War profiteers are
stealing our tax dollars
According
to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office, by the end of this year
the Bush administration will have spent more than $100 billion dollars on
private firms working in Iraq since the invasion started in 2003. This total
does not include corporations that have received billions of our tax dollars
but are not in Iraq.
The
United States has relied more heavily on contractors in Iraq than in any other
war to provide services ranging from food service to guarding diplomats. About
20 percent of funding for operations in Iraq has gone to contractors, the
report said.
Currently,
there are at least 190,000 contractors in Iraq and neighboring countries, a
ratio of about one contractor per U.S. service member, the report says.
U.S. Sen.
Kent Conrad, D-N.D., chairman of the Budget Committee, which requested the CBO
review, said the use of contractors “restricts accountability and oversight;
opens the door to corruption and abuse; and, in some instances, may
significantly increase the cost to American taxpayers.”
In May,
an internal audit from the Defense Department’s inspector general showed about
$8 billion paid to U.S. and Iraqi contractors and found that nearly every
transaction failed to comply with federal laws or regulations aimed at
preventing fraud.
Below is
a short list — a very short list — of companies who are fleecing
American tax dollars:
Halliburton
— The first name that comes to everyone’s mind here is Halliburton.
According to MSN Money, Halliburton’s KBR Inc. division billed government agencies
to the tune of $17.2 billion in Iraq war-related revenue from 2003-2006 alone.
Veritas
Capital Fund/DynCorp — At first blush, a private equity fund (and not,
say, ExxonMobil) being the number two profiteer in the Iraq war might sound
strange. However, the cleverly run fund has raked in $1.44 billion through its
DynCorp subsidiary.
Washington
Group International — The Washington Group International has parlayed its
expertise in the repair, restoration and maintenance of high-output oil fields
into $931 million in Iraq-related revenue from 2003-2006.
Fluor —
Fluor scored a monster $1.1 billion contract in 2004 to build, service, and
manage water/sewage systems in Iraq.
Parsons —
Few Iraq contractors have come under fire as much as Parsons, who reportedly
managed the construction of a police academy so poorly that human waste dripped
from its ceilings. Far from being an isolated incident, reports from federal
government auditor’s revealed lackluster work on 13 of the 14 Iraq projects
entrusted to Parsons. Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped the Pasadena-based
firm from making off with $540 million in U.S. government funds for the poorly
executed reconstruction projects at Iraq’s healthcare centers and fire
stations.
L3
Communications — L3 Communications has carved out a neat $359 million
slice of Iraq’s security screening needs as of fiscal 2006. The New York-based
company has been charged with overseeing the screening and training of law
enforcement personnel for the growing all-Iraqi security force, as well as
replacing equipment in the field. Linguistics is another one of L3’s
specialties, one that is heavily relied upon to interface with native speaking
Sunni and Shia forces. L3 Communications also has purchased Titan, a corporate
intelligence company with a $1 billion Iraq contract. Prior to being acquired
by L3, Titan pled guilty to international bribery charges (a felony) and paid a
record-breaking $28.5 million under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
HSBC Bank
— Already the third largest financial institution on the planet, HSBC has
seen its fortunes brighten beyond its wildest dreams since the start of combat.
It has purchased a controlling stake (70%) in the newly created Iraqi national
bank, Dar es Salaam Investment Bank, which, though small, already has amassed
assets of $91 million.
The
companies on this list of war profiteers are not supplying the goods that they
have been contracted to provide. According to numerous reports by both our
government and independent watchdog groups, these companies and many others are
promising one thing and delivering another.
The
Pentagon and those that have awarded the contracts (many no-bid contracts) have
had carte blanche because President George W. Bush and the
Republican-controlled congress removed almost all oversight. In fact, the
latest Pentagon inspector-general recently quit after only a few months on the
job because he did not have adequate personnel to oversee the voluminous task
that was before him.
This
corruption must stop; most of the problems Americans now are confronted with
are directly related to the failed war policies installed by Bush and the GOP.
Bush and
the GOP have created a tax dollar siphoning machine with almost zero oversight,
and Republican presidential candidate, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, wants
to continue these policies.
Americans
must demand oversight on every tax dollar spent on any program, period.