[Media-watch] "Wild West" Iraq occupation authority criticised - Financial Times - 15/02/2005

[Julie-ann Davies]

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/fb6647ce-7f2d-11d9-8ceb-00000e2511c8.html


'Wild West' Iraq occupation authority criticised
By Reuters, February 14, 20.32


The U.S. occupation authority in Iraq had a chaotic, "Wild West" approach to 
contracting which opened up the system to abuse and waste, a former employee 
from the authority said on Monday.

Ex-Coalition Provisional Authority official Franklin Willis cited examples 
of this "chaos" at a hearing of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee and 
said he believed most abuse and waste could have been avoided.

Willis showed a picture of himself and other U.S. officials holding up 
plastic-wrapped 'bricks' of $100 bills worth $2 million to pay security 
contractor Custer Battles, which the Defense Department has since suspended 
due to billing issues.

"The Custer Battles case, which while anecdotal, reflects a general pattern 
of waste and inefficiencies which could have been avoided," said Willis of 
contracting abuses in Iraq.

"In sum, inexperienced officials, fear of decision-making, lack of 
communications, minimal security, no banks and lots of money to spread 
around. This chaos I have referred to as a 'Wild West'," Willis, who was a 
senior aviation official for the CPA, told the hearing.

Democrats have called for a full congressional hearing on what they say is a 
pattern of contracting abuses in Iraq, from overcharging by lead contractor 
Halliburton to poor planning and mismanagement.

Audits last month by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction 
were particularly scathing over the CPA's handling of more than $20 billion 
of Iraq's own money and said lack of oversight opened up these funds to 
corruption.

MELTING FUNDS

North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan said passing money stuffed into plastic bags 
to contractors made it all the more difficult to track funds.

"Your description of passing money around sounds like passing an ice cube 
around. By the time the person gets the ice cube at the end of the line, 
it's much smaller," he said.

"There is a lot here that should be the subject of aggressive oversight 
hearings," he said.

Defense department spokesman Lt. Col Joe Yoswa said the CPA operated under 
extremely difficult conditions from its inception until its job was over in 
June 2004.

"Throughout, the CPA strived for sound management, transparency and 
oversight," he told Reuters.

The United States Congress set aside $18.4 billion for rebuilding Iraq, of 
which about 15 percent has been spent.

A lawyer representing two "whistle-blowers" in the Custer Battles case, Alan 
Grayson, said his clients wanted to provide testimony at the hearing but had 
been too afraid to attend because of death threats, and because they feared 
retaliation from the Bush administration.

"In our case the Bush administration has not lifted a finger to recover tens 
of millions of dollars that our whistle-blowers allege was stolen from the 
government." REUTERS

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