03-07-2006, 07:33 AM
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#1
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In the Starting Line-up
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 3,098
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Following The Money
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We are spending about five billion dollars a month in Iraq. In a over two years, we have spent the equivalent to half of the 12-year Vietnam War or half of World War I with many fewer men under arms. Over a billion a week is all Rumsfeld asks. And the Congress and American public have willingly voted for this money because, as one general once told me," we need the best for our boys."
But there is a mismatch here. While the DOD is pouring buckets of water through the procurement sponge, only a few drops are reaching some of the troops. Troops will tell you that in the Green Zone or in the bigger camps "around the flagpole," where the brass hangs out, there are fancy facilities run by KBR and other contractors but that if you are deployed outside these zones, you will be hurting for vehicle parts, body armor, food and even drinking water. Even around the flagpole, some troops have told us that they are getting what they don't need but not getting what they do need to fight and win.
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Having investigated military contractors for 25 years, I know where some of that money is going. The cost-plus contracts that have been given to KBR and other contractors encouraged them to maximize their profits by dragging out the deliveries, running up costs and minimizing risk by not going where it is dangerous. The Army has given the contractors the wrong incentive in supplying the troops and the contractors are naturally taking advantage of it. KBR averaged $425 million a month last year on their Army service contract.
The DOD and the Congress have been warned about what is going on; the General Accountability Office, the DOD Inspector General and Congressional hearings have scraped the surface of this fiasco. They have noted many problems such as the DOD and the contractors losing track of $1.2 billion of supplies while shipping it to Kuwait and Iraq from the US before the war even started. The American press has also done some stories about how KBR is ripping off the taxpayers but the Army continues to pay KBR's disputed bills. The lack of body armor story seemed to be the only item that caught the attention of the press and the public. But there are many more stories out there.
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http://www2.operationtruth.com/blog/?blog_KEY=151
Lets cut to the chase: Cheneys cronies are making windfall profits off the blood of our troops.
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