State Department allowing contractors to run amok

The State Department is tasked with the job of overseeing and auditing the work of private contractors in Iraq.  But according to an internal report recently submitted to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, her department is not performing sufficient oversight of contractors such as Blackwater and DynCorp:

A State Department review of its own security practices in Iraqassails the department for poor coordination, communication, oversightand accountability involving armed security companies like Blackwater USA ,according to people who have been briefed on the report. In addition toBlackwater, the State Department’s two other security contractors inIraq are DynCorp International and Triple Canopy.

At the sametime, a government audit expected to be released Tuesday says thatrecords documenting the work of DynCorp, the State Department’s largestcontractor, are in such disarray that the department cannot say“specifically what it received” for most of the $1.2 billion it haspaid the company since 2004 to train the police officers in Iraq.

...in presenting its recommendations to Ms. Rice in a 45-minute briefingon Monday, the four-member panel found serious fault with virtuallyevery aspect of the department’s security practices, especially in andaround Baghdad, where Blackwater has responsibility.

So much for oversight.  Remember, Blackwater is a company that may have committed tax evasion.  Yet, Condoleezza Rice's State Department just sits there and allows companies like Blackwater to do whatever they want.

Comments

[Ven Griva]

The word is "amok" not amuck.

[Chief Editor: Todd]

Thanks for the correction, Ven Griva. Unfortunately, the editor I have does not do spell check on the title. However, I still should have checked it on my own. Thanks again.