Gov't Suspends Iraq Prison Contracts (CACI)

WASHINGTON - Army civilian interrogators under scrutiny in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal are working under a contract designed originally for information technology services and overseen by the Interior Department.


Now Interior's internal watchdog is investigating the arrangement. The department, which normally oversees national parks and American Indian matters, has blocked the Army from ordering new services under the contract.


The confusing arrangement adds another layer to the uncertainty over who was in control of Iraqi prisoners and what rules governed treatment of the detainees. Army contract officials are supposed to keep contract workers in line and recommend punishment, Interior spokesman Frank Quimby said Tuesday.


The Army told Interior last week, however, that it had had no problem with the way CACI International Inc. was handling the work, even though an internal Army report has accused at least one CACI interrogator of participating in abuses.

~snip~
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&ncid=693&e=7&u=/ap/20040526/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/prison_abuse_contracts

So existing contracts are under review but not suspended? :crazy:

The Army paid CACI more than $3.3 million through May 17 on two purchase orders involving interrogators at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere in Iraq, Quimby said. Those two purchase orders authorize spending of up to $41.7 million, Quimby said.

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WTF????

http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/04/05/Abu_Israel_link.html

Israeli link possible in US torture techniques

In exchange for interrogation training, did Washington award security contracts?

By Ali Abunimah
Special to The Daily Star

CHICAGO, Illinois: The head of the American defense contracting firm implicated in the torture of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison has close ties to Israel and visited an Israeli "anti-terror" training camp in the occupied West Bank earlier this year.

Jack London, chairman, president and CEO of CACI International Incorporated, traveled to Israel in January this year <2004> as part of a high-level delegation of US Congressmen, defense contractors and pro-Israel lobbyists, sponsored and paid for in part by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah, a pro-Israel lobbying and fundraising group, and Greenberg Traurig, LLP, a prominent Washington law and lobby firm.

The purpose of the visit, according to a CACI press release, was

"to promote opportunities for strategic partnerships and joint ventures between US and Israeli defense and homeland security companies."

<snip>

Although no evidence has emerged directly linking CACI's involvement in the Abu Ghraib atrocities to Israel, it has long been known that the US military has been interested in "learning" from Israel's experience attempting to suppress the Palestinian uprising. In March 2003, for example, the AP reported that the "the (US) military has been listening closely to Israeli experts and picking up tips from years of Israeli Army operations in Palestinian areas and Lebanese towns."

This cooperation has included briefings of US personnel by Israeli officers, and, according to AP,

"In January and February (2003), Israeli and American troops trained together in southern Israel's Negev Desert ... Israel has also hosted senior law enforcement officials from the United States for a seminar on counterterrorism."

...more...

Well, the market sure doesn't think much will come of it.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CAI&d=t