Posted on 09/23/2007 1:46:56 PM PDT by AuntB
Members of the House Armed Services Committee said Thursday they were saddened and appalled at the number of military officers and civilian officials implicated in as much as $6 billion in contract fraud in Iraq and by the mismanagement that left 190,000 weapons intended for Iraqi security forces unaccounted for.
Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., opened a hearing on incidents of bribery and fraud that occurred in a major contracting office in Kuwait by saying they "were so severe that I fear they represent a culture of corruption," a term repeated by others.
But a panel of senior defense acquisition and investigative officials attributed the rampant errors and abuse in contracting -- which have resulted in 10 convictions, 78 criminal indictments and audits into $88 billion in questionable contracts -- on lack of controls, poor leadership and an undermanned and untrained work force operating in a combat zone.
While it is important to have audits and investigations to find "the few bad actors," it is more important "that we put the proper controls in place," Thomas Gimble, the principal deputy Defense Department inspector general, told the committee. "There is no short-term solution. This is going to take a lot of work."
"We did not properly train our officers and enlisted personnel to operate in the environment they are in," said Shay Assad, director of defense procurement and acquisition policy and strategic sourcing. There also were no joint doctrines and policies to guide the people sent to handle the rapidly growing contracts for supplies and services, he said.
"It will come down to the fact that we didn't have the right leadership," said Peter Velz, the Defense secretary's foreign affairs specialist for Iraq.
And Lt. Gen. Ross Thompson, military deputy to the Army acquisition and logistics executive, said the acquisition work force was too small and "never caught up" with the crush of service contracts, that now cost more a year than the procurement of major weapon systems.
Efforts are under way to correct all those problems, the officials said.
But those explanations failed to satisfy Armed Services ranking member Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., both combat veterans.
"Dishonesty is not a reflection of manning levels," Hunter said.
Hunter said the committee had inserted language in the fiscal 2006 defense authorization requiring the Army to create three "contingency contract brigades" able to deploy rapidly to handle situations like the build up in Iraq.
Told that those brigades were just being formed two years later, Hunter said, "That's half the time it took us to win World War II."
"You may be moving in the right direction, but you're moving slowly," he said.
Kline observed that this was not the first time the U.S. military has been to war. "When are we going to have these controls in place?"
The Defense officials sought to deflect some of the committee's ire, noting that the Government Accountability Office, which reported last month it could not account for 30 percent of weapons the United States distributed to Iraqi forces, did not say weapons were actually missing.
The weapons went into Iraq by different means, some went directly to Iraqi troops and others to the warehouses, Velz said. "There just weren't enough people to document them" and no one can be sure if the weapons were ever transferred, he said.
"You may be moving in the right direction, but you're moving slowly," he said.
“Dishonesty is not a reflection of manning levels,” Hunter said.
an absolute disgrace. Those responsible should be jailed.
But hey, the responsbile party has an “R” next to their name so let’s let this story disappear down the memory hole and keep cheerleading! (sarcasm off)
Re: the first sentence of the article:
They were “saddened.”
What the hell does that mean?
Their pathetic emotions are relevant?
Boo friggin hoo
I guess we'll have to check the party membership of the individual crooks, too.
>>>“Dishonesty is not a reflection of manning levels,” Hunter said.<<<
You know, it is really refreshing that Congressman Hunter uses his position as a bully pulpit rather than empty campaign promises as conditions of getting elected.
WTFrac????...You want to see real waste? Then, Make the LIBERALS should look @ their own Domestic social welfare programs for over 40+ years.....TALK ABOUT WASTE!
“saddened and appalled”
“Saddened and appalled that they’re not getting their cut of the pie.
Take a look at the spending by domestic government agencies at the federal and state levels. I’m sure that they will be able to account for every dollar spent as we all know that our government employees are saints and have superior knowledge how to get the most for our precious tax dollars.
Sounds like they are finding the cheats and skimmers and prosecuting them? Yes?
Remind me again, which political party has been in control of the DOD, who hired said contractor crooks, since 2001?
Are you serious? Because the whole rotten structure is corrupt (which it is) this boondoggle is somehow kosher?
Is it any wonder why the end to this war is nowhere in sight? There are too many at all levels and on both sides that are getting wealthier every day this war continues.
This bad spending, etc. out of DOD was under the guidance of one David Norquist, yes, brother of Grover Norquist, WH top advisor on immigration, trade, muslim affairs, etc. . After he fouled that up, he was appointed by Pres. Bush to the job of head financial officer of Homeland Security.
http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/2006/09/sbi-net-contract-virtual-fence-look.html
The SBI Net contract -”virtual fence”- LOOK who will handle the money!
That's it! Two wrongs make it right....?????
HA! You beat me to this one!
So, your plan is to clean it all up? Personally?
Maybe we should elect more Democrats as the Republicans are the party of corruption?
Just wondering.
Clearly, congress is upset that they aren’t getting a taste of the action. If you haven’t noticed wiseguys that don’t share get hit.
another RAT fishing expedition.
Well, just keep wondering. What are you going to do to clean it up? Keep pretending no republicans have a hand in this nonsense?
...of course not.....People in glass houses, shouldn't bitch about throwing stones.....that goes for the GOP and the 'Rats.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.