We need a new Truman COmmission!

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In thinking about my post here (http://www.clothesfreeforum.com/showpost.php?p=189864&postcount=1810) (see below) I have come to the conclusion we need a new Truman Commission. I am not the first to think about this either (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dina-rasor/a-new-truman-commission-_b_65355.html).

With the amount of absolute idiocy going on at government levels with taxpayer money we need to put a stop to it. The war, if you agree with it or not, has brought about so much corruption its not even funny. Billions of dollars have gone missing, billions more have been the result of overcharging by companies for crappy services.

This needs to stop.

(linked post below)

Another great decision by the Bush admin with our taxpayer dollars (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/world/asia/27ammo.html?_r=2&ex=1364270400&en=c04d358a662752c5&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin)


Since 2006, when the insurgency in Afghanistan sharply intensified, the Afghan government has been dependent on American logistics and military support in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

But to arm the Afghan forces that it hopes will lead this fight, the American military has relied since early last year on a fledgling company led by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur.

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Haliburton poisoning US soldiers (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19645.htm)

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Contracts for Body Armor Filled Without Initial Tests (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/02/AR2008040203534.html?hpid=topnews&sub=AR)

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[nacktman]

What we need is "Give'em Hell" Harry, himself!

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60 Minutes: Corruption in Iraq Killing US Troops With US Dollars (http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/15/60-minutes-corruption-in-iraq-killing-us-troops-with-us-dollars/)

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Some good news finally?? (http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/15/contract-loophole/)


In May 2007, the Bush administration responded to intense public criticism and “introduced plans to force companies to notify the government about evidence of contract abuse worth $5 million or more.” Previously, such reports were voluntary and not surprisingly, the number of company-reported fraud cases had “declined steadily over the past 15 years.”

Yet someone at the Justice Department quietly slipped in a provision exempting U.S. contractors who do work overseas from the reporting requirements. Bipartisan groups of public officials criticized the loophole, including the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA). Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) has also led calls for a House inquiry into the matter.

The loophole has now been removed, after months of resistance by the White House. ThinkProgress has obtained an updated version of the Justice Department’s proposal, drafted April 4, that requires reporting on all contracts, including ones abroad.

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Bill Would Boost US Power to Prosecute War Fraud (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041808T.shtml)


Washington - The U.S. government would have greater power to prosecute cases of fraud in contracts for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan under a measure introduced in Congress on Friday.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, and Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said the bipartisan legislation would update a World War Two-era law against contracting fraud to ensure that it applies to U.S. military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The lawmakers said billions of dollars have been awarded to contractors who have delivered defective products to U.S. troops in the two countries.

Congress approved resolutions that allowed President George W. Bush to use military force in those countries, but never officially declared war against them.

Leahy and Grassley said that as a result, the 66-year-old law addressing U.S. statutes of limitations on contract fraud during times of war does not apply to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Current law suspends statutes of limitations during declared wars and then gives the government up to three years after the war has ended to prosecute cases of contracting fraud.

The legislation would extend the law to cover officially undeclared conflicts and give the government up to five years after the end of hostilities to prosecute fraud cases.

"It's a common-sense reform that's good for taxpayers and good for public confidence that war contracting is not a free-for-all with no criminal accountability," Grassley said in a statement.

Watch most Republicans vote against this bill.

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Investigators: Millions in Iraq contracts never finished (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/27/investigators-millions-in_n_98881.html)


WASHINGTON — Millions of dollars of lucrative Iraq reconstruction contracts were never finished because of excessive delays, poor performance or other factors, including failed projects that are being falsely described by the U.S. government as complete, federal investigators say.

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[Naturist Mark]

Two words: Qui tam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qui_tam)

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KBR Ignored Warnings Of Unsafe Electrical Wiring That Led To Deaths Of U.S. Troops (http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/03/kbr-electrical/)


Similarly, Bunnatine “Bunny” Greenhouse, who oversaw contracts for the Army Corps of Engineers, told the Senate in 2005, that KBR represented the “most blatant and improper contract abuse I have witnessed during the course of my professional career.” Reflecting the Pentagon’s efforts to protect KBR, Greenhouse was demoted almost two months to the day after voicing that critique.

Despite all these irresponsible, unethical actions (as well as providing contaminated water to troops and evading millions in taxes), KBR recently announced that it had tripled its first quarter net profits and received new contracts worth up to $150 million for 10 years to provide assistance to the U.S. military overseas.

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U.S. Military Contractor 'Used Armored Cars To Transport Prostitutes' (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/29/us-military-contractor-us_n_99175.html)


A contractor died when a DynCorp manager used an employee's armored car to transport prostitutes, according to Barry Halley, a Worldwide Network Services employee working under a DynCorp subcontract.

"DynCorp's site manager was involved in bringing prostitutes into hotels operated by DynCorp. A co-worker unrelated to the ring was killed when he was traveling in an unsecure car and shot performing a high-risk mission. I believe that my co-worker could have survived if he had been riding in an armored car. At the time, the armored car that he would otherwise have been riding in was being used by the contractor's manager to transport prostitutes from Kuwait to Baghdad."

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Pentagon Backs $5 Billion Green Zone Development Plan (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354120,00.html)

Another Iraq Contractor Avoiding Millions In Taxes Through Off-Shore Havens (http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/04/mpri-iraq-taxes/)

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