Pentagon to investigate contract scam - Senator Darrell Issa

[seemslikeadream]

Communications is a vital and lucrative market in Iraq


Thursday 29 April 2004, 12:04 Makka Time, 9:04 GMT

Communications is a vital and lucrative market in Iraq

The official also said promoting a US-based mobile phone technology called CDMA was necessary to deal with what he called a "rigged" competition last year won by companies using European-based technology.

John Shaw,
deputy undersecretary for international technology security


Additionally, Shaw said that he had been been put under pressure by Republican Senator Darrell Issa, whose San Diego County district is packed with Qualcomm employees.


The Pentagon's Defence Criminal Investigative Services began its investigation after two senior officials with the US-led occupation authority reported Shaw had demanded they make changes to the contract.


Criminal charges could result if there were any financial ties between Shaw and members of the consortium.


http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3A023736-BCB0-4275-B266-1D6DFC9B06CE.htm

Computer Sciences Corp snapped up DynCorp

Edited on Fri May-07-04 08:52 AM by seemslikeadream
Prior to this in December, Computer Sciences Corp snapped up DynCorp for $1 billion.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/09/30/caci_defence_contractor_gets_d... /


New allegations in Iraq mobile network saga
By Guy Kewney, Newswireless.net
Published Friday 30th April 2004 10:03 GMT
Excitable American reports are suggesting that the attempts made last year by Congressman Darrel Issa to point "reconstruction" money in the direction of Qualcomm were not a silly season joke by one person, but an organised strategy, which may continue.

In a report in the LA Times (free reg needed) it is alleged that a "senior Defense Department official is under investigation by the Pentagon inspector general for allegations that he attempted to alter a contract proposal in Iraq to benefit a mobile phone consortium that includes friends and colleagues."

The original Issa story simply reported that the Congressman, who represents a constituency full of Qualcomm employees, was anxious to get Qualcomm-owned CDMA technology used in Iraq instead of "French" GSM phone systems.

Now, Issa is being mentioned as a bit-part player in the new saga of this official, who is being investigated.

The official is named: the LA Times says he is John A. Shaw, 64, the deputy undersecretary for international technology security. The allegation is simple: "He sought to transform a relatively minor police and fire communications proposal into a contract allowing the creation of an Iraq-wide commercial cellular network that could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue per year," according to the paper's sources.

more
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/04/30/iraq_cellphone_allegations /

[LittleApple81]

1. No American media sources? I wonder why? inquiring minds want to know. nt

[UTUSN]

2. Since When Did the A-hole Become a "senator"

When last heard from, he was a member of the House of Repukelicans.

[seemslikeadream]

3. Republican Sen. Conrad R. Burns of Montana

Well these guys got it right



Additionally, Shaw said that he had been contacted by Rep. Darrell E. Issa, a Republican whose San Diego County district was packed with Qualcomm employees, and the office of Republican Sen. Conrad R. Burns of Montana, the head of the Commerce Committee's communications subcommittee, urging him to ensure that U.S. technology was allowed to compete for cellular phone contracts in Iraq. Issa confirmed they he had contacted Shaw on the issue. Burns' office did not respond to inquiries.

The consortium, under the guidance of a firm owned by Alaskan natives, consisted of an Irish telecommunications entrepreneur, former officials in the first Bush administration and such leading telecommunications companies as Lucent and Qualcomm, according to sources and consortium members.

http://ktla.trb.com/news/nationworld/nation/ktla-na-iraqphones29apr29-lat,0,4084337.story?coll=ktla-news-1

[seemslikeadream]

4. A Post-War Network

A Post-War Network
By Carmen Nobel
April 7, 2003





A California lawmaker wants to make sure American technology is used in the wake of an American victory in Iraq, but his effort to control cellular technology in the Middle East nation is being called ill-advised and self-serving by critics.

Late last month, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., proposed a bill to Congress, H.R. 1441, that would require the use of CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology in lieu of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) technology for any federally funded efforts to build a cell phone network in post-war Iraq.

In a letter to government officials, including the Department of Defense, Issa argued that GSM is not American enough and, furthermore, too French. He boosted his point by referring to the technology as "Groupe Speciale Mobile," its original but dated name.

"We have learned that planners at the Department of Defense ... are currently envisioning using federal appropriations to deploy a European-based wireless technology known as GSM (Groupe Speciale Mobile)," Issa wrote. "If European GSM technology is deployed in Iraq, much of the equipment used to build the cell phone system would be manufactured in France, Germany, and elsewhere."

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1577006,00.asp