LAT:Rules and(Iraqi)Cash Flew Out Window(before U.S. handover) - BIG STORY

[DeepModem Mom]

Rules and Cash Flew Out the Window
By T. Christian Miller, Times Staff Writer


....As the clock ticked down to the U.S. transfer of power last June, reconstruction projects were hopelessly mired in delays, and financial controls at the Iraqi Communications Ministry appeared nonexistent. Yet instead of putting the brakes on spending, top U.S. officials urged that contracts be accelerated, (Bill) Keller said....

***

This apparent indifference toward accountability in spending Iraqi money was common among American officials last year as they rushed to sign contracts in the waning days of U.S. control of Iraq, according to interviews and documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

In recent audits and interviews, June 2004 has emerged as a month when both money and accountability were thrown out the window....More than 1,000 contracts were issued by U.S. officials in June, about double the usual number. American officials discovered last month that the U.S. had improperly used Iraqi funds to award at least $85 million in contracts after its authority had lapsed and an interim Iraqi government took over, The Times learned.

Auditors disclosed this month that several U.S. officials were under investigation for possible embezzlement in connection with the June spending blitz....

***

U.S. officials are unsure whether billions of dollars dispatched to Iraqi ministries for reconstruction projects ever reached their intended destinations. Schools and hospitals refurbished under hastily issued contracts have again fallen into disrepair. The oil and power industries are in worse shape than during the regime of Saddam Hussein....


(Lots more in this story, about, according to the article, "something like a Barneys warehouse sale in the Wild West, with the U.S. playing the role of frenzied shopper and leaving Iraqis to pay the bill.")


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-lastdays20may20,0,5950302.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[evlbstrd]

1. Jesus H. Christ on a bicycle... n/t

[JDPriestly]

2. Is this what Galloway was talking about

when he confronted Coleman at the Senate hearing? He talked about a lot of things, but wasn't this one of them?

[daleo]

40. I am pretty sure Galloway talked about this.

Also about the fact that the majority of "oil for food" funds went through U.S. firms, and the Senate ought to be concentrating on them, not foreign politicians who were against the invasion.

[grytpype]

3. Hey, it's just a few billion.

It's OK, because Bush loves Baby Jesus. So quit asking questions.

[Erika]

6. Wonderful response

The L.dotters and freepers thank you. They couldn't have phrased it better. Even though Bush has struck down the Golden Rule in the cruelest means possible.

[stevedeshazer]

4. But Army grunts don't have armor.

:grr:

[KittyWampus]

31. That's What Pisses Me Off

[DoYouEverWonder]

36. That how Bush shows the world

that he really hates everybody. If he gave a shit for his own troops they would have good armor.

[Betsy Ross]

5. Will this get swept under the proverbial rug

like the previous report of "war-time accounting." Aren't there eight billion dollars floating around out there?

[okoboji]

7. which is it?

a) hunt for WMD's spending
b) hunt for Osama Bin Long-Forgotton spending
c) War-Time spending
d) Post-War spending
e) re-building Iraq spending
f) Iraq Freedom spending
g) Iraq occupation spending
h) Haliburton going to get all the money spending

[Theduckno2]

8. The Bush Administration is fiscally responsible like I'm a

ballerina in the Bolshoi ballet troupe ( I'm 6ft-2in, 220lbs and a guy). Oh sure they penny pinch when it comes to base closings, the current highway bill and funding "No Child Left Behind". They can't wait to throw money at Iraq, a trip to Mars and a missle defense system that may not work for decades! I thought that the rebuilding of Iraq was going to come out of oil revenues! I wouldn't overlook the Allawi government for signs of corruption either. :grr:

[xxqqqzme]

10. Hey, U forget

yhe partially treated swerage being mixed in w/ our water supply. What's a few pathogens among friends?

[The_Casual_Observer]

9. This was an obscure news story back in the day

Uncovered by DU from foreign press reports primarily.

[DulceDecorum]

11. Remember that oil that Halliburton overcharged on?

Well, it turns out that Kuwait had given the oil to the US
FREE
for as long as the Iraq War was going on.

Kuwait Says It Will Start Charging The U.S. Military For Fuel
http://www.atsnn.com/story/127585.html


Little known fact, Normie.

[The_Casual_Observer]

12. Sure I remember the oil, like $20 a gallon or something

crazy. Actually I am numb to this anymore, the reality beats my wildest paranoia every fucking time now.

[anitar1]

13. No Honor Among Thieves.

So that seems to apply to the whole Repug cabal. But --they are bringing democracy and freedom to those poor people. Right. Talk about dishonoring this country! I doubt we will ever recover from this, in the eyes of the world.

[DulceDecorum]

14. $61 Billion, about par for the course.

Friday, December 12, 2003
The largest part of Halliburton's oil reconstruction contract is providing gasoline and other fuel to Iraqis while the country's oil industry is rebuilt. A Pentagon audit found Halliburton was charging $1.09 more per gallon for gasoline it trucked into Iraq from Kuwait than for the same fuel it imported from Turkey.
Pentagon officials said Thursday Halliburton's Kuwaiti subcontractor apparently charged too much for the gasoline. Halliburton's president, Dave Lesar, said the Kuwaiti firm was the only one that met the contract's requirements. Lesar said Halliburton earned "a few cents on the dollar" for delivering the fuel.
Under the contract, Halliburton gets a guaranteed profit calculated as part of the company's costs. In other words, the higher the costs, the more money Halliburton gets.
Halliburton is guaranteed a profit equal to at least two percent of its costs. Depending on performance, Halliburton can earn a profit of up to 7 percent of costs.
If the subcontractor did overcharge by $61 million, Halliburton would be guaranteed $1.2 million in profit from that amount. If Halliburton earned the entire 7 percent, its profit on the overcharge would be about $4.3 million.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,105599,00.html

So of the oil is free,
then Halliburton makes 7 % of absolutely nothing.
Hence the scam.

Tuesday 10 February 2004, 19:27 Makka Time, 16:27 GMT
A draft US audit disclosed in December the US government had been overcharged by some $61 million for oil purchased through a Halliburton subcontractor in Kuwait.
Several Kuwaiti MPs and the local press alleged that senior officials from KPC and other agencies were involved in the scam.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7CFBB11F-746A-4212-9204-6F9136A58E32.htm

May 20, 2005
So the spree began. On a single day in May, U.S. and Iraqi officials approved almost $1.9 billion in spending, including oil, security and electricity projects.
<snip>
In one e-mail in April 2004, Gramaglia ordered a contractor to "force projects through quickly."
Noting that an article in a British newspaper that morning had warned of "corruption in contracting for Iraq reconstruction," Gramaglia wrote: "I expect this to heat up in coming days and weeks. This could bring the entire process to a screeching halt, so time is of the essence."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-lastdays20may20,1,4156692.story?page=2&coll=la-headlines-world

We came, we saw, we stole.

[DeepModem Mom]

20. Thanks for these additions, DD --

what a stinking can of worms; what a bunch of common thieves!

[glitch]

23. Good one and true.

The Bush reality beats my wildest paranoia every fucking time.

[not fooled]

37. yeah, facts schmacks

this debacle will go down as one of the most nefarious incidents in American history, however much of it is left after * finishes off the country.

The one thing that makes me feel better: history will judge these pirates and criminals most harshly. Once those pointy-headed academics get through with *, he will be recognized for the rest of human history as nothing more than a piece of offal.

Of course, as * points out, he will be dead, but as he looks up from the seventh circle of hell, he can see future generations laughing / cringing as they read of his actions. :nopity: :thumbsdown:

[LynnTheDem]

18. OK...that one made my jaw go

:wow:

Didn't think that could happen to me anymore...

[jazzjunkysue]

26. Got any better soures on this? I missed it, and I don't miss much.

Love to see this turn up in a few different places, in order to move it up to the bloggers and hopefully some media.

I don't doubt you: Don't get me wrong, I could believe just about anything these days. Thanks.

[DulceDecorum]

27. For you, the long version.

Free Oil: the ride is over.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1785946

Summary:
Now, we all know that
Cheney's Halliburton has been overcharging the US government
over oil imports from Kuwait into Iraq.
And we also know that that
citizens of Kuwait have been detained in Guantanamo Bay.
But did you know that
KUWAIT HAS BEEN FOOTING THE ENTIRE OIL BILL FOR THIS WAR?

It rather appears as if the US has been purchasing Kuwaiti citizens to use as hostages.

Almost all of the Kuwaiti prisoners were caught in Pakistan by local villagers and tribesmen in the NWFP area or by government agents and, according to their lawyers and their families, sold to the Americans for a reported price of $10,000 each.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_8-1-2005_pg7_41

You all know by now that Muslim world is seething because of reports from Newsweek and elsewhere of the desecration of the Koran.

First Published 2005-05-13, Last Updated 2005-05-13 16:42:07
The US magazine Newsweek last week cited sources as saying that investigators had uncovered a case that interrogators, trying to rattle prisoners, flushed a Koran down a toilet and led a detainee around with a collar and a dog leash.
Pentagon officials said the allegation was first made by a lawyer of a detainee who was recently repatriated to Kuwait.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=13491

With friends like these ......

[jazzjunkysue]

33. Thanks. Got any sources about the oil overcharges to halliburton?

[DulceDecorum]

34. Umm, Halliburton overcharged ITSELF, on purpose

The way I understand it,
the story concerns two subsidiaries of Halliburton.
Altanmia Commercial Marketing Co. is a Halliburton subsidiary.
Kellogg Brown & Root is also a Halliburton subsidiary.

Kuwait gave the oil free to the US.
The US Army Corps appears to have insisted that the oil pass through Halliburton subsidiary, Altanmia Commercial Marketing Co.
Altanmia Commercial Marketing Co. SOLD the oil to Kellogg Brown & Root.
Kellogg Brown & Root then charged the US Army Corps a SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT for transporting the oil into Iraq.

It's all documented in there, in the Waxman letter, Army Corps memo.
Click on the links.
Free Oil: the ride is over.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1785946

March 10th, 2004
Is Halliburton guilty of Iraqi gas gouging?
A study released Wednesday by two Democratic congressmen accuses the energy services company of "highway robbery."
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11208

Foidermore,
Check out this February 17, 2005, letter to Condi:

n this case, however, it appears that Ambassador Jones intervened to block the Corps of Engineers from negotiating a lower fuel price and saving the U.S. government millions of dollars.
I request that you release the results of any investigations completed by the State Department, Defense Department, or Justice Department regarding this issue. If these investigations have not yet been concluded, I request that you explain why you have appointed Ambassador Jones to this sensitive Iraq position while the criminal investigations remain ongoing.
Sincerely,
Henry A. Waxman
Ranking Minority Member
http://www.buzzflash.com/alerts/05/02/ale05031.html

November 15, 2004
A subsequent audit of the contract found that KBR, Altanmia, or both had overcharged on the contract by at least $61 million.
State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper last week insisted that agency officials never "participated in decision-making regarding the contracts," although Jones is a career State Department employee, the AP noted.
Documents released last week also indicate that the State Department was warned in summer 2003 that Halliburton officials were soliciting bribes and demanding kickbacks from Altanmia, noted the Reuters news agency.
Altanmia wrote in an email that KBR officials "are on the take; that they solicit bribes openly; that anyone visiting their seaside villas at the Kuwaiti Hilton who offers to provide services will be asked for a bribe."
http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/members/issue.tmpl?articleid=11150417114839

Mon, 15 Nov 2004
Tom Crum, Middle East chief for Halliburton’s Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) subsidiary, demanded that Kuwaiti Hilton staff get his wife a diamond-encrusted Cartier watch in the middle of the night, according allegations reported by internal United States embassy memos.
<snip>
The collection of documents, including e-mails, memos and reports were released to the media by California Representative Henry Waxman, to top ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Government Reform. They are only a small part of over 400 internal documents delivered to the committee, which wields oversight of U.S. contracts relating to Iraq.
“Get off your f&^%ing ass, put my wife in a car, and go get her a watch,” Crum is alleged to have told Camille Geha, the sales manager at Khalifa Hilton resort in Kuwait, in early 2004. Aware that the company was spending up to $1.5 million a month at the hotel, Geha is said to have told an unnamed embassy staffer that he had a jewelry store at the Marina Mall opened in the middle of the night to get a new watch.
Wendy Hall, a spokesperson for Halliburton, says her company views the incident differently. Crum’s “wife had a watch, valued at $2,600, stolen from the hotel and the hotel replaced it,” she wrote in an email to CorpWatch.
http://gnn.tv/articles/article.php?id=891

Simply irresistible.
She's so fine, there's no tellin' where the money went
She's all mine, there's no other way to go.
-- Robert Palmer

[leftchick]

16. Yes I remember reading of it as it happened...

The US press is always late if they bother to print a bushco** outrage at all. And look who was overseeing all of the stealing, Paul Bremer, and he was awarded the medal of freedom for his good job. :puke:

[AzDar]

21. I love that pic of Galloway in your post...even the wee hairs on the crown

of his head look pissed off!

[glitch]

24. When I look at Galloway I see MacDuff

and poor normie as yet another jackass MacBeth.

[leftchick]

29. I agree...

At first I didn't like the shiny pate. But then I looked into his eyes......

[Nothing Without Hope]

15. Just like Galloway said. Maybe the lid will FINALLY blow on this

suppressed story. Maybe.

Recommended.

[dbt]

17. Back to the Front Page with this little grenade.

(a.k.a. Kick)

[pinerow]

19. Galloway was right....!!!

nt

[BeFree]

22. Meanwhile...

...my little town, an All-American kinda place, suffers from a lack of funds, and now I see why... any extra money is going into Iraq!

It sure would be nice to see a little "Spreading Democracy" right here at home, eh?

[Just Me]

25. This is just criminal. Reckless and criminal.

People are STARVING TO DEATH, are unable to get health care, are being shot at, bombed at,...and these pricks,...

Oh,...I just,...

:grr:

[0007]

28. EMERGENCY EMERGENCY - We're at WAR

Bring us more money....."They acknowledged paperwork problems but said wartime circumstances demanded a focus on action, not accounting principles. Most of the money, they said, helped prevent bloodshed by providing desperately needed goods and services to Iraqis."

I've never in my life heard a bigger bunch of bullshit. You'd think that the U.S. had every available man on the front line with a weapon in hand. Accountants, CPA's, money watchers, generals and small boys alike were saving us from harms way and preventing more bloodshed by providing this desperate service to the Iraqis. Which they still haven't received.

America will remember this when it's standing in the soup line one day soon.

[Zorra]

30. The military needs to remove Commander Cuckoo Bananas from

his post as Commander n' Cheat, and remove his crew of Lost Planet Airheads from their positions as well.

This administration is so corrupt and inept that they just might destroy our armed forces and America along with them if they don't.

[killbotfactory]

32. A bunch of crooks and thieves...

But what else can you expect from these people?

[rodeodance]

35. yes--literally--out the window--oh how our health care system

could have put it to good use!!!!!!!

[Karenina]

39. What else, indeed...

:nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[librechik]

38. Thank you, Bless you Bill Keller and all whistleblowers!

You are true patriots! Godspeed!

[Doctor_J]

41. I continue to be amazed

at how corrupt every single republican is. It is breathtaking how completely corrupt every last one of them is.