by David Phinney
Monday March 18th 2024

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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 [...]

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 [...]

A Review of an Alleged Million-Dollar Bribe

Update on Jeff Mazon, a KBR contract officer being accused of taking bribes from businesses seeking work to support the US military in Iraq: Country Club Hills man accused in Iraq war kickback scheme. Mazon faces four counts of major fraud and eight counts of wire fraud. Under way in federal court in Rock Island, Mazon's trial has shed light on [...]

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 [...]

Thoughts on War Contractors

The Christian Science Monitor surveys thinkers and pundits about the battlefields filled with contractors -- now estimated to be as high as 180,000 in Iraq: Everything from who controls their activities to who cares for them when wounded remains unresolved, say experts in and out of the military. This has led to protests from families in the [...]

Armed Contractors: Transparency and Accountability

The Congressional Research Service distributed its new study on private security contractors operating in Iraq to members of Congress: The use of armed civilians to perform security tasks that were formerly performed by the military raises new transparency, accountability, legal, and symbolic issues, and practical issues regarding the possible [...]

Oops: Another KBR Cost Overrun

<b>Oops: Another KBR Cost Overrun</b>

June 25, 2007 -- KBR forgot to keep accurate records of gasoline distribution, quartered employees in living spaces that may be larger than necessary and served meals that appeared to cost $4.5 million more than what was being eaten, according to a new Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction audit. SIGIR selectively distributed the [...]

The Contractor’s Fight at Home

The Contractor’s Fight at Home

I hooked up Dan Rather's producer to many of the sources and events in this Dan Rather Reports: "The hidden story of Americans serving in Iraq, the civilian contractors." Never did get a thank you. by David Phinney March 24, 2007 -- War for Hire: Dan Rather's producer called me for sources for a report exploring the "invisible army" in [...]

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