Report: Iraq Contracts Have Cost $85 Billion

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

Report: Iraq contracts have cost billions

By KIMBERLY HEFLING – 6 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has spent $85 billion on military contracts in Iraq.

That's the finding in a report released Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office. It will likely give new fodder to critics who have accused contractors of over billing and providing shoddy work. Of the total, an estimated $6 billion to $10 billion went to security performed by contractors.

The study did not include figures for 2008, so the total paid since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 is probably much higher.

The United States has leaned heavily on contractors in Iraq to provide services ranging from food service to guarding diplomats.

Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hx3jn-1MgXROlML7o_ifsoa8E60gD92GQP580

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[Mnemosyne]

1. I would bet it is way higher than 'only' $85b. Way, way higher. knr n/t

:hi:

[Mnpaul]

2. Tales from the oversight free zone

A defense contracting expert, Peter Singer, noted, “We have just handed over functions to contractors in a very haphazard way.”

And Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota said what Al Franken has been saying for years: “It’s unfathomable to me that we don’t have a bipartisan investigative committee on contracting in Iraq.”

This, like so many other Tales from the Oversight-Free Zone, took place while Chairman Coleman, who accepted campaign contributions from Halliburton – described as “the largest Pentagon contractor in Iraq,” sat idly by.

New York Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/washington/12contractors.html

Coleman Took $4,000 From Halliburton’s PAC. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, in 2001 and 2002, Coleman’s US Senate campaign accepted 4 $1,000 contributions from Halliburton’s political action committee.
http://opensecrets.org/pacs/expenddetail.php?cycle=2002&cmte=C00035691&name=Norm+Coleman+for+Senate

http://blog.alfranken.com/2008/08/12/tales-from-the-oversight-free-zone-5/

[Doctor_J]

3. THis is bullshit. It's at least 5 times that much

They never stop lying.