq Development Fund UN Press Centre December 28th, 2005 The Board had consistently raised concerns about inadequate controls over Iraqi oil and other aspects of IDF’s operation. |
| UN: US Urged to ‘Seek Resolution’ with Iraq over Halliburton Oil Contract UN News Centre December 28th, 2005 Given the “significant” sum involved, the length of the audit process and the fact that $1.2 billion has been spent on the contract, the International Advisory and Monitoring Board called on Washington to “seek resolution” with the Iraqi Government on the possible improper use of resources. |
| US: Four Major Katrina Recovery Deals Planned by Gordon Russell, The Times-Picayune December 28th, 2005 Nearly four months after the storm flooded 80 percent of New Orleans and left more than 30,000 ruined vehicles in public rights of way, Mayor Ray Nagin is poised to award a large contract to a private company that will oversee the collection and disposal of the wreckage, city officials said. |
| US: Pentagon Stalls on Banning Contractors from Using Forced Labor by Cam Simpson, The Chicago Tribune December 27th, 2005 A proposal prohibiting defense contractor involvement in human trafficking for forced prostitution and labor was drafted by the Pentagon last summer, but five defense lobbying groups oppose key provisions and a final policy still appears to be months away. |
| US: Lawsuit Could Dent Global War-Contractor Boom by Bernd Debusmann, Reuters December 22nd, 2005 Military experts say the lawsuit highlights legal gray zones, a lack of regulation and little oversight of a booming global industry. |
| UK: Britain in $70 Billion Jet Deal With Saudi Arabia Agence France Presse December 21st, 2005 Britain is to supply Saudi Arabia with Typhoon jets in a massive deal reported to be worth up to 70 billion dollars, that primarily benefits British company BAE Systems, the Ministry of Defence said. |
| US: New licenses for RV sales halted in Louisiana by Melinda DeSlatte, Associated Press December 20th, 2005 Hoping to protect Louisiana businesses and stem an onslaught of out-of-state trailer salesmen setting up shop after the hurricanes, a state panel on Tuesday halted the issuance of new licenses for people to sell motor homes and travel trailers. |
| US: Lockheed Wins $869 Mln US Navy Missile Contract Reuters December 20th, 2005 The U.S. Navy on Tuesday said it awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. an $869 million contract to fund continued production of Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles in fiscal year 2006. |
| US: Security for Sale by Sarah Posner, The American Prospect December 20th, 2005 Less than three years after Sept. 11, the brief but uninspiring history of DHS proves how little has actually changed in Washington, where the institutional cultivation of influence peddling, cronyism, and waste continues to thrive unimpeded. |
| IRAQ: Jobs Lure Lands 80 Nepalis in Soup WebIndia123.com December 19th, 2005 Since Nepal has banned the hire of Nepali workers in Iraq and any other country going through war or civil unrest, the unscrupulous agencies tried to smuggle the men in through India and Kuwait. |
| IRAQ: Second Army Reserve officer arrested in contract bribe conspiracy
by Mark Sherman, Associated Press December 15th, 2005 An Army Reserve lieutenant colonel was arrested Thursday on charges she was part of a conspiracy to steer Iraqi reconstruction contracts to a businessman in exchange for money and gifts, including a Cadillac SUV. |
| IRAQ: US Army officer Charged in Iraq Fraud Scam Reuters December 15th, 2005 The U.S. Justice Department said Army Reserve Lt. Col. Debra Harrison, 47, who served with the Coalition Provisional Authority, was arrested on charges involving bribery, money laundering and fraud. |
| IRAQ: Private Security Guard Sues after Reporting Claims of 'Unprofessional Conduct' by By John Accola, Rocky Mountain News December 15th, 2005 The lawsuit alleges a bungled cover-up, in which MVM guards fabricated a horrific shootout with roadside snipers and later bragged about killing three enemy soldiers. |
| US: Panel rejects subpoenas of White House Katrina documents Associated Press December 14th, 2005 The Republican chairman of a special House panel investigating the government's response to Hurricane Katrina decided Wednesday to reject, at least for now, a proposal to subpoena the White House for documents detailing internal communications before and after the storm hit on August 29. |
| US: Biloxi Axes Corps, Ashbritt WLOX December 14th, 2005 Jackson County supervisors disappointed in Army Corps and Ashbritt, who have hardly done any cleanup in and around Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula since Katrina. |
| US: Britons Named in US 'Good News' Furor by David Pallister, The Guardian December 14th, 2005 Ex-military intelligence man central to Pentagon covert plan to pay for pro-American articles in Iraqi newspapers. |
| US: Pentagon Rolls Out Stealth Public Relations by Matt Kelley, USA TODAY December 14th, 2005 $300-million effort aims to spread pro-U.S. messages in foreign media. |
| US: U.S. Arranges 'Pre-Deployment' Training for Haiti-Bound Private Police by Stephen Peacock, NarcoNews December 13th, 2005 The U.S. State Dept. is reaching out to independent contractors to train other private contractors who will be deployed as “civilian police” -- hired guns for so-called peacekeeping missions taking place in Haiti and other geopolitical hotspots. The senior adviser selected for the task “must oversee pre-deployment training currently being conducted” by Dyncorp International, Civilian Police International and Pacific Architects and Engineers/Homeland Security Corporation, according a recently released procurement document. |
| PHILIPPINES: Pinoy Workers' Attempt to Go to Iraq Thwarted Sun-Star Manila December 13th, 2005 Eighty-eight Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) bound for Iraq were prevented from leaving Dubai over the weekend for "allegedly having no valid working permits." |
| US: Disaster reveals cracks in procurement process by Joseph J. Petrillo, Government Computer News December 12th, 2005 The federal response to Hurricane Katrina was a fiasco and, unfortunately, procurement was part of the problem. As time goes on, more and more contracting issues come to light. |
| US: Pentagon's Use and Performance of Rendon Media Firm Scrutinized by Kim Barker and Stephen J. Hedges, The Chicago Tribune December 12th, 2005 Advocates say Rendon helps fight propaganda from Islamic fundamentalists. Critics say the Pentagon's use of media firms such as Rendon blurs the line between public relations and propaganda. |
| IRAQ: Pentagon's Information Campaign under Fire by Stephen j. Hedges, The Chicago Tribune December 11th, 2005 On Capitol Hill inquiries have been launched into everything from the Pentagon's use of prewar intelligence to bolster the case for the war to the Defense Department's reliance on public relations firms to shape the images and messages of war. |
| IRAQ: US Ruling to Usher More Private Contractors into Iraq by Ben Hammer, Washington Business Journal December 11th, 2005 The Pentagon expects to increasingly rely on contractors to advise Iraqi officials and train Iraqi security forces as U.S. troops are drawn down. |
| IRAQ: Aussie Companies Snare $1.9 Billion in Contracts by Richard Baker, The Age December 10th, 2005 Austrade is refusing to release the identity of all Australian companies with reconstruction work, claiming many want details kept secret for security reasons. But last year, the Federal Government was more willing to reveal the identities of the companies. |
| IRAQ: Australia Challenged US over $20 Billion in War Spoils by Richard Baker, The Age December 10th, 2005 "Is it putting the cash to the best use for the people of Iraq? Or is it still rewarding US companies with lucrative contracts?" |
| IRAQ: How Iraq's Future Went Up in Smoke by Richard Baker, The Age December 10th, 2005 As the handover deadline approached, the US officials on the board had gone on a spending spree, directing billions from the Development Fund for Iraq to projects that were in many cases poorly planned or had already received substantial US taxpayer funding commitments. |
| IRAQ: U.S. Military Probing Video Of Road Violence
by Jonathan Finer and Ellen Knickmeyer, the Washington Post December 9th, 2005 British Contractors Appear To Shoot at Iraqi Civilians |
| IRAQ: Investigators Expect More Arrests Over Reconstruction Funds by James Gordon Meek, New York Daily News December 8th, 2005 Recent criminal charges for ripping off Iraq reconstruction funds have led to fresh tips from potential whistleblowers. |
| IRAQ: Private Security Gunman May be from South Africa by Jani Meyer , Sunday Tribune December 4th, 2005 A South African employed by a private security company in Iraq has allegedly been involved in the random shooting of civilians in the war-ravaged country. |
| US: Defense Contractor 'Knew How to Grease the Wheels' by By Dean Calbreath and Jerry Kammer, San Diego Union-Tribune December 4th, 2005 ADCS founder spent years cultivating political contacts. |
| IRAQ: Philippines Efforts to Bring Home Workers from Iraq Unsuccessful The Daily Tribune December 4th, 2005 |
| IRAQ: Private Security Guards Operate With Little Supervision by T. Christian Miller, The Los Angeles Times December 4th, 2005 Private security contractors have been involved in scores of shootings in Iraq, but none have been prosecuted despite findings in at least one fatal case that the men had not followed proper procedures. |
| IRAQ: RTI Leads Cleanup Effort by Liz Hester, Herald-Sun December 3rd, 2005 |
| US: The Biggest Bucks on the Planet Go to Defense Industry CEOs by Kyra Gottesman, Oroville Mercury-Register December 3rd, 2005 While the rest of us are just trying to follow troop movements, these guys, to coin a phrase from the film All the President's Men,' follow the money.' |
| IRAQ: US Army Reservist Faces Graft Charges by Farah Stockman, The Boston Globe December 2nd, 2005 Probe examines reconstruction deals. |
| US: Stench of sleaze Rises from Congress by Editorial, The DesMoines Register December 2nd, 2005 It takes two to commit bribery — the person who takes the bribe and the person who gives it. Justice demands the next prosecution be of the defense contractors who kept the San Diego-area congressman supplied with an eye-popping flow of cash, luxury cars, yachts and other amenities. |
| US: Road to Riches ... or Ruin? by Andrew Stelzer, In These Times December 1st, 2005 Army recuitment may be down, but economic hardship keeps the troops of Halliburton at high levels. |
| US: Fewer Auditors, Pentagon Secrecy Hinder Oversight by David Wood, Newhouse News Service November 30th, 2005 Could a defense company stuff a Pentagon contract with enough overhead to hide bribes to a congressman? Easy enough, say veteran Washington insiders. |
| US: Rep. Randy Cunningham’s Corruption Put Troops at Risk by George E. Condon Jr., Copley News Service November 30th, 2005 Cunningham betrayed his friends, his constituents, his colleagues and, certainly most important, the U.S. combat troops he so loudly championed. By steering contracts vital to the Iraq war effort to cronies, he risked putting those troops in greater peril as long as it meant money for him. |
| US: Defense Contractor Spends Big on Key Lawmakers by Matt Kelley and Jim Drinkard,, USA Today November 30th, 2005 Brent Wilkes, the founder of defense contractor ADCS Inc., gave more than $840,000 in contributions to 32 House members or candidates, campaign-finance records show. He flew Republican lawmakers on his private jet and hired lobbyists with close ties to those lawmakers. |
| US: The Booming Business for Psy/Ops by Jason Vest, Government Executive November 30th, 2005 No one is sure how well psychological operations have worked in Afghanistan or Iraq, but that's not stopping efforts to step them up, using contractors to do it. |
| US: The Hazy Story of the Lincoln Group by Jason Vest, Government Executive November 30th, 2005 At the December 2004 Destination Baghdad Expo in Iraq, Iraqex listed itself as Iraq-based, but provided only its Washington telephone and address. Then, in March 2005, it changed its name yet again, to Lincoln Group, a communications and PR firm "providing insight and influence in challenging and hostile environments." And on June 11, along with SYColeman and Science Applications International Corp., Lincoln Group got its JPSE contract. |
| U.S. Military Covertly Pays Company to Place Stories in Iraqi Press by Mark Mazzetti and Borzou Daragahi, The Los Angeles Times November 30th, 2005 Designed to mask any connection with the US military, The Pentagon has a contract with a small Washington-based firm called Lincoln Group, which helps translate and place the stories. The Lincoln Group's Iraqi staff or its subcontractors, sometimes pose as freelance reporters or advertising executives when they deliver the stories to Baghdad media outlets. |
| IRAQ: U.S. Auditors Homed in on Hillah Contracts by Rowan Scarborough, The Washington Times November 28th, 2005 The United Nations released the money to the CPA in 2003. Planeloads of plastic-wrapped hundred-dollar bills began arriving in Iraq via C-17 cargo jets. The Development Fund for Iraq had landed with ery few strings attached. |
| US: Congressmen Took Bribes to Steer Defense Contracts to Conspirators by Chris Cillizza, The Washington Post November 28th, 2005 Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) pleaded guilty today to fraud, conspiracy to commit bribery and tax evasion. Shortly after entering his plea, Cunningham announced that he is immediately resigning his seat. His resignation comes after he admitted "he took $2.4 million in bribes to steer defense contracts to conspirators." |
| IRAQ: Video Exposes Private Security Convoys Shooting Iraqi drivers by Sean Rayment, news.telegraph November 27th, 2005 A 'trophy' video appearing to show security guards in Baghdad randomly shooting Iraqi civilians has sparked two investigations after it was posted on the internet, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal. |
| IRAQ: Iraq Kurds Say They Were Shortchanged on Massive U.S. Cash Drop
by Richard C. Paddock and T. Christian Miller, The Los Angeles Times November 21st, 2005 An Iraqi Kurd who served on the U.S.-appointed Governing Council said that airlifting $1.4 billion in cash to Irbil was an attempt to win the silence of Kurdish leaders after the Coalition Provisional Authority had squandered the rest of the money. |
| US: Military Vests Recalled by James Bernstein, Newsday November 20th, 2005 Army, Marines claim thousands more protective body armor vests made by Point Blank Body Armor Inc., failed to pass ballistic tests. |
| AFGHANISTAN: A Rebuilding Plan Full of Cracks by Joe Stephens and David B. Ottaway, The Washington Post November 20th, 2005 At the outset, the Louis Berger Group Inc., failed to provide adequate oversight and USAID officials were unable to identify the location projects in the field. Officials at contracting companies and nonprofit groups complain that they were directed to build at sites that turned out to be sheer mountain slopes, a dry riverbed and even a graveyard. |
| US: Halliburton Contract May be Probed by Erik Eckholm, The New York Times November 19th, 2005 The allegations mainly involve the Army's secret, noncompetitive awarding in 2003 of a multibillion-dollar contract for oilfield repairs in Iraq to Halliburton. |
| US: Halliburton Allegations Sent to Justice Department, Senator Says by Craig Torres, Bloomberg November 19th, 2005 A former contracting officer's "allegations about wrongdoing" in connection with Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown and Root unit were referred "for further criminal investigation," said North Dakota Democrat, Byron Dorgan. |
| US: The Man Who Sold the War by James Bamford, Rolling Stone November 19th, 2005 John Rendon is a man who fills a need that few people even know exists. The Pentagon secretly awarded him a $16 million contract to target Iraq and other adversaries with propaganda. He is a leader in the strategic field known as "perception management," manipulating information -- and, by extension, the news media. |
| KUWAIT: Suspect of Halliburton Contract Fraud Escapes Extradition by Ann McGlynn, Quad-City Times November 19th, 2005 Kuwaiti man remains at large on charges of fraud and bribery involving a Halliburton fuel contract for US military. |
| US: Ex-Halliburton Iraq Worker Gets 15-Month Jail Sentence by Matt Daily, Reuters November 18th, 2005 A former Halliburton Co. worker was sentenced on Friday to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty in federal court in Illinois to taking more than $110,000 in kickbacks from an Iraqi company in 2004. |
| US: Justice Department to Examine Halliburton Subsidiary CNN November 18th, 2005 Whistleblower's Iraq claims to be investigated |
| IRAQ: Ex-Halliburton Worker Found Guilty on Kickbacks by Matt Daily, Reuters November 18th, 2005 A former Halliburton worker has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty in federal court in Illinois to taking more than $110,000 in kickbacks from an Iraqi company in 2004. |
| US: Parish Official Charged in Louisiana Storm Case by Leslie eaton, The New York Times November 18th, 2005 In the first corruption arrest stemming from the federal money flooding into Louisiana for hurricane cleanup, federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged a parish official with taking kickbacks to arrange a debris-removal contract. |
| IRAQ: Ex-Convict Charged with Taking Bribes Worked for Coalition Provisional Authority by James Glanz, The New York Times November 18th, 2005 A North Carolina man who was charged yesterday with accepting kickbacks and bribes as a comptroller and financial officer for the American occupation authority in Iraq was hired despite having served prison time for felony fraud in the 1990's. |
| IRAQ: Pair Accused of Contract Fraud with US-Controlled Iraqi Assets by Charles R. Babcock and Renae Merle, The Washington Post November 18th, 2005 According to affidavits filed by government investigators, the two men allegedly conspired, starting in late 2003, to rig bids on contracts in the south-central region of Iraq from a CPA office in Al Hillah. One was the controller and funding officer at that office, in charge of some $82 million from the Development Fund for Iraq, which is made up of repatriated assets, receipts from the sale of Iraqi oil and transfers from the U.N. oil-for-food program. |
| US: Some Tenet holders call for Katrina probe Reuters November 17th, 2005 A dissident shareholder group on Thursday called for a complete investigation into the deaths that occurred in Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s New Orleans hospitals after Hurricane Katrina. |
| US: Payments on Katrina Contract Halted After Billing Questions
by Charles R. Babcock, Washington Post November 17th, 2005 The federal government has suspended payments on an $80 million contract to an Alabama company that built base camps for emergency workers responding to Hurricane Katrina after auditors reported finding billing and documentation problems, a spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency said yesterday. |
| IRAQ: American Faces Charge of Graft for Work in Iraq by James Glanz, New York Times November 17th, 2005 In what is expected to be the first of a series of criminal charges against officials and contractors overseeing the rebuilding of Iraq, an American has been charged with paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to American occupation authorities and their spouses to obtain construction contracts, according to a complaint unsealed late yesterday. |
| IRAQ: Armies of Low-Wage Workers Form the
Backbone of Private Military by David Pugliese, The Ottawa Citizen November 17th, 2005 While hundreds of millions in profits are being made by U.S. and British firms that provide support services to American forces in Iraq, it is citizens from poor nations such as the Philippines who do most of the work and are killed or injured in the process. |
| US: Private Military Firm Differs from Peers Going Public by Will Deener , The Dallas Morning News November 16th, 2005 Fast-growing DynCorp provides security and training for police forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. It may represent the first of a new generation of defense-related stock offerings. |
| SOUTH AFRICA: Trade Group Blasts Anti-Mercenary Laws as 'Threat to Peace' by Peter Fabricius , Independent Online November 15th, 2005 A trade group representing US, European and South African private security companies is lobbying to put pressure on the South African government to drop tough new anti-mercenary legislation now before parliament. |
| US: Raytheon wins US$1.3 billion army contract for new radar system Associated Press November 15th, 2005 Raytheon Co. said Tuesday it won a $1.3-billion-US army contract to develop and test a new radar system designed to protect troops from cruise missile attacks. |
| PHILIPPINES: Canadian Trains Police for a Deadly Beat by David Pugliese, The Ottawa Citizen November 14th, 2005 William, who learned to fight in the Canadian army, teaches counter-terrorism to Filipino trainees, then leads them in combat. |
| WORLD: Private Military Industry Booming candada.com November 13th, 2005 The industry brings in about $100 billion US a year in revenues and operates in over 50 nations. But, since it is largely unregulated, there are no firm numbers worldwide on how many private contractors or companies there actually are. |
| US: Firm Helps Pentagon Mold News Abroad by Stephen J. Hedges, The Chicago Tribune November 13th, 2005 The Rendon Group has garnered more than $56 million in work from the Pentagon since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. These contracts list such activities as tracking foreign reporters; "pushing" news favorable to U.S. forces; planting television news segments that promote American positions, and creating a grass-roots voting effort in Puerto Rico on behalf of the U.S. Navy. |
| SOUTH AFRICA: Washington Private Military Trade Group Slams Anti-Mercenary Bill SABC News November 12th, 2005 The International Peace Operations Association (IOPA) is lobbying the US and other European governments to put pressure on the South African government not to pass the anti-mercenary bill, saying it undermines the role played by South Africans in peace building missions worldwide. |
| WORLD: Soldiers of Fortune by David Pugliese, canada.com November 12th, 2005 In the lawless reality of much of the post-Cold War world, private security is a booming business. And Canada, once noted for peacekeeping, is emerging as a source of talented guns for hire. David Pugliese reports. |
| US: Company under fire won Katrina contracts by Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY November 8th, 2005 A defense contracting firm tangled in the Abu Ghraib prison controversy and an international bribery scheme has been awarded federal government contracts for Hurricane Katrina and other disasters. |
| IRAQ: Before Rearming Iraq, He Sold Shoes and Flowers
by Solomon Moore and T. Christian Miller, The Los Angeles Times November 6th, 2005 The U.S. chose Ziad Cattan to oversee military buying because he could get things done. He did, but now he faces corruption charges. |
| US: Immigrants Often Unpaid for Katrina Work
by Justin Pritchard, Associated Press November 5th, 2005 A pattern is emerging as the cleanup of Mississippi's Gulf Coast morphs into its multibillion-dollar reconstruction: Come payday, untold numbers of Hispanic immigrant laborers are being stiffed. |
| UN: U.S. Should Repay Millions to Iraq, a U.N. Audit Finds
by James Glanz, The New York Times November 5th, 2005 A United Nations auditing board recommended that the United States repay as much as $208 million to the Iraqi government for contracting work assigned to Kellogg, Brown & Root, the Halliburton subsidiary. |
| IRAQ: Green Zone Private Security Switch Causes Anxiety by Paul Martin, The Washington Times November 4th, 2005 One concern is that Triple Canopy employees have been recruited mainly in Latin America and speak little English. Global Strategies relies heavily on British-trained Nepalese Gurkhas and Sri Lankans, a majority of whom speak at least some English and often speak it well. |
| IRAQ: What to Call a Private Army of 20,000?
by Ruth Walker, The Christian Science Monitor November 3rd, 2005 There are 20,000 "private security contractors" in Iraq: What do you call the people who fill the gaps arising when the desire of politicians to make war often exceeds citizens' desire to be sent to war? |
| US: Tender Mercenaries: DynCorp and Me by Jeremy Scahill, Common Dreams November 1st, 2005 In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, journalist Jeremy Scahill investigated the role of private security companies like Blackwater USA, infamous for their work in Iraq, that deployed on the streets of New Orleans. His reports were broadcast on the national radio and TV show Democracy Now! and on hundreds of sites across the internet. In response to Scahill's recent cover story in The Nation magazine "Blackwater Down," the President and CEO of DynCorp, one of the largest private security companies in the world, wrote a letter to the editor of The Nation. Dyncorp CEO Stephen J. Cannon's letter is reprinted below, followed by Scahill's response. |
| IRAQ: Veteran Peruvian Soldiers and Police Recruited for Iraq by U.S. Contractors by Ángel Páez, Inter Press Service News Agency October 31st, 2005 The complaints by the families of the new private security recruits forced the Peruvian Foreign Ministry to act. Ambassador Jorge Lázaro, in charge of Offices of Peruvian Communities Abroad, announced that he had launched an investigation to determine whether the contracts violated the rights of the new recruits. |
| U.K.: War’s fertile grounds for soldiers of fortune by Peter Almond, The Sunday Times October 30th, 2005 Once thought of as little better than mercenaries, Britain’s private-security firms are now seen by many as valued and legitimate businesses. |
| US: Iraq Rebuilding Poorly Planned, Inspector General Says by Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg October 30th, 2005 The assessment marks the first time a sitting inspector general -- in this case a former White House deputy assistant to President George W. Bush -- has formally criticized the prewar planning process. Most of the authoritative criticism to date has come from retired military or diplomatic officers or academics who worked in the reconstruction effort. |
| US: Bribe Inquiry Looks at Sale of Field Gear to Military by Leslie Wayne, The New York Times October 28th, 2005 In a widening scandal at the United States Special Operations Command, federal investigators are looking into a bribery scheme as well as accusations of improper influence involving millions of dollars in battlefield equipment used by Navy Seals and Army Green Berets and Rangers. |
| U.N.: Massive Fraud in Iraq Oil Program by Maggie Farley, The Los Angeles Times October 27th, 2005 The United Nations' oil-for-food program was so badly managed and supervised that more than half of the 4,500 companies doing business with Iraq paid illegal surcharges and kickbacks to Saddam Hussein, finds an independent investigation into the program. |
| US: Rules Tightened for Contractors in Combat Zones by Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg October 27th, 2005 The new rules mandate background checks and permission from the military before a contractor can carry a weapon, and they spell out conditions for medical care and evacuation. At least 524 U.S. military contract workers, many of them Iraqis, have been killed in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion. |
| US: Pentagon Settles Some Halliburton Billing Disputes by Tom Fowler, The Houston Chronicle October 26th, 2005 The Army Corps of Engineers has settled payment disputes for six out of 10 task orders costing about $1.4 billion under its Restore Iraqi Oil contract with Houston-based Halliburton. Auditors concluded the military had been overcharged by about $108.4 million for fuel brought into Iraq from Kuwait under the orders. |
| IRAQ: OPEC and the Economic Conquest of Iraq by Greg Palast, Harper's/gregpalast.com October 24th, 2005 According to insiders and to documents obtained from the State Department, the neocons, once in command, are now in full retreat. Iraq's system of oil production, after a year of failed free-market experimentation, is being re-created almost entirely on the lines originally laid out by Saddam Hussein. |
| US: Technology Company Hired After 9/11 Charged Too Much for Labor, Audit Says by Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Scott Higham, The Washington Post October 23rd, 2005 Federal auditors say the prime contractor, Unisys Corp., overbilled taxpayers for as much as 171,000 hours' worth of labor and overtime by charging up to $131 an hour for employees who were paid less than half that amount while working on a $1 billion technology contract to improve the nation's transportation security system. |
| IRAQ: Making a killing
by Jon Swain, The Sunday Times October 23rd, 2005 The American government is hiring private security firms to stabilise Iraq — and paying them a fortune to do it. But many of them are unregulated and operate outside the law. |
| US: Suspected Illegal Workers Found at Halliburton Job Site by Griff Witte, The Washington Post October 22nd, 2005 Federal agents have identified 10 suspected illegal immigrants working at a naval base near New Orleans where the Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root is leading hurricane reconstruction, according to a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. |
| US: Illegal Immigrants Working for Contractors on Military Bases Raise Concerns by Estes Thompson, Associated Press October 21st, 2005 Scores of illegal immigrants working as cooks, laborers, janitors, even foreign-language instructors working for military contractors have been seized at military bases around the country in the past year, raising concerns in some quarters about security and troop safety. |
| US: Whistle-Blower or Troublemaker, Bunny Greenhouse Isn't Backing Down by Neely Tucker, The Washington Post October 19th, 2005 Then the 61-year-old Greenhouse lost her $137,000-a-year post after questioning the plump contracts awarded to Halliburton in the run-up to the war in Iraq. It has made her easy to love for some, easy to loathe for others, but it has not made her easy to know. |
| U.S.: Pentagon's auditors absent from Iraq by Seth Borenstein, Knight Ridder/Contra Costa Times October 18th, 2005 The chief Pentagon agency charged with investigating and reporting fraud and waste in Iraq quietly pulled out of the war zone a year ago -- leaving what experts say are gaps in the oversight of how more than $140 billion is being spent. |
| IRAQ: Into a War zone, on a Deadly Road by Cam Simpson, The Chicago Tribune October 13th, 2005 Thousands of workers are needed to meet the demands of the unprecedented privatization of military support operations unfolding under the watch of the U.S. Army and KBR, its prime contractor in Iraq. KBR, in turn, KBR, outsources much of the work to lowly-paid workers imported from developing nations. |
| IRAQ: Work Cut Short after Complaining about Abuse of Third-Country Workers by Ryan Clark, Cincinnati Enquirer October 13th, 2005 Robert Hill became concerned about the "mistreatment" of third-country nationals working in Iraq and then chose to walk away from his one-year commitment, saying he felt that speaking out made him a target for repercussions from his superiors. |
| IRAQ: War Fuels Human Labor Trade by Cam Simpson and Aamer Madhani, The Chicago Tribune October 13th, 2005 The United States has long condemned the practices that are now part of the privatization of the American war effort and which is central to the operations of Halliburton subsidiary KBR, the U.S. military's biggest private contractor in Iraq. |
| US: Cheney's Halliburton Options Up 3,281% Last Year The Raw Story October 11th, 2005 |
| IRAQ: Rescue Spares Some Workers by Cam Simpson, The Chicago Tribune October 10th, 2005 Footage of 12 of their countrymen executed at the hands of insurgents in Iraq last year set off a panic among Nepalis who didn't want to risk the same fate. But a manager for First Kuwaiti General Trading and Contracting Co., issued an ultimatum: Agree to travel to Iraq and they would get more food and water. Refuse, and they would get nothing and be put out on the streets of Kuwait City to find their way home. |
| US: Lobbyists Advise Katrina Relief by Alan C. Miller and Ken Silverstein, The Los Angeles Times October 10th, 2005 Lobbyists representing transportation, energy and other special interests dominated panels that advised Louisiana's U.S. senators crafting legislation to rebuild the storm-damaged Gulf Coast, records and interviews show. |
| IRAQ: Desperate for Work, Lured into Danger by Cam Simpson, The Chicago Tribune October 9th, 2005 The journey of a dozen impoverished men from Nepal to Iraq reveals the exploitation underpinning the American war effort |
| IRAQ: Poor Migrants Work in Netherworld to Support U.S. Contractors by T. Christian Miller, The Los Angeles Times October 9th, 2005 U.S.-hired contractors rely on laborers from impoverished countries, but no one looks out for the rights -- or lives -- of the foreigners. |
| US: Katrina work goes to officials who led Iraq effort by Adam Entous, Reuters October 6th, 2005 Top officials who managed U.S. reconstruction projects in Iraq have been hired by some of the same big companies that received those contracts and which are now involved in a rush of deals to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. |
| AFGHANISTAN: Blackwater Broke Rules, Report Says by Griff Witte, The Washington Post October 5th, 2005 A private contracting firm flying in Afghanistan for the U.S. military was in violation of numerous government regulations and contract requirements when one of its planes crashed into a mountainside in November 2004, killing all six on board, according to an Army report made public yesterday. |
| US: Boosted, not battered, in the hurricane's wake by Carola Hoyos, Financial Times, The Financial Times October 4th, 2005 |
| US: Minority Firms Getting Few Katrina Pacts by Hope Yen, Associated Press October 4th, 2005 Minority-owned businesses say they're paying the price for the decision by Congress and the Bush administration to waive certain rules for Hurricane Katrina recovery contracts. |
 | US: Magazine ad "unleashes hell" for Boeing and Bell by Hal Bernton, The Seattle Times October 1st, 2005 Boeing and its joint-venture partner Bell Helicopter apologized yesterday for a magazine ad published a month ago - and again this week by mistake - depicting U.S. Special Forces troops rappelling from an Osprey aircraft onto the roof of a mosque. |
| US: U.S. Paying a Premium to Cover Storm-Damaged Roofs by Aaron C. Davis, Knight Ridder September 30th, 2005 Across the hurricane ravaged Gulf Coast, thousands upon thousands of blue tarps are being nailed to wind-damaged roofs, a visible sign of government assistance. Construction crews working with TJC Defense, out of Alabama, install a blue tarp on a home in Kenner, Louisiana. Ian McVea, Fort Worth Star-Telegram The blue sheeting - a godsend to residents whose homes are threatened by rain - is rapidly becoming the largest roofing project in the nation's history. It isn't coming cheap. |
| US: Many Contracts for Storm Work Raise Questions by Eric Lipton and Ron Nixon, The New York Times September 26th, 2005 Topping the federal government's list of costs related to Hurricane Katrina is the $568 million in contracts for debris removal landed by a Florida company with ties to Mississippi's Republican governor. Near the bottom is an $89.95 bill for a pair of brown steel-toe shoes bought by an Environmental Protection Agency worker in Baton Rouge, La. |
| US: Auditors investigate Katrina contracts by Hope Yen, Associated Press September 22nd, 2005 Government auditors are questioning whether several multimillion-dollar Katrina contracts” including one involving a subsidiary of Houston-based Halliburton Co.” invite abuse because they are open-ended and not clearly defined. |
| IRAQ: Contractor Charged in Baghdad Badge Scam by Jerry Markon and Josh White, The Washington Post September 21st, 2005 A military contractor returning from Iraq was charged yesterday with distributing identity badges that control access to Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone to people not allowed to receive them, including an Iraqi woman he was dating. |
| IRAQ: Poor Planning and Corruption Hobble Reconstruction of Iraq by Craig S. Smith, The New York Times September 18th, 2005 In April, Najaf's main maternity hospital received rare good news: an $8 million refurbishment program financed by the United States would begin immediately. But five months and millions of dollars later, the hospital administrators say they have little but frustration to show for it. |
| US: Contractor Entangled in Abu Ghraib Plans to Drop Interrogation Work by Ellen McCarthy, The Washington Post September 16th, 2005 CACI International Inc., the Arlington-based defense contractor that attracted controversy when an employee was accused of participating in the Abu Ghraib prison abuses, is getting out of the interrogation business. |
| US: Halliburton Subsidiary, KBR, Clinches More Hurricane Recovery Work Defense Industry Daily September 15th, 2005 The task order is a cost reimbursement, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity construction capabilities contract for post-Katrina recovery efforts in support of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for "unwatering activities" in Plaquemines, East and West basins, New Orleans. |
| US: Private Security Company Creates Stir in New Orleans by Bill Sizemore, The Virginian-Pilot September 15th, 2005 Blackwater USA, the North Carolina-based security firm best known for supplementing U.S. troops in Iraq, is now attracting international attention patrolling the flooded streets of New Orleans. |
| CHILE: Probe of European Defense Firms Linked to Pinochet by Fiona Ortiz, Reuters September 15th, 2005 European defense companies deposited millions of dollars into bank accounts for front companies of former dictator Augusto Pinochet, a source close to a Chilean court probe into the accounts told Reuters. |
| EUROPE: Private Security Companies Linked with Organized Crime Associated Press September 13th, 2005 While the industry was growing rapidly in the southeast Europe, there are problems with private security companies being affiliated with political parties as well as criminal, paramilitary and ethnic groups reports the Britain-based Saferworld think-tank. |
| WORLD: Steady Growth Expected for Private Security Industry by Stephen Fidler, The Financial Times September 13th, 2005 There are estimated to be more than 20,000 armed expatriates working for private security companies in Iraq, more than all the non-US troops combined and contrary their numbers do not appear to have fallen appreciably. The Baghdad bubble, as it has been dubbed, has yet to burst. |
| HONG KONG: Yahoo, Chinese Police, and a Jailed Journalist by Robert Marquand, The Christian Science Monitor September 12th, 2005 The role of Yahoo in helping Chinese security officials to finger a journalist sentenced to 10 years for e-mailing "state secrets" is filtering into mainland China. The revelation reinforces a conviction among Chinese "netizens" that there is no place security forces can't find them. |
| US: No-Bid Contracts Win Katrina Work by Yochi J. Dreazen, The Wall Street Journal September 12th, 2005 White House uses practices criticized in Iraq rebuilding for hurricane-related jobs. |
| AUSTRALIA: Security Guards Are A New Force The Sunday Mail September 11th, 2005 Private security guards now outnumber police officers in South Australia by almost two to one. |
| US: Disaster Hacks by Editorial, The Los Angeles Times September 11th, 2005 As with the hurricane, there were warnings that FEMA was turning into a disaster. The union representing its career employees wrote to members of Congress last year that politically connected contractors and novices without disaster-relief experience had taken over and trashed FEMA's professionalism. |
| US: Top War Profiteer Doug Feith Retires Wealthy by Evelyn Pringle, Dissident Voice September 11th, 2005 Douglas Feith, who recently resigned as undersecretary of defense planned ahead for his retirement and will not be seen in the unemployment line. |
| IRAQ: Security Contractors in Iraq Under Scrutiny After Shootings by Jonathan Finer, The Washington Post September 10th, 2005 Recent shootings of Iraqi civilians, allegedly involving the legion of U.S., British and other foreign security contractors operating in the country, are drawing increasing concern from Iraqi officials and U.S. commanders who say they undermine relations between foreign military forces and Iraqi civilians. |
| US: Boeing May Avoid Criminal Prosecution by Jame Gunsalus and Cary O'Reilly , Bloomberg September 10th, 2005 Boeing is in talks with the Justice Department to pay a fine and avoid criminal charges related to the scandals through a "deferred prosecution." The fine may be as high as $500 million. |
| US: Private Sector Poised to Reap Windfall from Katrina by John Broder, The New York Times September 10th, 2005 Private contractors, guided by two former directors of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other well-connected lobbyists and consultants, are rushing to cash in on the unprecedented sums to be spent on Hurricane Katrina relief and reconstruction. |
| US: Katrina-Hit States Turn to Private Security Firms by Marguerite Higgins, The Washington Times September 10th, 2005 Private security companies say they have seen an upswing in demand for services in the ravaged Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina blew through the region 12 days ago. |
| US: Feared Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans by Jeremy Scahill and Daniela Crespo, Democracy Now! September 10th, 2005 Blackwater is one of the leading private "security" firms servicing the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. |
| IRAQ: Private Security Dispute Shuts Baghdad Airport by Ellen Knickmeyer and Naseer Nouri, The Washington Post September 10th, 2005 Foreign contractor, Iraqis are at odds |
| IRAQ: Security Contractors Under Scrutiny After Shootings by Jonathan Finer, The Washington Post September 10th, 2005 Recent shootings of Iraqi civilians, allegedly involving the legion of U.S., British and other foreign security contractors operating in the country, are drawing increasing concern from Iraqi officials and U.S. commanders who say they undermine relations between foreign military forces and Iraqi civilians. |
| UK: War Opponent Holds Stake in Iraq Security Firm by Isabel Oakeshott, The Evening Standard September 9th, 2005 Sir Malcolm has been a fierce critic of the war, but an investigation into his financial interests shows his share options in a private security firm are rocketing in value as the company wins new contracts while the insurgency in Iraq continues. |
| US: Fluor's Slowed Iraq Work Frees it for Gulf Coast Reuters September 9th, 2005 A slowing of reconstruction work in Iraq has freed up people for Fluor Corp. to begin rebuilding in the U.S. Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina. |
| IRAQ: The Interior Ministry Imposes Rules for Security Companies by Oliver Poole, The Telegraph September 9th, 2005 Private security companies have long been a concern and those operating on US department of defence contracts are free from risk of legal penalty under the Iraqi judicial system if anyone is killed in a firefight. |
| IRAQ: Private Security Company Strikes Over Unpaid Bills by Mariam Karouny and Omar al-Ibadi, Reuters September 9th, 2005 Iraq's government ordered its forces to reopen Baghdad airport on Friday after the private British company that polices it closed the passenger terminal in a dispute over unpaid bills. |
| US: Bush Insider Pushes Clients for Hurricane Rebuilding by Thomas B. Edsall, The Washington Post September 8th, 2005 After leaving FEMA in March 2003, Joe M. Allbaugh, who managed the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign, founded Allbaugh Co., a lobbying-consulting firm with many clients in the disaster-relief business. The firm's Web site quotes Allbaugh: "I'm dedicated to helping private industry meet the homeland security challenge." |
| IRAQ: Reconstruction Falters and Running Out of Money by T. Christian Miller, The Los Angeles Times September 8th, 2005 The U.S. will halt construction work on some water and power plants in Iraq because it is running out of money for projects, officials said Wednesday. |
| IRAQ: Extra Funds Needed for Iraq Reconstruction by Andrea Shalal-Esa, Reuters September 7th, 2005 Stuart Bowen, U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, said it is unclear where the new funds would come from, but it is not the right time to discuss more money to given the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. Gulf region. |
| US: Union Reports Problems at Army Bases by Pete Yost, The Washington Post September 6th, 2005 A labor union is reporting significant security problems at seven Army bases where federal contractors are guarding the gates, freeing up soldiers to serve in Iraq. |
| US: Halliburton for Help on Hurricane Damaged Bases by Jon H. Cushman Jr., The New York Times September 4th, 2005 It is a familiar role for KBR, which under longstanding contracts has delivered the engineering equivalent of first aid to the Navy and other military and government agencies after natural disasters for more than 15 years. This time, the Halliburton unit's performance is likely to be watched especially closely, as its work under separate contracts in Iraq has come under extensive criticism in the past two years. |
| US: Pentagon Acquisition Needs Cultural Change by Andrea Shalal-Esa, Reuters September 3rd, 2005 Some lower-level U.S. Air Force and Pentagon officials do not yet fully recognize the need to overhaul defense procurement to make it more transparent and avoid problems of the past, the U.S. military's top internal watchdog said on Thursday. |
| US: Pentagon's Top Watchdog Resigned Amid Claims of Stonewalling Inquiries by T. Christian Miller, The Los Angeles Times September 3rd, 2005 The resignation comes after Sen. Charles E. Grassley sent Defense Department Inspector General Joseph E. Schmitz several letters informing him that he was the focus of a congressional inquiry. |
| US: Pentagon Still Investigating Iraq Prison Abuses Reuters September 1st, 2005 The Pentagon's chief internal watchdog said on Thursday his agency continues to investigate the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, although he declined to give details. |
| WORLD: India Becomes Top Weapons Buyer Among Developing Nations Reuters September 1st, 2005 With $15.7 billion in orders, India edged out China, with $15.3 billion, to become the developing world's biggest weapons buyer for the eight-year period up to 2004 reviewed by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. |
| WORLD: U.S., Russia Top Arms Exporters, Congressional Report Says by Lyubov Pronina, Defense News September 1st, 2005 The report found that the total value of military weapon sales worldwide in 2004 rose to the highest level since 2000, reaching nearly $37 billion. |
| US: Pentagon's Chief Watchdog Joins Company that Owns Blackwater Reuters September 1st, 2005 Joseph Schmitz, the Pentagon's chief internal watchdog since March 2002, has quit to join a defense contractor involved in private security services, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday. |
| US: A View into Political Pork Process by Marcus Stern and Jerry Kammer, COPLEY NEWS SERVICE/The San Diego Union-Tribune August 31st, 2005 Cunningham's possible abuse of his clout has opened a window on the congressional appropriations process, giving the public a rare glimpse at the growing premium that contractors place on obtaining influence on Capitol Hill. |
| US: Defense contractor CEO pay outstrips other CEOs Reuters August 30th, 2005 Chief executives at top U.S. defense contractors have received a 200 percent pay hike since 2001 compared to a 7 percent raise for other CEOs at large companies, a study showed on Tuesday. |
| US: CEOs with Defense Firms Double Salaries Since 9/11 by Bryan Bender, The Boston Globe August 30th, 2005 The chief executives of the defense industry's largest companies have doubled their paychecks since 9/11 and the War on Terrorism began -- far greater than the average 7 percent growth for all corporate CEOs. |
| US: Army Contract Official Critical of Halliburton Pact Is Demoted by Erik Eckholm, The New York Times August 29th, 2005 A top Army contracting official who criticized a large, noncompetitive contract with the Halliburton Company for work in Iraq was demoted Saturday for what the Army called poor job performance. |
| US: Defense firms feast on Bush’s 'War on Terror' Taipai Times August 29th, 2005 According to reports, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Honeywell and United Technologies posted all-time best-ever profits in the first half of this year and they still have a huge list of orders. |
| IRAQ: The Costs of War On Terrorism Chart by David R. Francis , The Christian Science Monitor August 29th, 2005 Chart comparing costs of US wars |
| IRAQ: More Costly Than 'War to End all Wars' by David R. Francis, The Christian Science Moniotr August 29th, 2005 Despite the relatively small number of American armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, the war effort is rapidly shaping up to be the third-most expensive war in United States history. |
| US: Army Contracting Executive Critical of Halliburton Loses Her Job by Griff Witte, The Washington Post August 29th, 2005 Commander of the Army Corps, told Bunnatine H. Greenhouse last month that she was being removed from the senior executive service, the top rank of civilian government employees, because of poor performance reviews. |
| IRAQ: Re-engineering Iraqi agriculture by Jeremy Smith, Global Research August 27th, 2005 Under the guise of helping get Iraq back on its feet, the US is setting out to totally re-engineer the country's traditional farming systems into a US-style corporate agribusiness. They’ve even created a new law – Order 81 – to make sure it happens. |
| US: Many Contracts for Storm Work Raise Questions by Eric Lipton and Ron Nixon, The New York Times August 26th, 2005 Topping the federal government's list of costs related to Hurricane Katrina is the $568 million in contracts for debris removal landed by a Florida company with ties to Mississippi's Republican governor. Near the bottom is an $89.95 bill for a pair of brown steel-toe shoes bought by an Environmental Protection Agency worker in Baton Rouge, La. |
| US: AS US Falter in Iraq, China Gains by Tom Plate , The Seattle Times August 23rd, 2005 It looks as if history will judge Mahathir to have been the wiser of the two owls. The U.S. military is enmeshed in a vicious insurgency and there may be no way out — except, in fact, to get out, outright. |
| US: Lockheed Martin Is Hired to Bolster Transit Security in N.Y. by Sewell Chan and Shadi Rahimi, The New York Times August 23rd, 2005 A new world of transit security in New York City began to take form this morning, as officials disclosed plans to saturate the transit system with 1,000 video cameras, 3,000 motion detectors and a wide array of sophisticated gadgets, all intended to buffer the city's subways, bridges and tunnels from a terror attack. |
| IRAQ: Mercenaries Mount Offensive by John Hanchette, Niagra Falls Reporter August 23rd, 2005 Retention of key combat personnel is being eroded by far better money offers from federally hired "private security companies" -- as their executives insist they be called. Once on board and back in the private sector of dangerous military operations in Iraq, these highly trained fighters and specialists can make up to a quarter of a million dollars or more (most of it tax-free) in a year's worth of salary -- certainly better than Army pay. |
| US: Business booming for U.S. defense contractors by Peter Bauer, Menafn August 20th, 2005 U.S. defence contractors are riding high these days, buoyed by rising Pentagon spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the high cost of homeland security in the U.S.-declared war on terror. The fiscal 2006 defence budget is set to climb to 441 billion dollars, an increase of 21 billion dollars over 2005. It envisions an additional 50 billion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. |