Reports Uncover Waste, Fraud, and Mismanagement in State Dept's Iraq

Ambassador Patrick Kennedy has finally delivered his assessment of the State Department's relationship with security contractors in Iraq to Condoleezza Rice. Behind closed doors yesterday, the ambassador, who was tasked with making a comprehensive review of State's contractors following the Nisour Square shooting, told the secretary of state that there were serious problems "with virtually every aspect of the department’s security practices, especially in and around Baghdad, where Blackwater has responsibility," reports The New York Times.

Combined with today's report from Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, that finds "waste and fraud" in rival DynCorp's $1.2 billion Iraq contract, it's easy to see why one State Department official told the paper that the department's contracting process is caught in "a perfect storm of bad events."

Among Kennedy's recommendations is to create a "special coordination center" with the U.S. military to ensure that contractor movements within a military commander's area of operations don't conflict with the commander's orders. It's unclear whether that means the military would actually control contractor operations, as Defense Secretary Bob Gates is reportedly considering, but it would move Blackwater, DynCorp and Triple Canopy contractors out of the exclusive control of the State Department for the first time. When Gates returns from his European trip, he and Rice will discuss the future of State contractors in Iraq.

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http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004526.php

Hell, look at anything run by this bunch of clowns and you'll find waste and fraud run amuck.

Hell, look at anything run by any administration and you'll find waste and fraud run amuck.

(This administration may be taking it to new heights, but it's certainly nothing new in government.)

we more or less capable of performing their functions. Now the fraud and waste is at record levels and they can't seem do anything right.