Pentagon Auditor Cites Heavy Fraud By Contractor

Commissioner Linda Gustitus asked why, given those and other problems, KBR was selected to be one of the three companies for LOGCAP IV.

"What does a contractor have to do to get the government to not contract with them?" she asked.

Parsons said he could understand the puzzlement. But during the selection process, there were no serious issues identified that would have disqualified KBR.

Commissioner Christopher Shays, a former Republican congressman from Connecticut, referred to Stephenson's lengthy testimony as a "litany of abuses." Shays also faulted the Army for not moving quickly enough to shift from KBR to the competitive arrangement.

"In essence, with this one contractor, we basically said that 'KBR is too big to fail,'" he said. "'We're still going to fund you.'"

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On the Net:

Wartime Contracting Commission: http://www.wartimecontracting.gov/