Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Yanqui Glasnost

"The Washington Post", 2/15/05
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24468-2005Feb14.html
Lawmakers Told About Contract Abuse in Iraq
By Griff Witte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 15, 2005; Page A03
A government contractor defrauded the Coalition Provisional Authority
of tens of millions of dollars in Iraq reconstruction funds and the
Bush administration has done little to try to recover the money, an
attorney for two whistle-blowers told Democratic lawmakers yesterday.
The lawyer, Alan Grayson, represents two former employees who charged
in a federal lawsuit that the security firm Custer Battles LLC of
Fairfax was paid approximately $15 million to provide security for
civilian flights at Baghdad International Airport, even though no
planes flew during the contract term.
Grayson said the firm received $100 million in contracts in 2003 and
2004, despite a thin track record and evidence the government was not
getting its money's worth.
A former Coalition Provisional Authority official who briefly oversaw
the airport security contract also spoke, depicting a temporary
governing body awash with cash but lacking in the necessary controls
to ensure that money generated from the sale of Iraqi oil actually
went to rebuilding the country.
"I wish I could tell you that the Bush administration has done
everything it could to detect and punish fraud in Iraq," Grayson said.
"If I said that to you, though, I would be lying."
The Pentagon has suspended Custer Battles from receiving new
contracts, but Grayson said the Justice Department declined last fall
to help pursue the case, now pending in federal court in Alexandria.
Lawyers representing Custer Battles have denied the charges and have
argued that the case should be dismissed because the money that was
allegedly stolen belonged to Iraqis, not to Americans.
Grayson said that argument has the potential to turn Iraq during the
authority's administration of the country into "a fraud-free zone,"
with contractors not subject to Iraqi or American law.
Yesterday's appearances were organized by the Democratic Policy
Committee.
Its chairman, Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), said the witnesses were
called in response to a recent report by the inspector general for
Iraqi reconstruction that concluded that the governing authority had
inadequate controls over $8.8 billion in Iraqi funds it was supposed
to oversee.
Former administrator L. Paul Bremer has denied those allegations.
Dorgan said Democrats had attempted to get Republican colleagues to
hold hearings on the issue but were unsuccessful.
"There is a massive amount of waste, fraud and abuse going on here,
and nobody seems to care very much," Dorgan said.
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Government
Reform Committee, said in an interview that he found some of
yesterday's allegations "disturbing."
He said his committee has already held hearings on the use of
reconstruction funds in Iraq and plans to hold more.
"If there's something wrong, we will go after it vigorously," he said.
The former authority official, Franklin Willis, who advised Iraqi
ministries on aviation issues, said it soon became clear Custer
Battles was not carrying out its obligations.
But Willis said the body's contracting officials were stretched far
too thin.
On at least two occasions, Willis said, the firm was paid $2 million
from a vault in the authority's basement, served up in $100,000
plastic-wrapped bricks of cash.
"We called in Mike Battles and said, 'Bring a bag,' " Willis said.
Michael Battles and Scott K. Custer, both former U.S. Special
Operations soldiers, founded the company in 2002.
Battles ran unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for Congress in
Rhode Island that year.
After an interview with Custer in January 2004, agents from the
Pentagon inspector general's office wrote, "Battles is very active in
the Republican Party and speaks to individuals he knows at the White
House almost daily, according to Custer."
A White House spokesman had no immediate comment.


Io mi immagino solo il festino dei contratti a pioggia in Irak.
Deve esse un bengodi, nessuna controparte, nessuna gara, nessun controllo,
soldi a pioggia basta avere l'amico giusto.
Ragazzi che rapina.
Saluti Cad Ali'
 
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