At What Cost?

The question above is asked on the site of the Commission on Wartime Contracting as to their recently released report.

Remember the meme at the beginning of the War Drum Beating and the easy certain Corporate "No Bid Contracts" in support of the Wars and Occupations: "They're the only ones in the World who can do the organizing and work needed in support of our Military and the Coalition of Willing!"

Never mind they were connected by the hips to those beating the drums, never mind they were only paper pushers tens of thousands of miles away and sub-contracting out all the work, never mind the many issues of lost billions, shoddy work, bonuses, waste and corruption that almost instantly started coming to light and even with that they were given more, not even handshakes, just here ya go Pallets with Shrink wrapped Blocks of Cash, Millions and Billions, freshly printed and minted!!

I had similar questions as this LTE writer asks, well before the report was issued the other day and this posted today, but than again many of us have had the questions of Defense Spending for years, with extremely little questioning from the greater masses. Especially us Veterans of our previous failed policies as we've watched our brothers and sisters being short changed for their service, short changed and no questions or willingness from the greater masses who don't serve!

No tea parties over billions lost in Iraq?

Where are the tea parties? Where is the outrage from the purveyors of the vaunted, unregulated “free market?”

The Wartime Contracting Commission reports that tens of billions have been wasted on private sector contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, due to “poorly defined work orders, inadequate oversight and contractor inefficiencies.”...........

The following was released a few days ago, yet I've heard very little talk from the talking heads, Especially the opinionated right wing spinmeisters, they have alot to say about everything else, in this country or so called libertarians and very little from the left, All War Drum Beating Supporters Of, remember there was some seventy five plus percent in favor of destroying an innocent country and many still in favor of occupying two countries while bombing another!

Commission on Wartime Contracting

Contingency Contracting In Iraq and Afghanistan

Interim Report to Congress: 121page PDF

Since 2001, Congress has appropriated about $830 billion to fund U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over that period, America’s reliance on contractors has grown to unprecedented proportions to support logistics, security, and reconstruction efforts related to those operations. More than 240,000 contractor employees—about 80 percent of them foreign nationals—now work in Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting the Department of Defense. Additional contractor employees support the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Dude, Where's My Money?

Waste, Fraud, and Abuse: three words used in an official report describing what has happened to the 380 billion US dollars spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Contractor oversees security guards in Afghanistan

A major security contractor is running an office overseeing armed guards in Afghanistan, a situation at odds with the Pentagon's claim that military officers would be in charge of such sensitive work.

A new report on wartime spending to be made public Wednesday at a congressional hearing says the contractor, Aegis Defense Services, has operated with limited U.S. government supervision...............

War contractor bonuses an outrage

Yes, bonuses paid to the contractors that rival the corporate bonuses paid here..............

US military wasted taxpayer money in Iraq: Report

The first audit released by US Congressional Commission of Wartime Contracting reveals that the military has wasted huge sums of its USD 834b budget on contractors.

The 121-page report on security, logistics and renovation contracts indicates that the US government has failed to oversee the defense expenditures it disbursed to key contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. The report refers to large-scale cases of fraud and mismanagement of contracts during the so-called 'war on terror', which have cost American taxpayers 'billions' of dollars.................

US Senators Webb & McCaskill ask Secretary of Defense to review findings, address immediate concerns identified in wartime contracting commission Report

Following today’s release of the Commission on Wartime Contracting’s interim report to Congress, Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) asked Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to review the Commission’s findings and address a number of critical issues of “immediate concern.”..............

Again the question should be asked "No tea parties over billions lost in Iraq or Afghanistan?" which won't be answered even at further so called "teabaggin" rallies, certainly not by the speakers invited!

This goes along with another question asked years back now by a GoldStar Mom, "For What Noble Cause Mr. President?"!!

Oh, before I go, one more issue and another question, especially to the masses who never serve but cheer on:

The Business of War

GRITtv with Laura Flanders



Even as congress denies billions in assistance to states, there is little if any talk of cutting US defense spending. Since the end of the Second World War, when Dwight Eisenhower warned of the ever expanding military industrial complex, military spending has been linked to the nation's economic well-being. In times of prosperity and economic distress alike, defense spending is pushed as economic stimulus. And it's a bipartisan affliction. But who benefits and what is their interest in maintaining a war time economy?

On GRITtv Pratap Chatterjee, the author of "Halliburton's Army: How a Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War" and the founder of Corpwatch, Eugene Jarecki, documentary filmmaker and director of the acclaimed "Why We Fight", and Scott Ritter, the author of "Target Iran: The Truth About the White House's Plans for Regime Change" examine the business of war and why stimulus and star wars are so hard to separate.

Then retired US army colonel Ann Wright talks about her recent trip to Gaza. Throughout Israel's intensive war in Gaza, reporters and international observers have been barred from entering the region. Wright says that the damage is extensive and Israel's disproportionate response "criminal." Wright and Code Pink are planning fundraising events to aid women's groups in Gaza for International Women's Day. Find out what you can do here.

GRITtv with Laura Flanders

Laura Flanders.com and author of "Blue Grit: Making Impossible, Improbable, and Inspirational Political Change in America"

Iraq's WMD's = Gravely Ill American Soldiers {Updated}

US soldiers assigned to guard a crucial part of Iraq's oil infrastructure became ill after exposure to a highly toxic chemical at the plant

They were bleeding from the nose, spitting blood.

There apparently were hundreds of American soldiers at this site that were contaminated.

And who do they and others accuse

Langford is one of nine Americans who accuse KBR, the lead contractor on the Qarmat Ali project and one of the largest defense contractors in Iraq, of knowingly exposing them to sodium dichromate, an orange, sandlike chemical that is a potentially lethal carcinogen. Specialists say even short-term exposure to the chemical can cause cancer, depress an individual's immune system, attack the liver, and cause other ailments.

And

"Hundreds of US troops, who may not even know of their exposure to sodium dichromate that could one day result in a horrible disease, cancers, and death," he said.

What is 'Sodium Dichromate':

Sodium dichromate is the same substance that poisoned residents in Hinkley, Calif., an incident made famous by the movie "Erin Brockovich" in 2000.

It's one of the extremely dangerous chemical's, potential killers, that industries world wide use, and they know the dangers of exposure to, and under responsible corporations is used with guarded caution and safety checks.

Langford and his former colleagues have said KBR supervisors initially told them the chemical was a "mild irritant". The company, however, eventually acknowledged that sodium dichromate was a potentially deadly substance and moved to clean up the site.

Of course KBR denies and says the safety of the workers and troops are of the "highest priority", what else would war profitteering, incompetent corporate officials say, after all they heed their investors not the worker, troops, or country paying them under the no-bid contracts!

And

The Pentagon has said that the troops' exposure to sodium dichloride at the Iraqi facility did not appear to pose any long-term threat.

But

In yesterday's hearing, however, Langford described for the first time how soldiers guarding the facility had the same symptoms as those who had dangerous levels of exposure to the chemical, complaints that are the foundation for the workers' lawsuit.
"The chromium of Iraq is going to be the same thing as Agent Orange of Vietnam," Langford said after the hearing. "I want something done for them."

Along with one of KBR's own

Edward Blacke, who served as KBR's health, safety, and environmental coordinator for the Qarmat Ali project, said he saw soldiers with "continuous bloody noses, spitting up of blood, coughing, irritation of the noses, eyes, throat, and lungs, shortness of breath."

And

Max Costa, chairman of the Department of Environmental Medicine at New York University, told the committee that ordinary blood and urine tests would not have detected heavy levels of sodium dichromate exposure after a few days. He said that the military would have had to conduct a highly specialized red blood cell test within four months of the exposure to determine the soldiers' risk of illness.
"Most people don't get it right," said Costa, after the hearing. "It is not an established test that medical labs normally do."

Pee in a cup, "You're alright, don't worry!"!

And as we've found out already over and over and over..........................., once again, we've gone through all this before,

But Dorgan said yesterday that the Pentagon has not done enough to monitor the health of the soldiers and ensure that KBR and other contractors are putting safety first.

And what does the esteem congress have to say

"It is almost unbelievable," the senator said during the hearing. "We know that there has been exposure of workers and soldiers to a deadly chemical, and there has been, in my judgment, lack of accountability by those who caused the exposure and lack of accountability at the Department of Defense, regrettably."

Lack of Accountibility??

No F'in S**t Einstein, what have the People been saying all along!!

I give kudo's to the present Congress, at least they are doing their jobs, the jobs that weren't done by the previous Congress. Investigating, Hearings and Oversite as these things keep coming forward, and not a whisper was heard about any of these in the Halls of the 109th Congress.

But the reason you all are there is 'Accountability', from the Top all the way Down, including your own!

Dorgan began investigating the workers' allegations of sodium dichromate exposure after The Boston Globe reported on the case in March.

ACCOUNTABILITY

ACCOUNTABILITY

ACCOUNTABILITY

It's in the Constitution and the Laws of this Country,Use It or We Loose It!!

DPC Hearing
The Exposure at Qarmat Ali:
Contractor Misconduct and the Safety of U.S. Troops in Iraq
Friday, June 20, 2008
10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
608 Dirksen Senate Office Building

The Exposure at Qarmat Ali: WMD's Iraq = KBR

The Exposure at Qarmat Ali:

Additional hearing information is available here

Oversight and Accountability Project

Staff at the DPC Oversight and Accountability Project work with whistleblowers, non-profit groups, Executive Branch agencies, and their colleagues on Capitol Hill to protect U.S. taxpayers, uncover waste, fraud and abuse, and hold government officials accountable.
The DPC has focused on contracting abuses in Iraq and in the Gulf Coast region following Hurricane Katrina, pre-war intelligence failures, and continuing homeland security vulnerabilities, among other issues.
Learn more about the Oversight and Accountability Project and access materials related to hearings held by the DPC.
Aware of waste, fraud or abuse that
DPC should investigate? E-mail us.

We are a nation that likes to pride itself on truth, justice, freedom and humanity. {NO MORE!}

Give Some Traffic To the articles. Just picked them up and they were posted in the last 20hrs. or so:

Ark. man, others blame KBR for contaminants in Iraq

An Arkansas man who worked as a contractor in Iraq says he lost his job after warning workers they were being exposed to a cancer-causing chemical there.

Ed Blacke, a former safety inspector for Houston-based contracting giant KBR, says his exposure to sodium dichromate in 2003 gave him chronic thyroid problems and early signs of cancer. He said supervisors initially ignored his warnings about contamination at the Qarmat Ali water injection plant near Basra, Iraq.

Democrats accuse KBR of knowingly exposing workers to deadly chemical at Iraqi water plant

Senate Democrats are accusing defense contractor KBR of knowingly exposing its employees and U.S. troops to a potentially deadly chemical in Iraq in its rush to get the country's oil infrastructure up and running.

Former contractors say Ind. soldiers were exposed to carcinogen

Indiana National Guardsmen who provided protection to defense contractors at a water pumping plant in Iraq were exposed to a potentially deadly chemical, two former workers at the site said Friday.

Troops copped cancer dust

"People are potentially exposed to something that may be very dangerous," says a memo detailing minutes from an August 8, 2003 meeting

These aren't just local rags here in the states, just these few are in the International Edition of the New York Time, from Australia, and google gives some 93 others under 'Sodium Dichromate'.

KBR, Half a Billion Dollars in Payroll Taxes, Not Paid!!!!

During work today I caught the following on NPR's Here and Now which comes out of Boston, and while it was a real nice, and comfortable, bright sunny day, My Freaking Rage Level Hit Sky High!!!

IRAQI WAR CONTRACTORS:

The Boston Globe reports today that the largest war contractor in Iraq is skirting hundreds of millions of dollars in US taxes by setting up shell companies in the Cayman Islands. The Globe found that Texas-based Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) may have avoided half a billion dollars in payroll taxes by hiring employees through foreign subsidiaries. But those subsidiaries are nothing more than an address, with no phone, fax or offices. The Boston Globe's Foreign Affairs correspondent, Farrah Stockman, went to the Cayman Islands to investigate.

You can click here to bring up the audio of the show in Real Player. This is the whole hour show, but the report above is the first report and only takes the first 10min. or so.

In the discussion Ms Stockman states they Estimated the loss of payment at some $500million a year!

Now take a moment to think about this.

They are getting paid Billions of Your Money, although now All Borrowed, You and your Kids and Grand Kids, will be Paying this back, with Huge Interest Payments!

While getting Paid, with Your Money, they are Skimming Millions of that, into their pockets, instead of bothering to pay, Your Money, back into the Government Coffers of the troubled Social Security and Medicare!

The Boston Globe Article is 6 pages long, so it's abit of a long read but Very Interesting!

More than 21,000 people working for KBR in Iraq - including about 10,500 Americans - are listed as employees of two companies that exist in a computer file on the fourth floor of a building on a palm-studded boulevard here in the Caribbean. Neither company has an office or phone number in the Cayman Islands.

The Defense Department has known since at least 2004 that KBR was avoiding taxes by declaring its American workers as employees of Cayman Islands shell companies, and officials said the move allowed KBR to perform the work more cheaply, saving Defense dollars.

What does one Senator have to say about this, which is abit sketchy as to legality:

"Failing to contribute to Social Security and Medicare thousands of times over isn't shielding the taxpayers they claim to protect, it's costing our citizens in the name of short-term corporate greed," said Senator John F. Kerry

Now, I not only want Indictments, from all the suspected crimes of these last 7yrs. I Want A Full Blown Investigation into the Financial Records of bush on down the line of this entire administration, into Congress, and any lurkers of this crowd inside and out of Government, These War Mongering, War Profitteers, Must Be Brought To Justice!

The largest of the Cayman Islands shell companies - called Service Employers International Inc., which is now listed as having more than 20,000 workers in Iraq, according to KBR - was created two years before Cheney became Halliburton's chief executive. But a second Cayman Islands company called Overseas Administrative Services, which now is listed as the employer of 1,020 mostly managerial workers in Iraq, was established two months after Cheney's appointment.

Cheney's office at the White House referred questions to his personal lawyer, who did not return phone calls.

I want a Public View of Financial Records before they came into Power compared to what they have now, Hidden and Non-Hidden!

As the Democratically Controlled Congress refuses to bring Impeachment, a must first step to Justice and Accountibility, and seems to continue to back off on the fight for our rights and the protection of the Constitution, than one must believe that some, on that side of the isle, are Complicit to what has been going on, Profitting on the Blood Money!

I would hope I'm wrong, as there are numorous Democratic Representatives that really seem to do what they were hired to do, but my instincts tell me some are as Guilty as this Cabal that has been Raping not only this Country but the Innocents of Other Countries along with All the Death and Destruction they've brought forth!!

It isn't only Social Security and Medicare not being paid:

In addition, the practice enables KBR to avoid paying unemployment taxes in Texas, where the company is registered, amounting to between $20 and $559 per American employee per year, depending on the company's rate of turnover.

Why? Because their employed by a Foreign Company!

In interviews with more than a dozen KBR workers registered through the Cayman Islands companies, most said they did not realize that they had been employed by a foreign firm until they arrived in Iraq and were told by their foremen, or until they returned home and applied for unemployment benefits.

Up untill any decide to seek damages or what should be due them, than:

But there is one circumstance in which KBR does claim the workers as its own: when it comes to receiving the legal immunity extended to employers working in Iraq.

Nonetheless, KBR's top competitors in Iraq do not appear to have gone to the same lengths to avoid taxes. Other top Iraq war contractors - including Bechtel, Parsons, Washington Group International, L-3 Communications, Perini, and Fluor - told the Globe that they pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for their American workers.

As I said above, I want a Complete, and I mean a Complete Investigation into what has been going on In and Out of the Peoples House, the White House, all these last seven years!!!

AMEN Bob Schieffer, AMEN!!!

Schieffer On Gen. Tommy Franks

Click To Play

The Follies Of Fundraising

A Retired General Charged A Fee To Use His Name To Raise Money For Wounded Troops

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2008

Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

View it again with their Player the traffic will show him you Care!

Greed, Arrogance and War Profitteering are Not Charities

char·i·ty
–noun, plural -ties.
1. generous actions or donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless: to devote one's life to charity.
2. something given to a person or persons in need; alms: She asked for work, not charity.
3. a charitable act or work.
4. a charitable fund, foundation, or institution: He left his estate to a charity.
5. benevolent feeling, esp. toward those in need or in disfavor: She looked so poor that we fed her out of charity.
6. leniency in judging others; forbearance: She was inclined to view our selfish behavior with charity.
7. Christian love; agape.


char·i·ty
n. pl. char·i·ties
1Provision of help or relief to the poor; almsgiving.
2Something given to help the needy; alms.
3An institution, organization, or fund established to help the needy.
4Benevolence or generosity toward others or toward humanity.
5Indulgence or forbearance in judging others. See Synonyms at mercy.
6often Charity Christianity The theological virtue defined as love directed first toward God but also toward oneself and one's neighbors as objects of God's love.

Charity
(1 Cor. 13), the rendering in the Authorized Version of the word which properly denotes love, and is frequently so rendered (always so in the Revised Version). It is spoken of as the greatest of the three Christian graces (1 Cor. 12:31-13:13).
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

There have always been Con men and women who have started, what they term, Charities. Ripping off donors and targeted recipients/causes to only enrich themselves!
But by the end of the 20th century, and now into the 21st, many have turned them into Big Business Operations, disregarding the meaning of Charity, spinning off other business opportunities connected with the running of the charity and the promotion.
For those who run these operations it means a low labor operation for them with huge sums of money pouring in, and in most cases Free Labor by Well Meaning People who Volunteer and do the Real Work.
There are also many who give up possible more lucrative positions in the private sector to work for these charities at much reduced wages and benefits because they to are Well Meaning People who get great satisfaction in helping others or taking on needed causes for a Better World and Communities.
Charities should Not be allowed to become Personal Banks for the founders and top executives which run them. And any starting a charity should heed the meaning of and run same, on the daily basis, following the meaning and intent.
Many have become what they are, personal piggybanks, through their influence on Corrupt Politics, of getting the laws changed to benefit themselves, not the recipients of the purposes of some of these charities, charities in name only! They are also not only depending on the Charity of many to donate they are also feeding at the trough of the public monies and getting huge tax breaks, furthering the growth of their bottom line, Personal Wealth!
Charities started to help the Nations Veterans have always been around, many running on the legit, while many fall under the ease of the Profits Wars Generate, especially Wars Of Choice, they join their breathern the War Profitteers, with No Shame!
The American Institute of Philanthropy came out with a Report, at the end of last year, leading to an investigation by ABC News, than others, which in turn led to a Hearing to Assess Veterans' Charities in the House of Representatives.

On Thursday, the Committee held a hearing to examine whether all the charitable groups raising money for the purpose of helping our nation’s veterans are genuinely serving that need. Concerns have been raised that some charities are conducting high volume mail and telemarketing campaigns that enrich the organizations and fundraisers but fail to provide meaningful assistance to veterans. The hearing will include a discussion of what Americans can do to ensure that their contributions to veterans’ causes are being responsibly used.

ABC News had written and video reports, in December of '07, on their findings. I combined that video with a followup video report givin only a few days ago, Jan 17th '08,
Veterans Charity Outrage!

Click To Play

on the same day another House Committee held hearings for further Investigation into Veterans' Charities Continues

The Committee held a hearing entitled “Assessing Veteran’s Charities – Part Two.” This hearing focused on charities operated by Roger Chapin, who failed to comply with a subpoena compelling his testimony at the December 13 hearing. Over the past 40 years, Mr. Chapin has established and operated more than 20 charitable organizations, including a number of veterans’ and military-oriented charities. Questions have been raised about the practices of his current charitable organizations.

Below are links to the ABC reports, followups and related reports

Director of Veterans Charity in Hiding

Failing to Serve America's Heroes on the Home Front

Scam Alert: Charity Outrage
Charity groups claim to support troops but don't fully deliver on promises.

Gen. Tommy Franks Paid $100,000 To Endorse 'F' Veterans Charity

Retired U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks, who led the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, was paid $100,000 to endorse a veterans charity that watchdog groups say is ripping off donors and wounded veterans by using only a small portion of the money raised for veterans services, according to testimony in Congress today.

Now in all fairness to Gen. Franks:

Chapin testified he approached Gen. Franks in 2005, and he agreed to let his signature be used on mass mailings seeking contributions to his charities.
"He helped us raise millions and millions of dollars more than we would have," Chapin told the hearing, chaired by Congressman Henry Waxman, D- Calif.
Congressman Waxman said Gen. Franks had since disassociated himself from Chapin's charities and asked that his name be removed from the solicitation.
"General Franks was paid $100,000 to lend his name. We understand he developed misgivings and asked that his name be taken off," Congressman Waxman said.

But one wonders, where did the 100grand go, back to this charity?, to another Charity, that is legit, or was it ever even given up!

Chapin also revealed that his charity paid $5,000 a month for the endorsement of retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Arthur "Chip" Diehl.
Contacted by ABCNews.com, Gen. Diehl said he had "no comment."

Luxury for Charity Officials, Budget Cuts for Wounded Vets
Black-Tie Dinners and Luxury Suites at Football Games for Company Officials Top Charity Foundation's Agenda

Investigating Veterans' Charities

CBS News also covered this story, back in '07 and again this month. They to had video and written reports. I combined their first video with this months:

Assessing Veterans Charities

Click To Play

Veterans' Charity Boss Rebuffs Critics
Entrepreneur Accused Of Mismanaging Charities He Started For Vets And Enriching Himself

The head of a California-based veterans charity rebuffed accusations of mismanagement and self-dealing at a raucous congressional hearing Thursday, shouting over lawmakers to declare himself "the most honest person in this room."

You can also find the Video's at the above links of these reports at both News Networks.


Once again the link to The American Institute of Philanthropy

Where they also have the following story about one charity?, of scamming:

Soldiers Angels Lose Their Halos

You can read the following Statement of Daniel Borochoff, President, American Institute of Philanthropy PDF
December 13, 2007
Our Nation’s Veterans Deserve Better from America’s Charities

either here or there as well.

And VA Watch Dog carries the following, with back links to other reports there.

VETERANS' CHARITY INVESTIGATION PROMPTS STATE AND
FEDERAL ACTION
The undercover investigation exposed the truth about where your money to charity is really going.

It's Disgusting enough when Charities are formed for the benefit of the few, their founders and friends, but as we order our Military Personal into Wars of Choice and they continue to be Killed and Maimed at the same time more and more supposed charities are formed, giving little to the intended, it's Way Beyond Disgusting!

How many are Veterans that run these Charities, Especially War Theater Veterans?

Greed, Arrogance and War Profitteering are Not Charities!!