WASHINGTON, June 13, 2004 Reports on the use of contractors in Iraq have disclosed that private-sector employees have been performing sensitive intelligence work in and around combat zones. What's more, the report by Major General Antonio Taguba on the alleged abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib Prison noted the involvement of civilian contractors at the Baghdad facility. >>
WASHINGTON, October 30, 2003 More than 70 American companies and individuals have won up to $8 billion in contracts for work in postwar Iraq and Afghanistan over the last two years, according to a new study by the Center for Public Integrity. >>
WASHINGTON, October 30, 2003 Raytheon Aerospace, which changed its name to Vertex Aerospace in June 2003, and its related companies have received more than $2.7 billion in U.S. government contracts since 1990, and the company is currently in Afghanistan with a contract from the Defense Department worth at least $7.4 million involving aircraft repair and maintenance. >>
WASHINGTON, October 30, 2003 Government contracting has always been a complex matter, thick with legal wrangling and bureaucracy, but the last decade has seen a radical change in how the U.S. government purchases goods and services. >>
WASHINGTON, October 30, 2003 On May 22, the U.N. Security Council gathered in New York to approve a resolution lifting sanctions on Iraq, creating a Development Fund for the country and providing limited immunity to corporations involved in oil and gas deals there for the next four years. The resolution directed that proceeds from future sales of Iraqi oil and gas be placed in the development fund and allowed the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority to disburse the funds in consultation with the interim Iraqi administration. >>
WASHINGTON, October 30, 2003 One of the more interesting Iraq contracts the Center uncovered involves a tiny firm called Sullivan Haave Associates. >>
WASHINGTON, October 30, 2003 The Pentagon has awarded seven contracts to San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp. to oversee much of the massive jobs of building a new government and mass media in post-war Iraq. Although the Defense Department and SAIC have chosen to keep much of the contract information secret—including the cost—the Center for Public Integrity has been able to glean some interesting details about the deals, which were all awarded in February 2003. The contracts all appear to last for one year and call for all of the work to be directed by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith. Feith's top deputy at the Pentagon is Christopher "Ryan" Henry. Henry was a senior vice president at SAIC until October 2002. >>
WASHINGTON, October 30, 2003 While the Defense and State Departments have granted the lion's share of contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan directly from Washington, a few U.S. companies have made their deals directly with local governing authorities that have emerged with U.S. support or direction. >>