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WASHINGTON - Companies that defrauded the United States and jeopardized American lives received new government work despite rulings designed to stop them from receiving federal contracts, government investigators report. Payments went to a company whose president tried to sell nuclear bomb parts to North Korea, a company that jeopardized lives on the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy, and a seller of body armor that the Air Force said was defective. The companies were on a government database of 70,000 individuals and businesses suspended or barred by various U.S. agencies from receiving government contract work. Snip

When the nation's in pain, Washington often gains. Whether it's a buildup of Civil War troops, Depression-era bureaucrats or defense contractors after Sept. 11, the region has prospered in times of crisis. Today, the financial meltdown is delivering a jolt of its own. Lawyers, lobbyists and public relations experts -- many of whom live and work in Virginia and Maryland suburbs -- are benefiting as companies from Wall Street to Motor City seek a piece of Washington's $700 billion financial bailout, and try to influence any regulatory strings attached. Business is also percolating as President-elect Barack Obama prepares an economic...

The State Department so badly managed a $1.2 billion contract for Iraqi police training that it can't tell what it got for the money spent, a new report says. Because of disarray in invoices and records on the project — and because the government is trying to recoup money paid inappropriately to contractor DynCorp International, LLC — auditors have temporarily suspended their effort to review the contract's implementation, said Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart W. Bowen Jr. Bowen had been trying to review a February 2004 contract to DynCorp awarded by the State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics...

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2007 – All of the $11 billion appropriated for the Iraqi Relief and Reconstruction Fund has been obligated, the work is 83 percent complete, and Iraqis are doing more and more of the work, a senior military official said yesterday. Work continues at an electrical substation to be built on the Nasiriyah Water Treatment Plant site. The $245 million project is scheduled to be finished soon. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Betsy Weiner  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. But work will need to continue in the region for at least another year and...

S&W Receives Pistol Order From US Army for Afghanistan National Army SPRINGFIELD, Mass., April 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (Amex: SWB - News), the legendary 153-year old firearms maker, today announced that it has secured a contract to supply pistols to the United States Army Security Assistance Command (USASC) Special Projects Office for shipment to the Afghanistan National Army. Michael Golden, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "This order is significant because it demonstrates that we are executing on our committed strategy to become a significant supplier of high quality pistol products to the military and the...

CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS vow to expand Iraq contracting probes if Kerry wins. Majority House Republicans haven't scheduled additional hearings, staffers for the minority say, while the Pentagon has stymied document requests. "We expect that a Kerry administration would be very helpful," says one Democratic aide.

Halliburton wins fresh Iraq contracts by Saturday 17 January 2004 12:41 AM GMT A subsidiary of the controversial American firm Halliburton has bagged two new contracts to restore Iraq's oil infrastructure. The US military on Friday awarded the two-year contracts worth up to $1.2 billion to Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), a subsidiary of Halliburton. The fresh contracts came even as Pentagon's inspector-general was considering whether to launch an investigation into an earlier Iraq oil contract awarded to KBR. The fresh contracts entrust the subsidiary with the task of restoring oil fields and installations in southern Iraq to pre-war levels....

The US military awarded two contracts Friday to restore Iraq's oil infrastructure to pre-war levels, the largest one worth up to 1.2 billion dollars going to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. The contracts were awarded by the US Army Corps of Engineers even as the Pentagon's inspector general was considering whether to launch an investigation into an earlier Iraq oil contract awarded to Kellogg, Brown and Root. The Halliburton subsidiary was contracted to restore oil fields and installations in southern Iraq to pre-war levels under the contract awarded Friday, which had a minimum value of 500,000 dollars and a...

Bechtel National Inc. has been selected as contractor for Iraq Infrastructure II, a program to rehabilitate and repair Iraq's infrastructure, an official with the Agency for International Development said here today. Bechtel is teamed with Parsons of Pasadena, Calif., and Horne Engineering Services of Fairfax, Va., for the $1.8 billion contract. It will be implemented over 24 months in partnership with the Coalition Provisional Authority and in cooperation with Iraqi contractors, Gordon H. West, acting assistant administrator in AID's Asia and Near East Bureau told reporters in the Pentagon. This contract basically will follow the contract currently under way, officials...

The Qarmat Ali water treatment plant in southern Iraq is crucial to keeping the oil flowing from the region's petroleum-rich fields. So when American engineers found the antiquated plant barely operating earlier this year, there was no question that repairing it was important to the rebuilding of Iraq. Setting the price for the repairs was another matter. In July, the Halliburton Company estimated that the overhaul would cost $75.7 million, according to confidential documents that the company submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers. But in early September, the Bush administration asked Congress for $125 million to do the job...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon has formally barred companies from countries opposed to the Iraq war from bidding on $18.6 billion worth of reconstruction contracts. A directive from Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz limits bidders on those 26 contracts to firms from the United States, Iraq, their coalition partners and other countries which have sent troops to Iraq. The ruling bars companies from U.S. allies such as France, Germany and Canada from bidding on the contracts because their governments opposed the American-led war that ousted Saddam Hussein's regime. "If these comments are accurate ... it would be difficult for...

U.S. Bars Iraq Contracts for Nations That Opposed War By DOUGLAS JEHL WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 — The Pentagon has barred French, German and Russian companies from competing for $18.6 billion in contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq, saying the step "is necessary for the protection of the essential security interests of the United States." The directive, which was issued by the deputy defense secretary, Paul D. Wolfowitz, represents perhaps the most substantive retaliation to date by the Bush administration against American allies who opposed its decision to go to war in Iraq. The administration had warned before the war...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 A group of businessmen linked by their close ties to President Bush(news - web sites), his family and his administration have set up a consulting firm to advise companies that want to do business in Iraq(news - web sites), including those seeking pieces of taxpayer-financed reconstruction projects. The firm, New Bridge Strategies, is headed by Joe M. Allbaugh, Mr. Bush's campaign manager in 2000 and the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (news - web sites) until March. Other directors include Edward M. Rogers Jr., vice chairman, and Lanny Griffith, lobbyists who were assistants to the...

Israeli firm wins public telephone contract in Iraq Iridium Satellite Israel is supplying Iraq with public telephones worth four to five million dollars. The global satellite voice and data communication provider was authorized last month by the office of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to sell its mobile satellite communications services, subscriber terminals, and related equipment in Iraq. According to CEO of Iridium Satellite Israel Ami Schneider, the order was placed by a Jordanian company, reported Globes. The company also plans to market several thousands of mobile telephones in Iraq. Israel’s Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu signed a general...