U.S. paid $32M for Iraqi base that wasn't built

[babylonsister]

U.S. paid $32M for Iraqi base that wasn't built
By Matt Kelley, USA TODAY


WASHINGTON — The U.S. military paid a Florida company nearly $32 million to build barracks and offices for Iraqi army units even though nothing was ever built, Pentagon investigators reported.

The project had to be abandoned because the Iraqi Defense Ministry couldn't obtain rights to the land where the headquarters were to be built, according to a report released this month by the Defense Department's Office of Inspector General. Contracting records show the buildings would have housed one brigade and three battalions of the Iraqi military in Ramadi, a hotbed of the Sunni Muslim insurgency and capital of Anbar province.

Still, the Air Force agency overseeing the project paid contractor Ellis Environmental Group $31.9 million of the $34.2 million obligated for the project, the report said.

An Air Force spokesman, Michael Hawkins, said in an e-mail that Air Force auditors are reviewing the contract. Although the inspector general's report says the Air Force was considering suing the contractor, Hawkins said any talk of a lawsuit was premature until the Air Force audit is complete.

Ellis Environmental Group spokesman Steve Brownstein said the work was reassigned to Ellis World Alliance Corp., a related company. Bob Smith, of Ellis World Alliance headquarters in Gainesville, Fla., said contracting rules barred any official comment.

The Ramadi construction contract is one of many problems Pentagon investigators cited in this month's report on the military's oversight of $5.2 billion Congress approved in 2005 to help train and equip the Iraqi military and police.

more...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-12-13-Iraqcontract_N.htm

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. stealth bases for new and improved stealth Iraqi military.

Wow. Iraq forces will really be high tech.

[Solar_Power]

13. Where is the GAO?

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is known as "the investigative arm of Congress" and "the congressional watchdog." GAO supports the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and helps improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. GAO's work includes oversight of federal programs; insight into ways to make government more efficient, effective, ethical and equitable; and foresight of long-term trends and challenges.

http://www.gao.gov/

[spanone]

17. they have been neutered just like the democrats. like FEMA. like CPSC

[TwilightGardener]

2. 32 million--that's chump change! No one will miss it!

:eyes:

[Strelnikov_]

4. Beat me to it

$8B in shrink wrapped currency, gone, no records where it went, for starters . . .

[TwilightGardener]

9. I am really, really curious as to how one "loses" pallets of cash--

in the BILLIONS, with a "B"--no one was guarding it? Or was it diverted intentionally? Unbelievable, and I don't think most Americans know or care.

[Toots]

10. That one really baffles the mind

In past "Wars" GIs were not allowed to carry American currency and were issued Military Payment Certificates or MPCs for short. Because American currency is the world's currency it is easily used by the enemy to purchase arms from world markets. Why would our government dump eight BILLION dollars in hundred dollar bills in shrink wrapped bundles loaded on pallets and then onto five C-4 Cargo jets and sent to Iraq. 463 tons of cold hard cash and no one knows anything. No records of any sort kept. IMO it is the single largest cash heist in American history and no one wants to investigate...

[DrDebug]

16. $500M to a Polish used car salesman

http://youtube.com/watch?v=C_996gPqHPM

[Richard Steele]

3. Gee Wally, B*shcabal™ gave its pals 30 million of our tax dollars for no reason? I'm shocked....NOT.

[FreakinDJ]

5. When are we going to get a full accounting of the Bush/Iraq mess

there are literally 1000s of these contract abuses going on and still in continues.

Waxmen is the only one holding any sort of hearings into the corporate raid of National Treasury and not 1 company CEO, Exec. has been indicted. Understandably the corporate media is keeping a lid on this stuff, but this is the type of thing John Q. Public can get behind, end the war and win all 3 branches of government for the Dems.

I firmly believe it has turned into a "Show me the money" campaign issue for many Dem Lawmakers. As long as those same lobbyist come spread around some money they are going to quietly let this one go by. All the while you and me the American tax payer get raped for the next 20 or 30 years paying off the debt

[BeanCounting]

6. Amazing, but we're fucking nuts to try to get health care for kids! N/T

[xchrom]

7. 32 million that didn't go to new orleans. nt

[ellenfl]

8. hm-m-m wonder if

john ellis bush (aka 'jeb') has anything to do with that company. he surely had something to do with the florida company getting the contract in the first place. or am i just being paranoid. :evilgrin:

ellen fl

[Gidney N Cloyd]

12. or Nancy Bush Ellis, Poppy's sister?

Brazen.

[KharmaTrain]

11. And The Fraud Keeps On Rollin'

When someone gives me shit for calling this a war for profit, these are the stories I love to cite. The US taxpayer has thrown billions down a rathole that fueled a GOOP military-industrial complex welfare system. Whose welfare? Theirs, of course...a healthy bottom line and lots of profits.

The investigations into the abuses by contractors will take years to sort out and we'll never get a thorough accounting of where money went...other than into the pockets of GOOP donors. But there will need to be a close look not only at the contracting process but the overall concept of "outsourcing" the military.

[Solar_Power]

14. A picture is worth a 1000 words

[ellenfl]

15. except that receptacle should have 'halliburton' written on it. eom

[countryjake]

18. Gotta keep that funding coming! n/t