Battleland

Big Bucks, Little Oversight, Big Trouble

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Much of the billions of dollars U.S. taxpayers are spending rebuilding Afghanistan and Iraq is likely being wasted because no one is ensuring the contractors involved are doing a good job. That’s the bottom line in Monday’s report from the congressionally-mandated Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 90 percent of the contracts issue for such work lacked data on how well the contractor had performed on earlier contracts.

“Our concerns are that past-performance data is often not being properly recorded or explained and that barriers exist to the effective use of suspensions and debarments,” commission chairman Christopher Shays, a former Connecticut Republican congressman, said. “If past performance information isn’t recorded in the federal database, then there’s no shared official record to consider in awarding new contracts. And if suspensions and debarments are impeded by bureaucratic decisions or inertia, then companies that have committed fraud may continue receiving taxpayer funds. In either case, untrustworthy contractors can continue profiting from government work. Responsible businesses may be denied opportunities and costs to taxpayers climb.”

Bottom line: it should be no surprise that we’re getting ripped off on a lot of these deals.