U.S. contracting firm accused of bilking millions and running wild in Iraq

[leftchick]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20050430-0915-wildcontractor-abridged.html

~snip~

As Isakson tells it, they also wanted his guns, leaving him unarmed in a mess of a country and banned from its safest haven.

"We were defenseless," says the former cop and FBI agent. He had come to Iraq to help rebuild the devastated country, accompanied by his 14-year-old son, Bobby. Now, after less than a month, they were being expelled at gunpoint.

By Americans.

The gunmen and Isakson all worked for Custer Battles LLC, a Rhode Island-based contracting firm now mired in lawsuits and a criminal investigation by the Pentagon. Isakson claims company employees ordered him out because he refused to help defraud the U.S. government.

It is one allegation on a long list.

A little more about this "company" here...
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Custer_Battles

[leftchick]

1. Good God this is terrible...

:(

~snip~

But Custer Battles gained a certain reputation in Iraq.

"Probably as gunslingers," a retired lieutenant colonel working for the firm told Chicago public radio last year. For security reasons, he gave his name only as Hank.

He described a Baghdad hotel gunfight that erupted not long after Custer Battles security agents landed. It was started by a rocket-propelled grenade attack. When the smoke cleared, the guards – who'd leaned out windows and fired more than 3,000 rounds in the middle of a residential neighborhood – realized they had been shooting at each other.

Earlier this year, four former employees, all military veterans, said they quit after witnessing Custer Battles security escorts shooting indiscriminately at civilians, including gunning down a teenager walking along a road. The men also said guards in a truck drove over a car containing children and adults while trying to make their way through a traffic jam.

[Solly Mack]

3. Day gawds

This has to be stopped. What is wrong with America? Why are we allowing this? I'm beyond disgusted.

[TahitiNut]

2. "Treason doth never prosper ..."

"Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
- Sir John Harington (1561-1612)

[Jacobin]

4. He brought his 14 year old son?????

WTF is wrong with these people?

[yorkiemommie1]

7. i had to read that line twice myself !!!

unbelievable!!

[NNN0LHI]

13. Two paychecks are better than one I guess? n/t

[bobthedrummer]

5. I wonder if The Center for Public Integrity has them featured?

Post-War Contractors Ranked By Total Contract Value in Iraq and Afghanistan
http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/resources.aspx?act=total

Campaign Contributions of Post-War Contractors
http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/resources.aspx?act=contrib

[burrowowl]

14. CPI

Has lots of good stuff on the business of war under their International topic. Recommend to everyone.

Very good links bobthe drummer.

[ananda]

6. Rapine, plunder, and..

.. pillage.

That's the ticket these days. Who cares about people? They're all expendable, anyway.

Sue

[TedRichardson]

8. "U.S. contracting firm accused of bilking millions and running wild in Ira

Amazing, are they tied to Halliburton?

[leftchick]

9. Uh no...

they are tied to the US government

[leftchick]

10. ONLY reason this stopped is because of the WHISTLEBLOWERS!

I have NO doubt this is happening with every mercenary contractor in Iraq being paid with our Tax $$! The difference here is we have a couple of brave (yet stupid, his 14 year old son?!?) Whistleblowers.....

~snip~

Isakson and William "Pete" Baldwin, the former Iraq country manager for Custer Battles, filed a federal whistle-blower suit last year, accusing the company of war profiteering and defrauding the government of at least $50 million.

[NNN0LHI]

11. What an appropriate name for these cowboys though. "Custer Battles"

Think about it for a moment.

Don

[Daphne08]

12. I watched Senator Dorgan

on C-Span addressing this issue.

Here is a transcript:

PDF of Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing
“An Oversight Hearing on Waste, Fraud and Abuse in U.S. Government Contracting in Iraq”
http://democrats.senate.gov/dpc/hearings/hearing19/transcript.pdf

or if you don't have Adobe Reader, it can be found here:
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:Qq2o8Ky4-K8J:democrats.senate.gov/dpc/hearings/hearing19/transcript.pdf+Hearing+February+14,+2005+Alan+Grayson&hl=en

It can be found on C-Span also.
I don't have the specific link, but here's the details so you can do a search:

Senate Hearing on Contracting in Iraq
Speakers Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), attorney Alan Grayson, former CPA whistleblowers, and others participate in an overrsight hearing on contracting in Iraq.
2/14/2005: WASHINGTON, DC: 2 hr. 45 min.

ALSO, here's an interesting article. It's called

"Top Ten War Profiteers of 2004
You know it's bad when Halliburton is #7"
(It's much worse than just Custer Battles - it's only listed as #6)

http://www.guerrillanews.com/articles/article.php?id=1029

[leftchick]

16. The medal of freedom winner ex-viceroy bremer

should be in prison. This SO infuriating ...

~Not only do PMCs fall outside the Military Code of Justice but, thanks to another order passed by Paul Bremer (CPA order #17), it’s not clear that they could be prosecuted under Iraq’s own laws. That’s because the order grants foreign contractors, including private security firms, full immunity from Iraq’s laws, even if they injure or kill an innocent party.~

Thank you for the link to GN. It must be read on an empty stomach.

:grr:

[lovuian]

15. Iraq is a cookie jar and everybody is stealing from Americans

and Iraqis!!!

Its a travesty!!!