Those who blow whistle on contractor fraud in Iraq face penalties

[proud2BlibKansan]

DEBORAH HASTINGS, AP National Writer
August 24, 2007 12:24 PM

One after another, the men and women who have stepped forward to report corruption in the massive effort to rebuild Iraq have been vilified, fired and demoted.

Or worse.

For daring to report illegal arms sales, Navy veteran Donald Vance says he was imprisoned by the American military in a security compound outside Baghdad and subjected to harsh interrogation methods.

There were times, huddled on the floor in solitary confinement with that head-banging music blaring dawn to dusk and interrogators yelling the same questions over and over, that Vance began to wish he had just kept his mouth shut.

He had thought he was doing a good and noble thing when he started telling the FBI about the guns and the land mines and the rocket-launchers - all of them being sold for cash, no receipts necessary, he said. He told a federal agent the buyers were Iraqi insurgents, American soldiers, State Department workers, and Iraqi embassy and ministry employees.

The seller, he claimed, was the Iraqi-owned company he worked for, Shield Group Security Co.

''It was a Wal-Mart for guns,'' he says. ''It was all illegal and everyone knew it.''

more . . . http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/printArticle.jsp?ID=565074540867487317&Section=NATIONAL&Subsection=

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. What is Congress doing about this?

I know, I know, the question is getting annoyingly repetitious, isn't it?

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. What are they doing about anything involving Iraq?

They won't end the war, they won't bring our troops home, they won't investigate corruption, they won't hold the war criminals who started this accountable.

They did give the worst president ever unprecedented powers to spy on Americans.

Oh and they also go visit Iraq. Whoop de doo.

[Trillo]

3. K&R n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Thanks

I can't believe this is not getting more kicks.