‘Iraq’ Archives
DOD Failed to Stop Worker Exploitation in Iraq
The Washington Post finds little evidence of human trafficking in the United States despite well-funded programs to combat it. But the lengthy page-one Sonday story above the fold neglects to mention the allegations of trafficking under US-funded contracts in Iraq. Human Trafficking Evokes Outrage, Little [...]
Badges Dishonored
A DynCorp worker was busted Tuedasy for alledgedly approving various badges to Iraqi friends and a DynCorp vice president allowing access to Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone even though they were not entitled to receive them. DynCorp finds the allegation disturbing and an government contracting association leader, Stan Soloway, president of [...]
‘War-Zone Procurement System in Disarray’
Up, up and away: Criminal investigators are now scrutinizing $6 billion in spending on Pentagon contractors operating in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan that (allegedly) provide essential supplies to American troops -- including food, water and shelter, according to congressional testimony Thursday. That's up from a previously acknowledged $3 [...]
Embassy Contractor Accused of Bribes
The Kuwaiti company building the U.S. embassy in Baghdad has been accused of agreeing to pay $200,000 in kickbacks in return for two unrelated Army contracts in Iraq. See the AP report. ALSO: The limited partnered investigation by the embassy contractor and Philippine officials of possible labor trafficking is officially closed. (Sounds like [...]
A Meeting of Minds: Fighting them (and us) ‘Over There’
President Bush's repeatedly argues that it's better to fight terrorists in Iraq than wait for them to attack the United States again. He also claims that al-Qaeda wants to "drive us out" of Iraq. However, U.S. intelligence intercepted an internal al-Qaeda communique that al-Qaeda has us just where it wants us -- stuck in Iraq. The letter written [...]
Iraq Government Bans Blackwater Security Company
The Iraqi government said it had revoked the license of Blackwater USA, a private security company that provides protection for American diplomats across Iraq, after shots fired from an American convoy killed eight Iraqis: Abdul-Karim Khalaf, a spokesman for Iraq’s Ministry of Interior, said the authorities had canceled the company's license and [...]
Greenspan, Terrorism and Oil
Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greespan connects the dots on oil and the White House "War or Terrorism" in Iraq with his new book, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World, released today. The Los Angeles Times relates Greenspan recalling: "Whatever their publicized angst over Saddam Hussein's 'weapons of mass destruction,' American [...]
The Great Iraq Swindle
How Bush Allowed an Army of For-Profit Contractors to Invade the U.S. Treasury: Great attitudinal piece in Rolling Stone covering all the turf that's been covered before -- except for the last part about a previously unreported tip-of-the -iceberg, fly-by-night company known as Wolfpack. A few new morsels include: Wolfpack employee Russell [...]
US Military Breaks Budget to Protect Civillian Workers
The U.S. military has paid $548 million over the past three years to two British security firms that protect the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on reconstruction projects, more than $200 million over the original budget, according to previously undisclosed data that show how the cost of private security in Iraq has mushroomed. Here's the story: [...]
Whose War are they Fighting?
Poor Latin American security guards are flocking to Iraq and Afghanistan to work for U.S. companies desperate for relatively cheap employees with the type of military know-how gleaned in a region once run by generals. See the story: Iraq, Afghanistan lure poor Latin American guards
