Afghanistan And Iraq At Risk For Contracting Fraud

By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

A dilapidated U.S. compound in Kabul plagued with broken pipes and an unusable sewage system is only one of many examples that U.S. reconstruction efforts in the Middle East continue to be susceptible to incompetence, wasteful spending, and fraud at the hands of contractors, according to the Commission on War Time Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We don’t have enough people watching the contractors. Seventy percent of our contracts go to sub-contractors...we have to get the information second hand. We need to reexamine that,” said Christopher Shays, the current co-Chairman of the Commission on War Time Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, during a hearing held today with the House Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs.

Shay, and fellow co-Chairman Michael J. Thibault’s testimony coincides with the release of their Committee’s interim report detailing the extent of the mismanagement in the two countries. The report highlighted several key issues including the presence of an insufficient amount staff for supervision, technological limitations within the contractors’ companies including out-of-date billing and labor systems, and an overall lack of accountability.

KBR, a Texas based construction and engineering company that acted as the military’s sole contractor for the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, was named as one of the company’s responsible for losing billions of dollars in wasteful spending.

“I don’t think we’re aware of another program, contrac, or contractor that has had this number of suspensions or referrals,” said Defense Contract Audit Agency Director April Stephenson during a May hearing with the Commission on War Time Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There are 240,000 contractor employees aiding the U.S. in Iraq, Afghanistan, and surrounding areas. Since 2001 1,360 contractor employees have been killed in the two countries.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) Criticizes "Shameful" U.S. Spending In Iraq

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) chaired a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing addressing wasted money, fraud, and the abuse of American tax money in the reconstruction of Iraq.

The Committee interrogated a panel of leaders knowledgeable about the wasted funds spent by the Bush Administration. Leahy described the carefree spending as "shameful." Leahy and the Committee criticized Bush's funding and close relationship with the controversial Halliburton Energy Corporation, and a lack of responsible oversight for government spending over the course of the war and during rebuilding efforts.

Panel members explained that America has had some success in Iraq, urging that sustaining the improvements we have made in the war-ravished nation is necessary to ensuring our success remains permanent. Leahy and the Committee each agreed that spending accountability should be held for the sake of both taxpayers and U.S. soldiers.

The hearing also featured a number of protestors in the audience, as well as photographs of American's in Iraq holding bags of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money.