Tales from the Oversight-Free Zone #5
Posted in Press Releases on August 12th, 2008
New Report Out Today: Billions Of Taxpayer Dollars Go To Contractors In “Unprecedented Level Of Dependence On Private Firms” In Iraq
Saint Paul [08/12/08] – According to a new Congressional Budget Office report, one in every five dollars devoted to Iraq has gone to private contractors, who now have more people in Iraq than the U.S. military. The Times describes this as “a second, private, army…one whose roles and missions and even casualties among its work force have largely been hidden from public view.”
As Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Norm Coleman failed to hold a single hearing on the waste, fraud, and abuse that sabotaged the reconstruction of Iraq.
Al Franken:
“Whenever Norm Coleman is put in charge of Minnesota tax dollars, you can be sure there are corporate special interests getting a big payday. But it’s simply unconscionable that he allowed our troops to be put at risk just so that his cronies could cash in. Instead of being a watchdog, Norm Coleman was a lapdog – and every day, we learn more about the cost of his inaction.”
The Times reports:
The United States this year will have spent $100 billion on contractors in Iraq since the invasion in 2003, a milestone that reflects the Bush administration’s unprecedented level of dependence on private firms for help in the war, according to a government report to be released Tuesday.
The Pentagon’s reliance on outside contractors in Iraq is proportionately far larger than in any previous conflict, and it has fueled charges that this outsourcing has led to overbilling, fraud and shoddy and unsafe work that has endangered and even killed American troops.
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. [Center for Responsive Politics, Accessed 6/18/08]
http://opensecrets.org/pacs/expenddetail.php?cycle=2002&cmte=C00035691&name=Norm+Coleman+for+Senate
