Will our next war be with Mexico?

March 15, 2010 — Ms Sparky

Americans Killed In Drive-By Shooting At Consulate In Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Obama ‘Outraged’
Is this violence any different than what is going on in the Middle East?

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico — Gunmen killed a U.S. consulate employee and her husband as they drove in this violent border city with their baby in the back seat, minutes after the husband of another consular employee was shot to death and his two children wounded, officials said Sunday. Security forces suspected a drug gang hit, but offered no motive.

President Barack Obama expressed outrage over the killings, and Mexican President Felipe Calderon said he was indignant and promised a swift investigation.

The gunmen are suspected of belonging to a gang of hit men tied to the Juarez drug cartel, according to a statement from the joint mission of soldiers and federal police overseeing security in Ciudad Juarez. The statement said the theory was based on “information exchanged with U.S. federal agencies” helping in the investigation.

But police gave no information on a possible motive. U.S. State Department spokesman Fred Lash said the three slain people had attended the same social event before the attacks Saturday.

Several U.S. citizens have been killed in Mexico’s drug war, most of them people with family ties to Mexico. It is very rare for American government employees to be targeted, although assailants hurled grenades at the U.S. consulate in the northern city of Monterrey in 2008.

Civilians have increasingly gotten caught in the middle of drug gang violence that has made Ciudad Juarez one of the deadliest cities in the world, with more than 2,500 people killed last year alone. At least 11 people were killed in Ciudad Juarez over the weekend.

The three died during a particularly bloody weekend in Mexico, with nearly 50 people killed in apparent gang violence. Nine people were killed in a gang shootout early Sunday in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, one of Mexico’s spring break attractions.

The State Department authorized U.S. government employees at Ciudad Juarez and five other U.S. consulates in northern Mexico to send their family members out of the area because of concerns about rising drug violence. The cities are Tijuana, Nogales, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros.

Lash said the decision was based not only on Saturday’s killings but also on a wider pattern of violence and threats in northern Mexico in recent weeks. The State Department noted the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City has advised American citizens to delay unnecessary travel to parts of the Mexican states of Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua. (click HERE for original article)

Reconstruction corruption Iraq, investigations & indictments growing

March 14, 2010 — Forseti

New Fraud Cases Point to Lapses in Iraq Projects

By JAMES GLANZ

- March 13, 2010 -
Investigators looking into corruption involving reconstruction in Iraq say they have opened more than 50 new cases in six months by scrutinizing large cash transactions — involving banks, land deals, loan payments, casinos and even plastic surgery — made by some of the Americans involved in the nearly $150 billion program.

Some of the cases involve people who are suspected of having mailed tens of thousands of dollars to themselves from Iraq, or of having stuffed the money into duffel bags and suitcases when leaving the country, the federal investigators said. In other cases, millions of dollars were moved through wire transfers. Suspects then used cash to buy BMWs, Humvees and expensive jewelry, or to pay off enormous casino debts.

Some suspects also tried to conceal foreign bank accounts in Ghana, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Britain, the investigators said, while in other cases, cash was simply found stacked in home safes.

There have already been dozens of indictments and convictions for corruption since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But the new cases seem to confirm what investigators have long speculated: that the chaos, weak oversight and wide use of cash payments in the reconstruction program in Iraq allowed many more Americans who took bribes or stole money to get off scot-free.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Spc. Beyshee Velez court-martialed for the murder of KBR employee Lucas Trent Vinson

March 13, 2010 — Ms Sparky

Lucas "Trent" Vinson

Soldier court-martialed in man’s killing in Iraq

The trial for Spc. Beyshee Velez will likely take place this summer

By Gregg K. Kakesako-Star Bulletin
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 13, 2010

A 31-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier will face a general court-martial, probably this summer, for allegedly killing a civilian contractor after a daylong standoff at a military base in Iraq last year.

In one of his first actions since assuming command of the 25th Infantry Division last month, Maj. Gen. Bernard Champoux ordered this week that Spc. Beyshee Velez, a combat medic who has served three tours in Iraq, face a court-martial for the death of Lucas T. Vinson, an employee of Houston-based KBR, near Tikrit on Sept. 13. KBR provides services including housing, meals, mail delivery and laundry.

Velez is charged with two counts of murder, one count of trying to elude Air Force security forces and three counts of assault. The Army said that although Velez has been charged with two different counts of murder, he could be convicted of only one of the murder specifications. That charge will be determined by the judge presiding over the court-martial, said Maj. Cathy Wilkinson, an Army spokeswoman.

The Army has said murder carries a maximum sentence of a dishonorable discharge and life confinement. Assault with a deadly weapon carries a maximum sentence of dishonorable discharge and eight years’ confinement. Fleeing apprehension carries a maximum sentence of a bad-conduct discharge and one year of confinement.

Velez was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd “Bronco” Brigade Combat Team, when the shooting occurred at Contingency Operating Base Speicher. Velez has been held at the brig on Ford Island since the shooting.

His defense attorney, Phil Cave, has argued that Velez was mentally unstable when he shot Vinson, 27, with his M-4 carbine.

During a week long pretrial hearing last month at Wheeler Army Airfield, Cave questioned a report by a three-member Army mental health board that ruled Velez was competent to face a court-martial.

Cave described Velez as “a family person” who spent a lot of money taking care of his mother, sister and nephew and who came from a family whose members “slept on the street” and had a history of bipolar disorder and suicide.

(click HERE for original article)

Another Army officer pleads guilty to bribery – where’s the honor?

March 13, 2010 — Ms Sparky

Ex-Army officer expected to plead guilty to bribery

By Guillermo Contreras – Express-News
March 12, 2010

A former Army lieutenant colonel plans to plead guilty next month to charges that he accepted bribes in Iraq to rig an $11.7 million warehouse contract from a company accused of bribing another officer from San Antonio.

The Justice Department filed charges Feb. 26 against retired Lt. Col. Kevin A. Davis, who is cooperating, as part of a deal he struck to avoid having his case go before a grand jury, records obtained by the San Antonio Express-News show.

Davis is scheduled to plead guilty April 13 in Washington, D.C., to three bribery charges for accepting expensive airplane tickets and $50,000 from an American-run company in Kuwait. The company has been administratively blackballed over allegations that it also bribed other military officers, including then-Army Maj. John Cockerham.

Cockerham, who was based at Fort Sam Houston, is serving 171/2 years in federal prison for taking $9.6 million in bribes from several companies in a separate scheme in which he diverted bottled-water contracts to those companies.

Cockerham served between mid-2004 and late 2005 as a contracting officer at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, a staging post for troops in Iraq and where the corruption was so prevalent it embarrassed the Pentagon and resulted in congressional hearings.

Before Cockerham’s arrival in Kuwait, Davis was in Iraq and the senior member of a military team responsible for reviewing contracts relating to the management of warehouses for U.S. forces throughout Iraq.

In March 2004, court records said, Davis met with representatives of “Contractor A” to discuss the company’s interest in a warehouse contract. Though those court records do not identify Contractor A, other court papers and investigation reports identify it as American Logistics Services, which was run at the time by George H. Lee of Alabama.

He later broke off to form his own company, Lee Dynamics Inc., also implicated in corruption.

Court records show the meeting resulted in a tit-for-tat proposal in which the contractor would reward Davis with “gifts” in exchange for Davis and others on the selection teams giving “Contractor A” the $8.2 million contract through a rigged selection process. A month after the contract was awarded, it was increased to $11.7 million.

The contractor, in exchange, bought Davis a $2,500 business-class roundtrip ticket to Venice, Italy, and a $10,000 first-class, one-way ticket from Kuwait to the United States and also gave him $50,000 in cash, court records said.

Davis later went to work for Lee Dynamics as its “business development manager,” according to company documents.

An officer he oversaw at the Army, Lt. Col. Levonda J. Selph, pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges that she accepted a trip to Thailand and a truck as gifts totaling $9,000 from Lee Dynamics in 2005 for bid-rigging acts that ensured its warehouse contract was renewed.

Selph is cooperating and awaiting sentencing.

George Lee and his son, Justin W. Lee, are accused by the Army but have not been charged of bribing other military contracting officers, including Cockerham and Maj. Gloria Davis, whose tour overlapped with Cockerham’s at Camp Arifjan.

Gloria Davis, no relation to Kevin Davis, killed herself in December 2006 after admitting to investigators that she took $225,000 in bribes from Lee Dynamics, records show.

Lee Dynamics and the Lees have been barred from contracting with the U.S. government.

Their Los Angeles-based lawyer, Gerard Casale, declined to comment Friday. (click HERE for original article)

T Christian Miller on Bill Carlisle and Injured War Contractors

March 12, 2010 — Ms Sparky

Bill Carlisle

T Miller brings to light yet another Injured War Zone Contractor who is about to become homeless due to the unwarranted denial of Defense Base Act insurance benefits by AIG. Bill Carlisle has worked hard his whole life and was working hard when he was injured. Thanks to AIG and the fact no one in Congress or the DoL seems to give a damn, Bill’s home in foreclosure with a sale date within the month.

So what if he eventually gets the payments he is already supposed to be getting? His credit is ruined and he won’t be able to buy another home. He’s just another KBR AIG DBA casualty. AIG and CNA are ruining one life right after another.

Why is the Taxpayer paying for these benefits?

In recent years, the Pentagon has come to increasingly rely on private military contractors to do the work that members of the military used to do. But as the number of civilian contractors has grown, so too has the number of deaths and injuries of those contractors and with it, the cost of paying health care benefits for their injury claims.

T. Christian Miller [1] recently won the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting [2] for his coverage of the numerous obstacles contractors face [3] when they’ve been injured and try to collect benefits. We spoke to him about who is responsible for taking care of injured contractors, the ordeal they have to go through to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, the role AIG plays in this, contractor suicide rates and how Congress is addressing the problem.

We also hear from one of the people facing the difficulties Miller has documented. Bill Carlisle Jr. was a contractor with defense firm KBR. He sustained both physical and psychological injuries, and is now fighting insurer AIG for the benefits he says they owe him.

Listen to this 17 minute Podcast below

Download this episode

If you are having problems listening to this Podcast at Ms Sparky you can also listen to it here.

Articles discussed in this podcast:

Injured War Zone Contractors Fight to Get Care From AIG and Other Insurers

The Other Victims of Battlefield Stress; Defense Contractors’ Mental Health Neglected

Injured Abroad, Neglected at Home: Labor Dept. Slow to Help War Zone Contractors

Labor Dept., Congress Plan Improvements to System to Care for Injured War Contractors

Pentagon Study Proposes Overhaul of Defense Base Act to Cover Care for injured Contractors

Originally posted at Defense Base Act Compensation Blog, and Propublica

Internal report issues black eye for U.S. Embassy in Kabul

March 11, 2010 — Ms Sparky

By Ken Dilanian, USA TODAY
March 10, 2010

WASHINGTON — The State Department is failing to properly oversee nearly $2 billion in contracts to battle the drug trade, build infrastructure and train police in Afghanistan, according to a bluntly worded internal assessment.

The report by the department’s inspector general questions whether the U.S. will be able to stabilize the country in time to meet President Obama’s goal of withdrawing some troops by June 2011.

“Embassy oversight of contracts and grants is seriously inhibited by the dangerous security conditions … as well as by the shortage of qualified contract officer representatives in Kabul,” says the report, released last week. The embassy “faces serious challenges in meeting the administration’s deadline for ’success’ in Afghanistan,” it adds.

The embassy, which reports to special representative Richard Holbrooke, says the report is generally “accurate in its assessments,” spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in an e-mail from Kabul. “We are already implementing a great majority of the report’s recommendations.”

That includes better contract oversight, said Deputy Secretary of State Jacob Lew. “We’re very much aware of the problems that developed in Iraq and are working to avoid outcomes that would be problematic,” he said.

In a January cable reported by The New York Times, U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, who runs the embassy, questioned whether the military could meet its timeline for turning over the country to Afghan forces.

The ambassador and his team “have made impressive progress,” the report acknowledges. It attributes some problems to the rapid expansion of the embassy’s staff, which is growing from 320 to 900 with 100% turnover from the Bush administration. Other key criticisms:

• Frequent visits by senior officials and members of Congress divert diplomats from crucial counterinsurgency tasks.

• The embassy doesn’t have enough people to carry out anti-corruption and outreach initiatives.

• No one on the public affairs and website staff speaks Pashto, the language of the areas being contested in the counterinsurgency.

The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction recently blasted the State Department’s oversight of a $2.5 billion contract with DynCorp to train Iraq’s police force, saying invoices were paid with no assurance the work was done correctly. The problem is being repeated in Afghanistan, this new report says.

Because of security concerns, diplomats often can’t visit training sites or other U.S. taxpayer-funded projects, the report says. Just five contract officers in Kabul “cannot provide effective oversight” of $1.8 billion in contracts, the report says. Two officers have since been added, Hayden said.

The report also undercuts a key example cited by Holbrooke as part of his pledge to reduce the government’s reliance on contractors for reconstruction and aid projects. In discussing that change, Holbrooke has repeatedly cited his canceling of a $30 million contract for women’s programs. He said he gave the money to the Kabul embassy.

However, the embassy doesn’t have people to oversee the grants, the audit says. While the embassy hired more staff, Hayden said, it also had to hire a Washington-based contractor to administer the program because Afghan organizations lacked the “internal controls” required to receive direct U.S. funding. (click HERE for original article)

Keep in mind this is the same group of State Department employees who was overseeing ArmorGroup aka “Guards Gone Wild” the security subcontractor at the US Embassy in Kabul.

Is the Military turning a blind eye to child rape in Afghanistan?

March 10, 2010 — Ms Sparky

I can’t even begin to tell you how appalled and disgusted I am at the very thought the US Military might be looking the other way when children are being raped and abused. Wasn’t one of the main reasons for the US to go into Afghanistan to free the Afghan people from the Taliban and oppression? I think that should include all the people! Ms Sparky

Child Rape in Afghanistan?
Wednesday 10 March 2010
by: Dave Lindorff, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

(Photo: TSgt Laura K. Smith / U.S. Air Force; Edited: Jared Rodriguez / truthout)

The stated goal of the US-led war in Afghanistan, according to the Obama administration, is to defeat the Taliban and establish a stable democratic government over the entire country. Critical to that goal is establishing a professional Afghan Army and police force that is not corrupt and that has the respect of the Afghan people.

But reports out of Canada suggest that, far from creating such a military and police force, the so-called International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) is turning a blind eye to the thuggish criminality of those organizations, both to avoid growing opposition in ISAF member countries and to avoid offending those organizations in Afghanistan.

The issue in question is routine rape of children by Afghan soldiers and police operating on Canadian-run bases in the Kandahar region.

As reported last fall in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper, Canadian military chaplains and some soldiers have been complaining as far back as 2006 that Afghan security forces have been sexually assaulting young boys on their base. These military whistle-blowers charge that the military brass has been ignoring or burying their complaints, fearing the bad publicity they could generate.

The paper reported that Canadian military police have also complained, as reported by Brig. Gen. J.C. Collin, commander of Land Force Central Area, that they were being told “not to interfere in incidents in which Afghan forces were having sex with children.” (Read the rest of the story here…)

The False Claims Act rewards citizens for reporting corporate fraud

March 9, 2010 — Ms Sparky

Whistle-blowers are people who know and can prove that the city, state or federal government has paid claims or invoices to wrongdoers based upon false or misleading information. The Federal False Claims Act and similar state and municipal laws allow the government to collect up to three times the amount it was defrauded, in addition to civil penalties of $5,500 to $11,000 per false claim. A whistle-blower in a qui tam case, known as a “relator,” is entitled to recover 15-25% of any settlement or recovery obtained by the government in connection with the filing of his or her qui tam complaint.

In addition to the Federal False Claims Act, 24 states have their own false claims acts. Each one has established laws that allow recovery for “whistle-blowers” who can prove fraud against a government body and laws that protect them from retaliation by their employer. These states include: California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. The California and Illinois false claims acts also permit relators to bring claims for fraud against private insurers. The District of Columbia, New York City and Chicago also have their own false claims acts.

Qui tam cases come in many varieties. Common types of qui tam fraud include: Medicare and Medicaid Fraud, Nursing Home and Healthcare Fraud, Pharmaceutical Fraud, Construction and Contractor Fraud, Wartime and Defense Contractor Fraud, Aerospace Fraud, Education and Grant Fraud, Procurement Fraud, U.S. Postal Service Fraud, and I.R.S. Fraud. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Will Dyncorp and Fluor protest the CTP task order award for LOGCAP IV

March 8, 2010 — Ms Sparky

Am I the only one that thinks there SHOULD be a whole lot of this name calling going on?

There is a whole lot of speculation going on about whether Dyncorp and Fluor will protest the award of the CTP task order. The CTP task order is the first LOGCAP IV task order to be award in Iraq and was awarded to KBR This CTP task order will cover Corps Logistics Support Services (CLSS), Theater Transportation Mission (TTM), Postal Services, Ice Plant Operations, and some Air Terminal Operations to support the U.S. armed forces throughout Iraq.

This task award was very surprising to most, especially after KBR received a zero award fee for poor performance just the day before they were awarded this task order. Rumor has it even the majority of KBR was surprised, but I’m certain there were some KBR exec’s in Virginia that were aware of what was happening.

There is also an enormous amount of anger amongst members of Congress and they are demanding accountability from the Army on this decision.

All you Fluor and Dyncorp insiders, what’s the word on a protest. Fill us in.

Also, all you contract experts. What is the possibility the Army could be forced to reverse their decision on this task order award?

Ms Sparky

What happened to KBR’s Bill Walter and Michael Hatch?

March 6, 2010 — Ms Sparky

Last weekend I got my first hint there was something amiss at KBR Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. (we all know there is something amiss with KBR…..I mean something specific!) I was told that allegedly Mr. William “Bill” Walter and Mr. Michael Hatch were no longer employed by KBR. I have been told they were “fired” and also I have been told they “resigned”.

On top of that there are the “not so insignificant” number hits I am getting from internet search engines like this one below:

Fort Belvoir, Virginia arrived from google.com on “» DFAC” by searching for Bill Walter & KBR & Fired. 14:55:46 — (this one was from 03/05/2010)

William (Bill) Walter – Some internet references refer to Mr. Walter as Senior Vice President for Government Compliance. Others refer to Mr. Walter as Director of Government Compliance for KBR’s Government Operations unit. Either way, according the Halliburton/KBR’s site Mr. Walter has overall responsibility for all U.S. government compliance functions, including Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) audits and government interface, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) compliance, cost accounting standards, pricing compliance, training and compliance policy. Mr. Walter has more than 15 years as a leading defense industry compliance consultant.

You may remember Mr. Walter from his recent appearances on KBR’s behalf before the esteemed members of the Commission on Wartime Contracting. (Read the rest of the story here…)

David Isenberg – KBR: Failing Upwards

March 5, 2010 — Ms Sparky

David Isenberg – Huffington Post
Author, Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq (Praeger Security International)
Posted: March 5, 2010

I wonder who comes up with this KBR stuff?

Up is down, night is day, and now, in the best tradition of George Orwell’s 1984 newspeak KBR — the company that was the subject of a recent Department of Defense Inspect General report that found that the Army broke federal procurement rules in 2004, when two commanding generals improperly directed a contracting officer to pay millions of dollars in fees to KBR Inc., when funds should have been withheld, per the language in the contract with KBR – has been awarded its first task order under the newest version of LOGCAP.

For those who don’t know, LOGCAP is the mother of all logistics support contracts. Without it the U.S. Army simply can’t function.

The award also comes just a week after the Army announced that KBR would not be awarded $25 million in bonuses under the LOGCAP III Iraq support contract because KBR “failed to meet a level deserving of an award fee payment for work it did during the first four months of 2008.” Although the Army did not specifically cite it when announcing the withholding of the payment KBR’s “failed” work occurred during the time a Green Beret was electrocuted in a barracks shower in Iraq KBR was responsible for maintaining. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Senator warns against $1B deal with Blackwater

March 4, 2010 — Ms Sparky

By ANNE FLAHERTY (AP)

WASHINGTON — A senior Senate Democrat said Thursday the Pentagon should consider barring Blackwater, now called Xe Services, from a new $1 billion deal to train Afghan police because of “serious questions” about the contractor’s conduct.

The comments by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin suggests thinning patience in Congress for the Pentagon’s heavy reliance on contractors on the battlefield.

U.S. efforts to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan using independent contractors has been a boon for companies like Blackwater and saved money and time for the Defense Department, whose forces are busy in combat.

But the outsourcing has made it more difficult for military commanders to control what happens on the battlefield.

In one recent incident in Afghanistan, two contractors tied to Blackwater allegedly killed two Afghan civilians and injured a third. U.S. officials say the May 2009 shooting damaged relations with the local population (Read the rest of the story here…)

David Isenberg: Would Blackwater Lie?

March 4, 2010 — Ms Sparky

David Isenberg – Huffington Post
Author, Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq (Praeger Security International)
Posted: March 4, 2010 01:19 PM

The title is not an attempt at facetiousness. It is a genuinely serious question. The reason I ask is that Politico’s Laura Rozen has just published a story about Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) today releasing letters he wrote to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Attorney General Eric Holder on Feb. 25 regarding the committee’s investigation of a Blackwater “shell” company in Afghanistan, Paravant, which conducted training for the Afghan National Army.

In his letter to Holder, Levin asked him to “initiate an inquiry into whether individuals from Blackwater and Raytheon made false or misleading statements in their submission of the ‘Paravant’ contract proposal to the U.S. government.”

Levin noted that the committee’s investigation found that Blackwater-Paravant had made false statements to get the Afghan National Army training contract, including in creating a shell company, Paravant, fully owned by Blackwater but not encumbered by its public relations “baggage” to bid for the contract.

“Among concerns raised by the investigation were representations made by Blackwater in its proposal for the subcontract that Paravant had ‘over 2000 personnel deployed overseas supporting U.S. Government contracts’ and ‘many years experience in identifying and selecting top candidates for training, security, and consulting positions,’” a SASC press release accompanying the letters said. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Judge rules against Army in favor of KBR and the retired General who has sold his soul for $650.00hr

March 4, 2010 — Ms Sparky

Ex-commander in Iraq to give deposition in KBR case

By MARY FLOOD – March 3, 2010, 11:03PM

Despite the Army’s efforts to block it, retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who once led U.S. forces in Iraq, is scheduled to be deposed today as an expert for KBR in a lawsuit over a deadly civilian truck convoy attack in Iraq.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Johnson refused Wednesday to grant the Army’s request to prevent Sanchez from giving his expert opinions in the case.

Drivers and family members suing KBR contend the company should have stopped the convoys when it was warned that attacks would increase on April 9, 2004, the first anniversary of the day allies in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq reached Baghdad.

Sanchez, who at $650 an hour is already owed about $91,000 in expert fees, says KBR is not at fault for the six deaths and other injuries.

Sanchez wrote a report saying it was an Army communication error that led the attacked convoys to go down a road some in the military knew was supposed to be closed to civilian traffic. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Not so fast KBR – Lawmakers demand answers from Pentagon

March 3, 2010 — Forseti

Lawmakers challenge Army decisions on KBR

By Andrea Shalal-Esa – 7:31pm EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday questioned the Army’s continued use of KBR Inc for logistics work in Iraq in the face of confirmed reports of poor past performance.

Representative Edolphus Towns, who heads the House Oversight Committee, wrote to Defense Secretary Robert Gates to question the Army’s decision to award KBR a new contract valued at up to $2.8 billion despite a wide array of problems.

Towns, citing problems with KBR’s maintenance of electrical systems at bases where U.S. troops were fatally electrocuted and “numerous allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse,” asked Gates to provide the committee with a wide array of documents about the KBR contract by March 17.

“It seems inconceivable to me that the Defense Department would award this new contract to KBR in Iraq,” Towns said, citing the company’s “poor past performance.”

“When multiple deaths of service men and women are not enough to preclude the award of a new contract, it makes me wonder what it takes for a contractor to be fired.” (Read the rest of the story here…)

KBR Press Release on LOGCAP IV Task Order 2

March 2, 2010 — Ms Sparky

KBR Awarded Major Task Order Under Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) IV Contract

Houston, Texas – March 2, 2010 – KBR (NYSE: KBR) today announced it has been awarded a task order by the U.S. Army Contracting Command under its current Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) IV contract. KBR will execute the LOGCAP IV Corps Logistics Support Services (CLSS), Theater Transportation mission (TTM), and Postal Services Task Order in Iraq. The Period of Performance is one base year plus four option years. The award represents KBR’s first major Task Order under the LOGCAP IV contract.

Under the task order KBR will provide the following: (Read the rest of the story here…)

The Get Out of Jail and Stay on Contract Free Card

March 2, 2010 — Ms Sparky

David Isenberg – Huffington Post
Author, Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq (Praeger Security International)
Posted: March 2, 2010 01:19 PM

My mother was right. I should have gone to law school. Perhaps then I would be able to understand one ignored aspect of the Feb. 24 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing “Contracting in a Counterinsurgency: An Examination of the Blackwater Paravant Contract and the Need for Oversight” which has received much publicity in the past week.

The relevant background is this.

In the fall of 2008, a company called Paravant entered into a subcontract with Raytheon Technical Services Company to perform weapons training for the Afghan National Army. Paravant was created in 2008 by Erik Prince Investments (the company which is now named Xe).

On May 5, 2009, Justin Cannon and Christopher Drotleff, two men working for Paravant in Afghanistan, fired their weapons, killing two Afghan civilians and injuring a third. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Army awards lucrative Iraq support contract to KBR

March 2, 2010 — Ms Sparky

By KIMBERLY HEFLING and RICHARD LARDNER (AP)

WASHINGTON — Defense giant KBR Inc. was awarded a contract potentially worth $2.8 billion for support work in Iraq as U.S. forces continue to leave the country, military authorities said Tuesday.

KBR was notified of the award Friday, a day after the company told shareholders it lost about $25 million in award fees because of flawed electrical work in Iraq.

The Houston-based company was charged with maintaining the barracks where Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth of Pittsburgh, a 24-year-old Green Beret, was electrocuted in 2008 while showering. The company has denied wrongdoing, and investigators said in August there was “insufficient evidence to prove or disprove” that anyone was criminally culpable in Maseth’s death.

The uproar over his death triggered a review of 17 other electrocution deaths in Iraq and widespread inspections and repairs of electrical work in Iraq, much of it performed by KBR.

Dan Carlson, a spokesman for the Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, Ill., said the new contract is for one year, with an option for four more. KBR will handle logistics support, transportation mission, and postal operations. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Finally the media reports on KBR’s recent LOGCAP IV windfall

March 2, 2010 — Ms Sparky

FINALLY!! Something from the main stream media. KBR was notified of this LOGCAP IV award on the Feb26 0r 27th according to the date on the award letter. Ms Sparky published the on the 27th. I know there was an earthquake on the same day and a tsunami in the Pacific threatening Hawaii and other coastlines. OK, I get that. But why didn’t the Army and KBR made an official announcement on Monday….or Tuesday? Am I too impatient? Below is the first main stream media article put out by the Associated Press!! Kudo’s to them.

Army Awards Lucrative Contract to KBR

Contractor under fire for faulty electrical work in Iraq awarded contract worth up to $2.8B
By KIMBERLY HEFLING and RICHARD LARDNER
WASHINGTON March 2, 2010 (AP)
The Associated Press

Military authorities say defense giant KBR Inc. has been awarded a contract potentially worth $2.8 billion for work in Iraq as U.S. forces continue to leave the country.

KBR was notified of the award Friday, a day after the company told shareholders it lost about $25 million in award fees because of flawed electrical work in Iraq. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Pentagon estimates 90% of sexual assaults go unreported

March 1, 2010 — Ms Sparky

The War Within

Monday, Mar. 08, 2010
By NANCY GIBBS – Time Magazine

What does it tell us that female soldiers deployed overseas stop drinking water after 7 p.m. to reduce the odds of being raped if they have to use the bathroom at night? Or that a soldier who was assaulted when she went out for a cigarette was afraid to report it for fear she would be demoted — for having gone out without her weapon? Or that, as Representative Jane Harman puts it, “a female soldier in Iraq is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire.”

The fight over “Don’t ask, don’t tell” made headlines this winter as an issue of justice and history and the social evolution of our military institutions. We’ve heard much less about another set of hearings in the House Armed Services Committee. Maybe that’s because too many commanders still don’t ask, and too many victims still won’t tell, about the levels of violence endured by women in uniform. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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Ex-commander in Iraq to give deposition in KBR case

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Lawmakers challenge Army decisions on KBR

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Mother's Day is Sunday May 9th

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