Stop the Blank Checks to Iraq Contractors
11/21/07 - 01:15 PM EST
John Fout
Why can't we have greater accountability for money spent in Iraq? A new report -- Windfalls of War II -- released by the Center for Public Integrity shines a bright light on a crucial topic: government spending in Iraq.
The report offers disturbing revelations. We spend billions on contracts that fail to enforce incentives or cost savings. Contracts go to foreign sources whose identities remain unknown, with little or no oversight to monitor the morass. If the Bush administration is serious about financial discipline, then maybe it should start looking at the reckless spending in Iraq. The report follows up on its investigation into spending from 2001 to 2003 and focuses on 2004 to 2006. It found that American firms received substantial contracts. The leading American contractor will come as no surprise: KBR (KBR Quote - Cramer on KBR - Stock Picks). KBR, formerly known as Kellogg Brown and Root, used to be a subsidiary of Halliburton (HAL Quote - Cramer on HAL - Stock Picks). KBR took in more than $16 billion in contracts between 2004 and 2006, which is more than nine times what private security firm DynCorp International pulled in at second place, according to the report. Other notable American firms winning contracts in the top 20 were: L-3 Communications (LLL Quote - Cramer on LLL - Stock Picks) at No. 6, Fluor (FLR Quote - Cramer on FLR - Stock Picks) at No. 7, Perini(PCR Quote - Cramer on PCR - Stock Picks) at No. 8, TetraTech(TTEK Quote - Cramer on TTEK - Stock Picks) at No. 13 and Lockheed Martin (LMT Quote - Cramer on LMT - Stock Picks) at No. 18.
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