‘Iraq’ Archives
Privatized War is Here to Stay
by David Phinney Oct. 24, 2007 -- Taking the stance that the U.S. is fighting a war in Iraq with more private contractors than military personnel with a ratio estimated at around 180,000 contractors to 160,000 uniformed personnel, Reuters columnist Bernd Debusmann dishes up his realistic analysis: Even if there were political will to stop using [...]
Iraq Revokes Security Contractor Immunity
by David Phinney Oct. 24, 2007 -- The Iraqi government has decided to revoke immunity from prosecution that the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority extended to private security companies operating in the war-ravaged country, according to journalist Ammar Karim. "The cabinet held a meeting yesterday and decided to scrap the article pertaining [...]
What Happened to Sabah and Nashat?
![What Happened to Sabah and Nashat? What Happened to Sabah and Nashat?](http://theroughcut.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/sandigroupsecurity-300x180.jpg)
by David Phinney April 9, 2007 -- Iraqi officials jailed two young men in the summer of 2005 for allegedly pocketing the wages of hundreds -- if not thousands -- of Iraqis working for the Sandi Group, a Washington, DC, firm doing a multi-million-dollar business in Iraq as the leading subcontractor to DynCorp's $1.2-billion Iraqi police [...]
State Department Inspector General Under Fire
![State Department Inspector General Under Fire State Department Inspector General Under Fire](http://theroughcut.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/Krongard_h_1402.jpg)
by David Phinney Oct. 23, 2007 -- (Sorry about the previous typos, guys. I am in the market for a new blog program.) The $592-million Baghdad embassy contract, the $1.2-billion police training program in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the security contract for Blackwater are all under intense scrutiny -- and so is the State Department Inspector [...]
Iraq’s Police Training Program Records in Disarray
![Iraq’s Police Training Program Records in Disarray Iraq’s Police Training Program Records in Disarray](http://theroughcut.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/sandigrouplogo-300x87.jpg)
by David Phinney Oct. 23, 2007 -- The State Department so terribly managed a $1.2 billion contract for Iraqi police training that it can't figure out what it got for the money spent, a new report says (pdf). Total Disarray: in invoices and records on the project -- and because the government is trying to recoup money paid inappropriately to [...]
Read It: ‘Suicide Is Not Painless’
New York Times columnist Frank Rich delivers a scathing analysis of Pentagon and US government-guided procurement in Iraq begins with the suicide of Charles D. Riechers, 47, the second-highest-ranking procurement officer in the United States Air Force who killed himself by running his car’s engine in his suburban Virginia garage several weeks [...]
Grapes and Sex and Government Contracts
Talk about low-hanging fruit: A prostitute testified Wednesday that former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham fed her grapes as she sat naked in a Jacuzzi before they headed to a bedroom at a Hawaiian resort. The woman testified at the bribery trial of defense contractor Brent Wilkes, who is accused paying the former congressman with $700,000 in [...]
Baghdad Embassy Coverup
![Baghdad Embassy Coverup Baghdad Embassy Coverup](http://theroughcut.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/baghdad-embassy-2-300x166.jpg)
by David Phinney Oct. 19, 2007 -- A project manager and the State Department Inspector General covered up "enormous problems" in the management of the $592-million embassy project in Baghdad, McClatchy newspaper reporters Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay report today. Problems became apparent after a mortar shell smashed into the [...]
Blackwater Morphing
Robert Young Pelton's take on Blackwater -- as filtered by Dan Rather Reports on HDNet. Petlon says the interview took place nine months ago, but was netcast only recently: Go to minute 37:50 after first story: Petlon and Rather talking about Blackwater.
What is USProtect Doing in Iraq?
![What is USProtect Doing in Iraq? What is USProtect Doing in Iraq?](http://theroughcut.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/usprotectpersonnel1.jpg)
by David Phinney If these bribes between USProtect and the General Services Administration in California took place, you have to wonder how USProtect is going about its business in Iraq: Oct. 17, 2007 -- A former chief executive for USProtect, a security company pleaded guilty earlier this month to giving bribes to a contracting officer at [...]