Wartime Contracting Panel Seals Records for Next 20 Years

[MAGNES]

Wartime Contracting Panel Seals Records for Next 20 Years
http://www.allgov.com/Controversies/ViewNews/Wartime_Contracting_Panel_Seals_Records_for_Next_2 0_Years_111025

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Established by Congress to investigate and expose government waste, the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan (http://www.wartimecontracting.gov/) has decided to not reveal its volumes of materials to the public for another two decades.

After three years of work, the commission officially shut down last week, having concluded that the U.S. misspent between $31 billion and $60 billion in contracting for services in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But it won’t allow its records to be opened for public review at the National Archives (http://www.allgov.com/agency/National_Archives_and_Records_Administration) until 2031, because some of the documents contain “sensitive information,” according to one official.

Steven Aftergood, an expert on government secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists (http://www.fas.org/), told The Wall Street Journal that the 20-year term “seems like a long period of time, particularly for a commission whose whole purpose is to improve accountability and expose waste.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff


Panel's War-Waste Records Sealed as Work Ends (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204226204576603060868379444.html) (by Nathan Hodge, Wall Street Journal)
Defense Dept. Gave $431 Billion to Contractors After They were Convicted of Fraud (http://www.allgov.com/Where_is_the_Money_Going/ViewNews/Defense_Dept_Gave_431_Billion_Dollars_to_Contracto rs_After_They_were_Convicted_of_Fraud_111022) (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
Pentagon Wasted $12 Million a Day for 10 Years on War Contracting (http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/Pentagon_Wasted_12_Million_Dollars_a_Day_for_10_Ye ars_on_War_Contracting_110802) (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
Majority of Pentagon Weapons Contracts Go Over Cost Estimates (http://www.allgov.com/Where_is_the_Money_Going/ViewNews/Majority_of_Pentagon_Weapons_Contracts_Go_Over_Cos t_Estimates_110728) (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)


FROM NEO CON ARTIST CENTRAL ITSELF !

Panel's War-Waste Records Sealed as Work Ends

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204226204576603060868379444.html

BY NATHAN HODGE

WASHINGTON—The internal records of a congressionally mandated panel that reported staggering estimates of wasteful U.S. wartime spending will remain sealed to the public until 2031, officials confirmed, as the panel closed its doors on Friday.

The Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan was established by Congress in 2008 and spent three years probing more than $206 billion the U.S. government spent on contracts and grants during a decade of conflict.

In a final, 240-page report issued in late August, the panel estimated that the U.S. had wasted or misspent between $31 billion and $60 billion contracting for services ...

[General of Darkness]

Where the fuck did the 2 trillion go on 9-10-01?

[iOWNme]

More typical BULLSHIT from cowards who hide their actions in the dark, because they know if exposed to light, they will vanish.

[MAGNES]

More typical BULLSHIT from cowards who hide their actions in the dark, because they know if exposed to light, they will vanish.

Anything is possible because of no media oversight, there is
no journalism, no " fourth estate " , then you got all the corruption,
a political and corrupt " justice department ", the NeoCons running
the whole show doing whatever they want and getting away with it,
anything is possible, like Libya, a total media hoax,

" we make our own reality " David Frum, Bush "axis of evil" speech writer,
Hollinger board member with Richard Perle, boss went to jail, Conrad Black.

No accountability, they kill and rob people, countries, their enemies
get prosecuted.

[Nomoss]

Anything is possible because of no media oversight, there is
no journalism, no " fourth estate " , then you got all the corruption,
a political and corrupt " justice department ", the NeoCons running
the whole show doing whatever they want and getting away with it,
anything is possible, like Libya, a total media hoax,

" we make our own reality " David Frum, Bush "axis of evil" speech writer,
Hollinger board member with Richard Perle, boss went to jail, Conrad Black.

No accountability, they kill and rob people, countries, their enemies
get prosecuted.

And WHO are THEY? I think I know BUT.no it can't be THEM.
Can it be?
Thanks for the info.

[MAGNES]

Pentagon has paid US$1 trillion to fraudulent defence contractors – report (http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20376:pentagon-has-paid-us1-trillion-to-fraudulent-defence-contractors--report&catid=7:Industry&Itemid=116)

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20376:pentagon-has-paid-us1-trillion-to-fraudulent-defence-contractors--report&catid=7:Industry&Itemid=116

Over the past decade fraudulent defence contracts have received more than US$1.1 trillion worth of contracts from the Pentagon, according to a US Department of Defence report.

US Senator Bernie Sanders, whom the report was prepared for, described it as "shocking." He said aggressive steps must be taken to ensure taxpayer dollars aren't wasted. "The ugly truth is that virtually all of the major defense contractors in this country for years have been engaged in systemic fraudulent behavior, while receiving hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money," said Sanders. "With the country running a nearly US$15 trillion national debt, my goal is to provide as much transparency as possible about what is happening with taxpayer money."

The report detailed how the Pentagon paid US$573.7 billion during the past 10 years to more than 300 contractors involved in civil fraud cases that resulted in judgments of more than US$1 million, US$398 billion of which was awarded after settlement or judgment for fraud.

When awards to "parent" companies are counted, the Pentagon paid more than US$1.1 trillion during the past 10 years just to the 37 top companies engaged in fraud.

Another US$255 million went to 54 contractors convicted of criminal fraud in the same period. Of that total, US$33 million was paid to companies after they were convicted of crimes.

Some of the United States’ biggest defense contractors were involved.

For example, Lockheed Martin in 2008 paid US$10.5 million to settle charges that it defrauded the government by submitting false invoices on a multi-billion dollar contract connected to the Titan IV space launch vehicle program. That didn't seem to sour the relationship between Lockheed and the Defense Department, which gave Lockheed US$30.2 billion in contracts in fiscal year 2009, more than ever before, Sanders stated.

In another case, Northrop Grumman paid US$62 million in 2005 to settle charges that it "engaged in a fraud scheme by routinely submitting false contract proposals," and "concealed basic problems in its handling of inventory, scrap and attrition." Despite the serious charges of pervasive and repeated fraud, Northrop Grumman received US$12.9 billion in contracts the next year, 16 percent more than the year before.

A Sanders provision in a defense spending bill required the report and directed the Department of Defense to recommend ways to punish fraudulent contractors. The Pentagon said sanctions already are in place. "It is not clear, however, that these remedies are sufficient ... to deter and punish fraud when it is detected." That tone was different than what the Pentagon said in a preliminary report last January, which declared that “the department believes that existing remedies with respect to contractor wrongdoing are sufficient."

Said Sanders: "It is clear that DOD's current approach is not working and we need far more vigorous enforcement to protect taxpayers from massive fraud."

Under another Sanders provision in a separate law, a government-wide federal contractor fraud database was opened to the public earlier this year. Access to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System had been limited to federal acquisition officials and certain members of Congress. The DOD promises to ramp up monitoring of this database to ensure its contractors' fraudulent actions are accurately and fully disclosed.

Over the past ten years, DOD awarded US$254,564,581 to companies that were convicted of a crime in connection with a DOD contract during that same period of time. DOD awarded US$33,079,743 of that to convicted companies after they had been convicted.

Over the past ten years, DOD awarded US$573,693,095,938 to companies that were found liable or settle charges of a civil wrong in connection with a DOD contract during that same period of time. DOD awarded US$398,081,775,397 of that to those companies after they settled the charges or were found liable.

“The numbers become increasingly shocking if you look at company affiliations,” Sanders said. Over the past ten years, DOD awarded US$1,104,423,438,564.10 to entities affiliated with companies that have a history of fraud.

The report references many examples of fraud, but here are some examples involving the largest contractors.

Lockheed Martin Corp., the largest defense contractor, paid at least the following amounts for defrauding the Pentagon over the last ten years:
- US$4.25 million in 2000
- US$6.2 million in 2002
- US$37.9 million in 2003 (to resolve allegations that it fraudulently inflated the cost of performing several Air Force contracts)
- US$12.6 million in 2006
This is a total of US$60.95 million in fraud judgments and settlements.

The Boeing Company, the next largest contractor, paid at least the following amounts for defrauding the Pentagon over the last ten years:
- US$54 million in 2000 (to settle charges that it placed defective gears in more than one hundred and forty Army helicopters)
- US$651,663 in 2003
- US$565 million in 2006
- US$25 million in 2009
This is a total of US$644.65 million in fraud judgments and settlements.

Despite this, we continued to work with Boeing and awarded the company more than US$21 billion in taxpayer funded contracts in the last decade.

In 2000, the Boeing Company agreed to pay US$54 million to settle charges that it placed defective gears in more than one hundred and forty CH-47D "Chinook" helicopters and then sold these defective helicopters to the United States Army. When one of the gears failed in flight, it caused a helicopter to crash and burn while on a mission in Honduras, and five servicemen aboard were killed. Again, this fraud and the resulting tragedy do not seem to have affected Boeing's ability to secure DOD contracts. In FY01, the following year, Boeing received US$13.7 billion in DOD contracts, up 27% from the year before, Sanders notes.

Northrop Grumman Corp., the third largest defense contractor, paid at least the following amounts for defrauding the Pentagon over the last ten years:
- US$5.3 million in 2000
- US$17.8 million in 2003
- US$62 million in 2005
- US$325 million in 2009
This is a total of US$410 million in fraud judgments and settlements.

Northrop Grumman has been awarded more than US$9 billion in taxpayer funded contracts in the last decade.

[Celtic Rogue]

What utter bull shite! I used to believe that the people could fix the problems at the ballot box... I no longer feel that way. Those people will not give up their lucrative thievery without blood being split. This truly depresses me!!!

[Canadian-guerilla]

http://hiphopandpolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Haliburton.jpeg

[gunDriller]

In another case, Northrop Grumman paid US$62 million in 2005 to settle charges that it "engaged in a fraud scheme by routinely submitting false contract proposals," and "concealed basic problems in its handling of inventory, scrap and attrition." Despite the serious charges of pervasive and repeated fraud, Northrop Grumman received US$12.9 billion in contracts the next year, 16 percent more than the year before.

Northrop (NGC) has 3 fraud cases that went to court in the last 20 years -
* the Nira Schwartz case, involving her discovery of fraud & TRW missile defense. Northrop bought TRW and TRW divisions are a big part of NGC.
* the Bidley/ Ridley (i forget the whistle blowers exact name), he was represented by Phillips & Cohen in San Fran. recovery was about $110 million.
* this $62 M. case.

well, NGC can at least advertise "consistency".

[jimswift]

Trillion here, a trillion there, and they've got people the world over fighting for pennies...table scraps.

Shows how weak a $100k salary actually is in comparison.

[Hatha Sunahara]

All the money they spent on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and everywhere else was a complete total utter waste. It was all based on lies. Taxpayers had no way to stop these people and still don't.

The devil however is in the details. They don't want to explain things like why they removed a lot of topsoil from places like Fallujah. This is like suppressing evidence for a whole host of crimes. 20 years is long enough to guarantee freedom and a good life for people who should spend that time in jail or worse.

Hatha

[JDRock]

Where the fuck did the 2 trillion go on 9-10-01?
rabbi dov zacheim sent it all to fort LOX.

[mick silver]

you just cant make this shit up . it hard for me to see this country being around much longer . the people running this country would kill every person in this country for a buck . there needs to be a list of people and they need to be convicted of treason . the people running this country have betray this country ...