‘Contractors’ Archives
One Tough Job
by David Phinney April 5, 2007 -- The most dangerous job in Iraq?: Asking questions about the missing billions of dollars in Iraq assets. The country's top corruption fighter, Radi al-Radhi, who runs the Public Integrity Commission, tells the Associated Press that 20 members of his organization have been murdered since it began its [...]
New Iraq Contract Lasts Until 2010?
MPRI, Alexandria, Va., was awarded on March 27, 2007, a $15,313,655 firm-fixed-price contract for instructors for the Counterinsurgency Center for Excellence. Work will be performed in Baghdad, Iraq, and is expected to be completed by June 15, 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were an unknown number [...]
Taking Notice: Contractors Make Up 20 Percent of Iraq Casualties
by David Phinney March 29, 2007 -- Make a note of this: "Now that contractor casualties are 20 percent, people are noticing," a prominent Washington government contracting expert told me today. That includes The Chicago Tribune taking notice: "More than 770 civilian contractors working for U.S. companies have died in Iraq since the [...]
Flip this Palace and Fill those Sand Bags — Big Profits on DynCorp’s Iraq Police Training Program
Mar 23, 2007 -- My story in Iraqslogger.com significantly advances the story on DynCorp's tier-one subcontractor, Corporate Bank, a.k.a., The Sandi Group, in a new series Profits of War.... The Washington-based company headed by a Kurdish Immigrant Rubar Sandi was poised to make $8 million on the construction of a police camp at Adnan Palace in [...]
Slap on the Hands: List of Iraq-Related Contractors Receiving Penalties
by David Phinney March 21, 2007 -- Government investigators told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday that they were focusing on debarment and suspensions of individuals and companies as an approach to punishing wrongdoing by contractors in Iraq. To Date: 14 individuals and companies have been suspended from future US government [...]
Thanks, I Will Certainly Keep Private Security in Mind…..
Dear Mr. David Phinney: Our security Company Land Of Fire is interested in working for you, we have the legal permit to work like a security a company in this country (Chile) under our laws and rules, and our guards they have all the permits and licenses to operate in Iraq, they have these badges ( ID ): WEAPON PERMIT CARD, MULTINATIONAL TASK [...]
‘The Iraqis who Trusted America the Most’
The New Yorker profiles and investigates the lives of Iraqi translators, once among the most loyal supporters of US efforts in Iraq: "Mostly young men and women who embraced America's project so enthusiastically that they were prepared to risk their lives for it may constitute Iraq's smallest minority.... The arc from hope to betrayal that [...]
‘Human Trafficking is Slavery’
Even by US-Funded Contractors in Iraq
....And US-funded contractors taking away passports from low-paid migrant workers in Iraq is a crime under US law. That's a red flag indication of labor trafficking. The Pentagon found the practice is/was widespread under KBR..... Why wasn't any subcontractor busted? This is a very important question.... read on. (more…)
‘Ghost Soldiers’ Fill Iraqi Military and Police Forces
No one knows how many police officers trained on the US dime or Iraqi soldiers remain in the field, and logistics -- those things having to do with supplies, maintenance, and transport -- is a mess, according to Charles J. Hanley with the Associated Press. The Pentagon said Iraq's defense and interior ministers also are aware of "ghost" soldiers [...]
A Billion Here, a Billion There….
It all adds up $10 Billion Missing: Cash intended for the reconstruction effort in Iraq has been misplaced, squandered or otherwise lost through sloppy bookkeeping, job delays and bloated expenses. Sometimes work was just paid for, but never performed. How Much Cash Recovered? About $18 million. Government investigators made those admissions made [...]
