http://www.corpwatch.org/ http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15521 Tue, 09 Feb 2010 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15521 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15519 <div class="text blurb">A diesel-fueled power plant, nearing completion just outside Kabul, demonstrates that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and its contractors have failed to learn lessons from identical mistakes in Iraq, despite clearly signposted advice from oversight agencies.</div> Thu, 04 Feb 2010 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15519 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15515 <div class="text blurb">Shares of major US defense contractors including Boeing, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman rose upon the unveiling of President Barack Obama's fiscal year 2011 spending plan for the Pentagon, part of the president's overall $3.8 trillion budget proposal. More than $2 billion will be used to purchase unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, blamed for a significant rise in civilian casualties in the "war on terror."</div> Tue, 02 Feb 2010 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15515 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15513 <div class="text blurb">Agility, a Kuwait-based multi-billion dollar logistics company spawned by the U.S. invasion of Iraq, is facing criminal charges for over-billing the U.S. taxpayer on more than $8.5 billion worth of food supply contracts in the Iraq war zone. If the lawsuit, scheduled for February 8, is successful, the company could owe the U.S. government as much as $1 billion.</div> Mon, 01 Feb 2010 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15513 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15511 <div class="text blurb">Kuwaiti firm Agility (formerly Public Warehousing) indicted here for overcharging the Army on an $8.5 billion contract is negotiating a possible settlement with the Justice Department. On Nov. 9, a federal grand jury in Atlanta indicted the firm on charges it gouged the U.S. government by overcharging on its contract to supply food to American troops in Iraq.</div> Fri, 29 Jan 2010 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15511 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15505 <div class="text blurb">On Tuesday, 22 top-level arms industry executives, including a senior sales executive at Smith & Wesson, were arrested in what Justice Department officials called the first undercover sting ever aimed at violations of the federal ban on corporate bribes paid to get foreign business. The individuals are being prosecuted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. </div> Wed, 20 Jan 2010 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15505 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15498 <div class="text blurb">American companies have been arriving in Iraq to pursue an expected multibillion-dollar bonanza of projects to revive the country’s petroleum industry. But there are questions about the Iraqi government’s capacity to police the companies. “These are for-profit concerns and they are trying to make as much money as they can,” said Pratap Chatterjee of CorpWatch.</div> Wed, 13 Jan 2010 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15498 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15497 <div class="text blurb">Authorities of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) have unveiled a new security strategy for securing oil pipelines and platforms within the Niger Delta region. Shell has appointed former MEND militant commander, Eris Paul, and his company, Eristex Pipeline Patrol, to secure oil facilities in the Southern Ijaw area of the Delta.</div> Fri, 08 Jan 2010 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15497 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15495 <div class="text blurb">A federal judge has dismissed all charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards charged in a deadly Baghdad shooting.</div> Thu, 31 Dec 2009 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15495 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15503 <div class="text blurb">For Emad Hatabah, the war in Iraq became a business opportunity. As AIG's chief representative in Jordan, he was responsible for coordinating the care for hundreds of Iraqis who had been injured while working under contract for U.S. troops. He fulfilled his functions by sending business to himself, his friends and business associates, according to interviews and records.</div> Thu, 17 Dec 2009 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15503 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15504 <div class="text blurb">Local translators are hidden casualties of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. military uses defense contractors to hire local residents to serve as translators for the troops. These local translators often live, sleep and eat with soldiers. And yet when they are wounded, they are often ignored by the U.S. system designed to provide them medical care and disability benefits, according to an investigation by the Los Angeles Times and ProPublica.</div> Thu, 17 Dec 2009 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15504 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15492 <div class="text blurb">The surge of 30,000 U.S. troops into Afghanistan could be accompanied by a surge of up to 56,000 contractors, vastly expanding the presence of personnel from the U.S. private sector in a war zone, according to a study by the Congressional Research Service.</div> Wed, 16 Dec 2009 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15492 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15491 <div class="text blurb">Private security guards from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.’s most sensitive activities — clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the transporting of detainees, according to former company employees and intelligence officials.</div> Thu, 10 Dec 2009 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15491 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15486 <div class="text blurb">More than six and a half years after the United States-led invasion here that many believed was about oil, the major oil companies are finally gaining access to Iraq’s petroleum reserves. But they are doing so at far less advantageous terms than they once envisioned. The companies seem to have calculated that it is worth their while to accept deals with limited profit opportunities now, in order to cash in on more lucrative development deals in the future.</div> Wed, 02 Dec 2009 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15486 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15483 <div class="text blurb">DynCorp International Inc. said it has terminated one of its top lawyers, a move that comes on the heels of the government contractor's disclosure that some of its subcontractors may have broken U.S. law in trying to speed up getting licenses and visas overseas.</div> Sat, 28 Nov 2009 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15483