It's called WAR PROFITEERING, folks, and it has been going on around here for a long, long, time!
"KBR is told to trim Iraq workforce or face fines; Contractor’s costs up amid troop pullout" by Richard Lardner, Associated Press | November 3, 2009
WASHINGTON - The Army’s primary support contractor in Iraq is being warned by Pentagon auditors to cut its work force there or face nearly $200 million in penalties for keeping thousands too many on the payroll.
The Houston-based KBR Inc., responsible for everything from mail and laundry to housing and meals, has increased employee levels while US troops steadily leave the country after more than six years of war, the audit says. As a result, the US government is paying far more in labor costs in Iraq than it should as military resources are shifted to Afghanistan....
The Oct. 26 audit, obtained by the Associated Press, opens a window into a behind-the-scenes battle over KBR’s billing and management practices. The company provides crucial battlefield services under a $33.8 billion, 10-year deal signed in 2001. There have been serious disagreements between KBR and defense auditors, who have challenged billions of dollars in charges as questionable.
But they PAID the OVERRUNS ANYWAY and were AWARDED a NEW CONTRACT!
See: War Looter's Wednesday: Electrifying Bonus
Where Did All the War Loot Go?
And KBR’s critics, many of them Democrats on Capitol Hill, have accused the company of gouging the government during a time of war instead of being a responsible steward of public money.
Like Congress has a leg to stand on there!
And it is NOT JUST DURING WAR!
Related: The Pentagon Spending Sprees
The WAR LOOTING has been going on for 60+ years around here!!!
The report from the audit agency, the military’s first line against waste and fraud, is sure to reinvigorate KBR’s detractors. The audit also reveals a confrontational approach that a congressional oversight committee has said the agency uses too sparingly when dealing with contractors. Last week, audit agency director April Stephenson was forced out of her job after unflattering reviews of the agency’s performance. Stephenson, whose last day as director is Friday, will testify Monday at a hearing held by the independent Commission on Wartime Contracting on the management of contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Globe never got back on to us on that one. Yup, another one-day wonder mixed within the war propaganda.
Notice how you never really read much of the private mercenary armies the U.S. is employing around the world?
Related: Who Are the Terrorists of Pakistan?
Blackwater Behind Peshawar Bombing
The Boston Globe Bucks Up the CIA
The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: Blackening Out Blackwater Assassins
Oh, that must be why.
KBR officials reviewed the audit before it was finalized and their responses are included in the 26-page report. They disagree with many conclusions, saying the company has planned to cut employee levels in Iraq. But these efforts have been slowed while KBR waited for formal guidance from the military on the drawdown, they said.... The auditors said that if KBR does not make the recommended changes or take even more aggressive steps, the agency will challenge future costs for the excess staff as being unreasonable, which means the company might not be paid by the government.
Do you know the term hot air? Use it here -- or anywhere -- when they threaten war looters. Congress will be hearing about it as the campaign kickbacks, 'er, contributions stop.
Besides, who will protect Hillary Clinton?
The final call on whether to implement the audit’s recommendation and withhold any payments rests with the contract managers at Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, Ill. Lee Thompson, a senior command official who oversees the KBR contract, told the contracting commission that the audit is still being analyzed....
Shouldn't they have DONE THAT after the ELECTROCUTIONS of SOLDIERS?
Oh, wait, KBR got $80 million in UNCHALLENGED BONUSES for that!!!
Yeah, give me that salt shaker.
KBR had 17,034 employees in Iraq in January 2008, when there were about 160,000 American forces there to quell a growing insurgency, the audit says. Yet as of Sept. 1, there were 17,095 KBR employees in Iraq even though troop levels had dropped to about 130,000, bases had closed, and the services KBR provides were being scaled back.... Each full-time KBR employee earns about $8,425 a month in pay and benefits, the audit says, so the employee cuts will produce nearly $193 million in savings between the first of January and the end of August, the audit says.
Wow, about $2,100/week!
What do our soldiers get paid? $500?
Actually, it comes out to about $350/week.
--more--"
Occupation Iraq: KBR'S Chemical Killings
Occupation Iraq: KBR and the Indiana Guard
Occupation Iraq: KBR and the West Virginia Guard
They GOT a NEW CONTRACT, huh?
