'Irregular' oversight of KBR work alleged(Whistleblower says Pentagon putting KBR over soldiers)

[maddezmom]

Source: Houston Chronicle

'Irregular' oversight of KBR work alleged
Ex-Army official faults Pentagon on contract in Iraq and Afghanistan


By DAVID IVANOVICH
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau


WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's oversight of Houston-based KBR's work in Iraq and Afghanistan has been "irregular and highly out of the ordinary," a former Army contracting official told Senate Democrats Wednesday.

Charles Smith, the former chief of the Army Field Support Command with responsibility for overseeing KBR's massive contract with the Army, contends he was forced out of his job in 2004 for objecting to the Pentagon's treatment of KBR.

"The interest of a corporation, KBR, not the interests of American soldiers or American taxpayers, seemed to be paramount," Smith told the Democratic Policy Committee, a Democrats-only panel.

Dan Carlson, a spokesman for the Army Sustainment Command, acknowledged that Smith was reassigned within the command. Smith later retired.



Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/5880185.html

[dysfunctional press]

1. the army/military should be an entirely self-supporting entity.

once you have private companies doing the support work, it legitimizes war-profiteering, plain and simple.

[Bob Dobbs]

2. Coporate fascism. No surprise.

The real enemy is the corporate elite.

Iran my ass.

[SpiralHawk]

3. republicon homelanders are building a private totalitarian army - Praetorian Guard

...while treating our sons and daughters in the uniform of the USA, and our veterans, like dirt.

Ptoooey.

Support our American troops: impeach Commander AWOL Bush and VP Richard 'Five Military Deferments' Cheney; end the oil-profits Crusade in the Middle East; and disband the private, fascist, profiteering, corporate republicon armies.

[Enthusiast]

4. SpiralHawk, you are correct.

It is a sad day that our country has now become fascist. Corporate interests and profits are the main concern of our elected officials.

[fascisthunter]

5. That's What it Looks Like to Me... a Right Wing Army

and they call the left extremist....lol

[UpInArms]

6. Cheney/Halliburton Chronology

http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/about_hal/chronology.html

1992

Halliburton subsidiary Brown & Root is paid $9 million by the Pentagon (under Cheney's direction as Secretary of Defense) to produce a classified report detailing how private companies (like itself) could provide logistical support for American troops in potential war zones around the world. Shortly after this report, the Pentagon awards Brown & Root a five-year contract to provide logistics for the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. The General Accounting Office estimates that through this contract, Brown & Root makes overall $2.2 billion in revenue in the Balkans.2

1995

Without any previous business experience, Cheney leaves the Department of Defense to become the CEO of Halliburton Co., one of the biggest oil-services companies in the world. He will be chairman of the company from 1996 to October 1998 and from February to August 2000. Under Cheney's leadership, Halliburton moves up from 73rd to 18th on the Pentagon's list of top contractors. The company garners $2.3 billion in U.S. government contracts, which almost doubles the $1.2 billion it earned from the government previously. Most of the contracts are granted by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.3 Halliburton's overseas operations go from 51% to 68% of its revenue. According to the Center for Public Integrity,4 under Cheney's leadership the company also receives $1.5 billion worth of assistance from government-sponsored agencies such as OPIC (Overseas Private Investment Corporation) and the Export-Import Bank, a huge increase compared to the $100 million that the company had received in federal loans and guarantees in the five years prior to Cheney's arrival. Years later, during the 2000 campaign in a broadcasted vice presidential candidates' debate with Joe Lieberman, Cheney asserts that "the government has absolutely nothing to do" with his financial success as chairman of Halliburton Co.5 Halliburton pleads guilty to criminal charges of violating a U.S. ban on exports to Libya by selling Col. Qaddafi six pulse neutron generators, devices that can be used to detonate nuclear weapons.6 Halliburton pays a $3.8 million penalty to settle alleged violations of the U.S. trade ban.7

1996

Halliburton subsidiary European Marine Contractors (EMC) helps lay the offshore portion of the Yadana natural gas pipeline in Burma. Several human rights organizations allege tremendous human rights abuses are associated with the project, as thousands of villagers in Burma are forced to work in support of the pipeline and related infrastructure. Many lose their homes due to forced relocation, and there are reports of rape, torture and killings by soldiers hired by the companies as security guards for the pipelines.8

1997

Cheney contributes to the creation of an influential right-wing policy group called the Project for the New American Century (PNAC). The group advocates for the removal of Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime as early as January 1998, and is later revealed to be the intellectual center of the drive to war in Iraq.9

...lots more at link...

[oasis]

7. k and r