Investigators: Billions of dollars wasted in Iraq and counting

USATODAY-The U.S. government is at risk of squandering significantly more money in an Iraq war and reconstruction effort that has already wasted or otherwise overcharged taxpayers billions of dollars, federal investigators said Thursday.

The three top auditors overseeing contract work in Iraq told a House committee of $10 billion in spending that was wasteful or poorly tracked. They pointed to numerous instances in which Defense and State department officials condoned or otherwise allowed poor accounting, repeated work delays, bloated expenses and payments for work shoddily or never done by U.S. contractors.

That problem could worsen, the Government Accountability Office said, given limited improvement so far by the Department of Defense even as the Bush administration prepares to boost the U.S. presence in Iraq.

Given “the need for continued support for deployed forces, it is essential for DOD to address these shortcomings if the department is to increase its return on its investment in Iraq,” said David M. Walker, comptroller general of the GAO, Congress’ auditing arm, in prepared testimony.

The auditors’ joint appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee comes as Congress is preparing for a showdown with President Bush next month over his budget request of nearly $100 billion to pay for more U.S. troops in Iraq.

Also testifying Thursday were Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, and William Reed, director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency.

According to their testimony, the investigators:

• Found overpricing and waste in Iraq contracts amounting to $4.9 billion since the Defense Contract Audit Agency began its work in 2003, although some of that money has since been recovered. Another $5.1 billion in expenses were charged without proper documentation.

• Urged the Pentagon to reconsider its growing reliance on outside contractors to run the nation’s wars and reconstruction efforts. Layers of subcontractors, poor documentation and lack of strong contract management are rampant and promote waste even after the GAO first warned of problems 15 years ago.

• Pointed to growing Iraqi sectarian violence as a significant factor behind wasted U.S. dollars. Iraqi officials must begin to take primary responsibility for reconstruction efforts, an uncertain goal given widespread corruption in Iraq and the local government’s inability to fund projects.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who chairs the panel, has pledged scores of investigations of fraud, waste and abuse — with subpoenas if necessary — on the Bush administration’s watch. He decried the overpricing identified by the DCAA, a figure that has tripled since last fall.

Of the $10 billion in overpriced contracts or undocumented costs, more than $2.7 billion were charged by Halliburton Co., the oil-field services firm once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.

“According to the Pentagon auditors, more than one in six dollars they have audited in Iraq is suspect,” Waxman said. “It’s no wonder taxpayers across the country are fed up and demanding real oversight.”

Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., the top Republican on the panel, pointed to ongoing, “systemic” problems in Iraq contracting.

“This much is clear: Poor security, an arcane, ill-suited management structure, and frequent management changes have produced a succession of troubled acquisitions,” he said.

Bowen said his office had expanded an investigation of police training contracts awarded by the State Department. An audit by Bowen last month found tens of millions of dollars wasted on a DynCorp International contract to build an Olympic-size swimming pool for a police academy in Baghdad that has yet to be used. The pool as well as VIP trailers were ordered by Iraqi officials but never authorized by the State Department.

FYI

New Halliburton waste alleged
Former company auditor: ‘It’s just a gravy train’

MSN-The Pentagon has already awarded Halliburton Co., the controversial military contractor, deals worth up to $18 billion for its work in Iraq. But now former Halliburton insiders have come forward with new allegations of massive waste of taxpayer money.

Marie deYoung, a former Army chaplain who worked for Halliburton, was so upset by attacks on the company she e-mailed the CEO in December with a strategy on how to fight the “political slurs.” But today, after five months inside Halliburton’s operation in Kuwait, deYoung has radically changed her opinion. “It’s just a gravy train,” she said.

DeYoung audited accounts for Halliburton’s subsidiary KBR. She claims there was no effort to hold down costs because all costs were passed on directly to taxpayers. She repeatedly complained to superiors of waste and fraud. The company’s response, according to deYoung was: “We can be as dumb and stupid as we want in the first year of a war, nobody’s going to care.”

Soldiers earn a pretty good salary. When you throw in bonuses like free tuition PLUS the G.I. Bill PLUS the College Fund, full medical and dental benefits for the entire family, retirement after only 2o years, the costs of moving from place to place, housing allowances, food allowances, extra pays, free uniforms, money for child support payments (trust me, the list goes on and on)…and the only thing taxed is the base pay. You may have to take my word for it, but very few soldiers are worth what they are paid. Ask any soldier how difficult it is for the Finance Branch to fix a pay problem, much less have the pay send correctly to begin with.

Soldiers don’t get fired or laid off. If the pogues in Finance don’t lift a single finger to fix your pay problem nothing is going to happen to them. They might get counseled if their supervisor isn’t too lazy to do so. A private company has to perform in order to keep its contract and competition for the contract among different companies will bring in a reasonable cost. Worse case: the cost remains the same but the product is better. Best case: the cost is dramatically lower and the product is better.

I don’t like or dislike Haliburton or KBR. My question is, though,: who would you choose to replace them? Do you know of another firm that can even come close to filling the same need? I can’t.

I do not buy Halliburton no bid contracts saved us any money!

I’ve got a few ideas that you might find interesting at:

http://hogg-blogg.blogspot.com/2008/01/if-i-were-boss.html

How much sense does it make to leave this guy behind for three months when his leadership in the deployment process is where he’d be most useful anyway? He’s a Master Sergeant, he’s not toting a rifle or marching through the streets on patrol. He’s going to be running chow for the troops or making sure all the vehicles get their oil changed at 5,000 miles. He can do his job just as well on crutches for a couple months has he could otherwise.

Should we book him first class tickets three months from now when his tootsies feel better? 54 soldiers out of a brigade? An infantry brigade, with support, is likely to be anywhere from 1,800-2,500 troops. Out of those 54, how many just don’t want to go back?

People want to find every reason in the world to feel sorry for soldiers. Well, they should take their pity and blow it out of their ears. The Army is a job and it is VOLUNTARY! If the post-war care isn’t good enough, or the deployments are too long, or they don’t like violence…they shouldn’t have signed on the dotted line!

And some argue that lack of education is why they end up in the military.

I would like to know how many enlisted men and women would have enlisted had they better employment opportunities?