Fuel Fraud Latest In Army Contracting Woes
CBS News Exposes Kickback Scheme, As Epidemic Of Wartime Military Contract Fraud Grows
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Army Contract Fraud Crisis
Bribes and kickbacks are ripping off the U.S. military. Over 80 criminal fraud cases involving contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq are under investigation. David Martin reports.
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A new report said the Army lacks the leadership and personnel, both military and civilian, to provide sufficient contracting support. (CBS/AP)
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So far two former employees of Kellogg, Brown and Root have been arrested for their part in a scheme worthy of Tony Soprano.
The two KBR men, who worked for the U.S. military at Bagram, forged receipts for 80 tanker loads trucked in but never delivered, according to court documents. The Pentagon paid for the undelivered fuel while the drivers sold it on the black market. For their role in the scheme, KBR employees divvyed up an estimated $800,000 in kick backs, reports Martin.
That's just one of more than 80 criminal cases involving some $15 million in bribes. It is still a growing scandal which Pentagon officials expect will uncover hundreds of fraudulent contracts.
A new report by a blue ribbon panel is headlined, "Urgent Reform Required."
"It usually takes a crisis to make change," said Jacques Gansler, head of the panel. "We have a crisis."
The panel said the massive logistical demands of Iraq and Afghanistan exposed "key failures" in army contracting. The value of contracts awarded tripled to well over $100 billion, but the number of people managing those contracts stayed the same, Martin reports. There are currently 160,000 contractors working for the United States in the war zone but only 75 contract managers, and most of them are not trained.
"When you go over to Iraq and Kuwait you're going to see that even about 36 percent of them are certified for those jobs," said Gansler.
Untrained contract managers are one reason there is so much fraud.Investigative Unit Blog: Read more about the Bagram fuel scheme.
"They're not trained to do it," said Gansler. "They're not used to doing it, and it's a little bit hard when somebody hands them a bag of money and says manage this - some of it might fall out."
Untrained or just plain dishonest, the fact is nearly 100 Army personnel are under criminal investigation, adds Martin.
It usually takes a crisis to make change. We have a crisis.
Jacques Gansler, head of investigative panelU.S. officials familiar with the panel's report did not say how much the additional personnel would cost. The Army's contracting work force now has just over 10,000 people, according to statistics compiled by the Defense Acquisition University at Fort Belvoir, Va.
The report calls for creating five new general officer positions within the Army's contracting work force, a move to attract talented men and women to a field most would otherwise avoid because of dim prospects for career advancement.
Citing key problem areas, the report said the Army's policies are outdated, training is lacking and a little more than half of the military and civilian contracting personnel are certified for their jobs.
Higher numbers of personnel, better quality and more clout within the Army's contracting ranks are expected to increase professionalism and decrease opportunities for misconduct as tens of billions of dollars continue to be spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the officials said.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.




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See all 112 CommentsHow about it BUSH & CHENEY you can make up for some of those deferments and mia reports. Hey Condie and Rummie wanna give it a go?
Can''t be all that bad, afterall we''re winning!!
Those bush girls don''t look too busy--they can go too!
He remembers someone reading him something (the Emperor relies on people reading things to him because he can''t read), that during the Civil War, the armies on both sides relied on private citizens and families providing for their own people. This meant families would provide the food, uniforms, and arms used by their loved ones who marched off to fight.
The Emperor believes this is a great idea! He would declare war and not have to worry about paying to supply the troops; let the soldier''s friends and loved ones do it! It would also be the responsibility of the soldier to arrange for his own travel to the front lines, get and pay for their own medical needs when injured, pay for their own medals (that is happening already with Purple Hearts!), and dig their own graves when they know they aren''t coming back!
In the meantime, the Emperor will continue to demand billions of dollars from Congress to "support the troops", which means supporting the bottom lines of Blackwater, Halliburton, KBF, and every other war profiteer out there!
SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!
This is not the "latest" fraud.
This is just the latest FRAUD that has been DISCOVERED!
There are many other frauds yet to be uncovered.
Many more will be uncovered long after Bush leaves office (if he leaves office).
Bush, Cheney, the other stinking animals in their administration and the aiders and abettors of this criminal regime should be dumped in Fallujah and forgotten--they are thieving, filthy scum whose names will live in infamy for betraying this nation and the soldiers who serve it.
Re: "So far two former employees of Kellogg, Brown and Root have been arrested for their part in a scheme worthy of Tony Soprano."
"The two KBR men, who worked for the U.S. military at Bagram, forged receipts for 80 tanker loads trucked in but never delivered, according to court documents. The Pentagon paid for the undelivered fuel while the drivers sold it on the black market. For their role in the scheme, KBR employees divvyed up an estimated $800,000 in kick backs, reports Martin."
For those who do not know, KBR is a subsidiary of Halliburton- the company that sends millions of dollars in checks to ******** Cheney.
Posted by trillion1 at 07:32 PM : Nov 01, 2007
A big ''Amen'' to that .
Yeah and they''re gonna start with you cowardly Repugniscum Neocons--make you put your tiny little balls where your big fat mouth is, "tough guy". You must be a real terror on the video games with a screen name like "badaxmofo". I bet in real life your a little pussie!
Posted by javak at 07:21 PM : Nov 01, 2007
With respect, war is always for the rich, if it weren''t for Big Business and "Organized religion" there would never be a war. That is the History of the World. Poor people do not make war, they may fight for survival but that is totally different than making war.... Wars are fought so that those that ''have'' can get ''more''...
THIS ENTIRE WAR IS A FRAUD!!
LIES from Beginning to the End!
Tax Cuts for the Filthy Rich!
Middle Class Kids do the fighting and the dying!
Blackwater Civilian-Killers get immunity!
Bush and Cheney were LYING, Saddam Wasn''t
Hundreds of thousands of Dead Iraqis!
The Bush DEATH and DESTRUCTION makes Osama Bin Forgotten look like a wimp!
The rulers who OWN our COUNTRY are WAR PROFITEERS - Stealing the OIL, Building the EMPIRE
JAIL CHENEY JAIL BUSH Murderous Thugs
For your information,..KBR,...Kellogg,Brown& Root,..Halliburton are the Biggest Non-union contractors in the whole world,..Get out from under your rock !!!They are stealing billions of OUR money!
You hit the nail on the head.
Posted by ToolMangler at 08:05 PM : Nov 01, 2007
Like Bush''s grand-daddy and great grand-daddy. They made the family fortune by selling arms and ammo to both sides in WWII. Just another case of the rich using war to make even more money off of the blood of American soldiers.
I don''t know how the people that vote for this dirt ball sleep at night. Their water beds must be filled with American blood.
Try:
Missing Buildings In 9/11 New Footage Latest In Army Contracting Woes
Tell me that this doesn''t demonstrate a "rob the store" mentality on behalf of the administration.
Untrained contract managers overseeing $100 billion in contrats.
This stratches the definition of the word "inept" to beyond comprehension.
What name will you be using tomorrow?
Day before yesterday it was "theferrier". I reported you for spamming.
Yesterday it was "USAProphet". I reported you for spamming.
Today it''s "OldProphet", and I''ve reported you again.
Considering that no one bites on your ron Paul spam, you think you could take a hint.
But I''ll report you every day you spam.
Posted by formrusmcsgt at 09:26 PM : Nov 01, 2007
............
Ron Paul for Unemployed Politician 2009!
Was there ever an investigation / an outcome to the investigation?
Posted by USAyesterday at 09:30 PM : Nov 01, 2007
Is this guy eat up with it or what? (Must be Paul''s son-in-law, eh?)
Like we need a John Bircher to follow a warmongering megalomaniac. Geez.....
Was there ever an investigation / an outcome to the investigation?
Posted by hungry1968 at 09:33 PM : Nov 01, 2007
Gee. You don''t actually think that because Cheney has Halliburton holdings in his trust that that could have anything to do with no one being prosecuted, or even indicted, do you?
Posted by formrusmcsgt at 09:42 PM : Nov 01, 2007
I know - I was just wondering if there was ever a lie generated to cover it up, or if it was ignored until it went away.
However, the Great Emperor is concerned about the bottom lines of Blackwater, Halliburton, KBR, and other "contractors" (war profiteers is a more accurate term) which is why the Emperor continually demands money from Congress (all of it borrowed from China) to "support the troops", while denying those same troops any time at home to spend with their families. And, he is confident that he will get every last dime from his blindly stupidly loyal Fascist Republicans and the cowardly spineless Democrats.
GOD HELP THE USSA!!!
SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!
...............
As much as I like what Ron Paul represents... he has no more of a chance to become President as Ross Perot did back in 1992!
Underground popularity wins internet time, not a presidency.
The sad thing is... every forum, every message board, every user group has the same types of postings that we see here on this site every f''ing day, every f''ing news story.
I swear, if there was a news story about a christian conservative caught ******** a monkey at a zoo...
...there would be a posting on how Ron Paul is a supporter of animal rights and supports increased federal funding on public zoos!
Loss in this war doesn''t mean loss to Bush and Cheney.
Cheney has already transferred Halliburton''s head office and CEO to Dubai, United Arab Emirates ( A country whose Royal Family members were having lunch with OSAMA BEEN-FORGOTTEN when Sir Bill Clinton once planned to execute him).
Loss in this war doesn''''t mean loss to Bush and Cheney.
Cheney has already transferred Halliburton''''s head office and CEO to Dubai, United Arab Emirates ( A country whose Royal Family members were having lunch with OSAMA BEEN-FORGOTTEN when Sir Bill Clinton once planned to execute him).
Posted by patriotic9 at 09:55 PM : Nov 01, 2007
Unreal isn''t it. The media can dig into the Clinton''s and try to smear campaign once again but they will not report stuff like this. If we can only get the media to report the news
......
It''s really sad tucker.
Your post can simply be categorized under "No *****" because anyone who has a brain, and is educated/knowledgeable about politics and the corruption of politicians realize all that you and so many other people say on this board every f''ing day.
All we can do, I guess, is to just repeat our posts like we do. It''s always the same sheeple who fight the obvious (as you had posted).
We''re banging our head against the wall!
Posted by downtowner97 at 10:11 PM : Nov 01,
I think if we could get the media off tabloid news, and start reporting real news that affect this country it would be a great thing. They have been in the tabloid business so long they forgot how I think.
This one sure got buried in a hurry:
"Veteran Suicides Highest Yet Recorded"
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/01/terror/printable3439629.shtml
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Doesn''t CBS care much about our troops?
Those responsible for this corruption should not be punished since
JESUS DIED FOR THEIR SINS.
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