US Will Not Grant Contractors Immunity

[Benny B]

An insightful interview by the most beautiful woman in broadcast journalism. 



In an exclusive interview with Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi foreign minister, tells Al Jazeera's Ghida Fakhry that Iraq and the US are close to finalising a deal on US military presence in the country, that will not grant US contractors immunity from prosecution or permit the US to use it as a base to attack other nations.

[shootfighter1]

Yep, she's really attractive.

[24KT]

So basically in a nutshell, ...they sign this agreement, so Bush can run around saying Mission Accomplished (again) in the hopes that he can give his protegée McBush a victory in November, ...then Mcbush tears up the agreement as he sees fit.  I do like the part about no immunity for contractors tho. Blackwater might be giving up some of those profits afterall. 

[240 is Back]

Obama will cost blackwater billions of dollars.  Very interesting.

[headhuntersix]

So basically in a nutshell, ...they sign this agreement, so Bush can run around saying Mission Accomplished (again) in the hopes that he can give his protegée McBush a victory in November, ...then Mcbush tears up the agreement as he sees fit.  I do like the part about no immunity for contractors tho. Blackwater might be giving up some of those profits afterall. 

And this is somehow a good thing...I guess u fail to realize what kinds of services Blackwater and other Contractors provide.

[MRDUMPLING]

And this is somehow a good thing...I guess u fail to realize what kinds of services Blackwater and other Contractors provide.

Which requires them to have immunity from the law?  Let's be real...

[headhuntersix]

Unless we grow the military, this is a much cheaper route to go. U hear sporadic incidence in the media about what 'contractors"
 are doing...mistakes etc. They run mission every day...all day, from tons of different companies, without incident.

[MRDUMPLING]

Unless we grow the military, this is a much cheaper route to go. U hear sporadic incidence in the media about what 'contractors"
 are doing...mistakes etc. They run mission every day...all day, from tons of different companies, without incident.

I have no doubt that they do their job.  My concern is why there is a need for immunity, not unlike the telecommunications companies requiring immunity.  That doesn't make any sense. 

[240 is Back]

I have no doubt that they do their job.  My concern is why there is a need for immunity, not unlike the telecommunications companies requiring immunity.  That doesn't make any sense. 

Because they have shit to hide.

The telecomm stuff... they tapped a lot of people.  Early audits show abuses in 10% of cases.  I'm betting when the books are opened, we'll see a lot of Bush's political enemies were tapped

[MRDUMPLING]

Because they have shit to hide.

The telecomm stuff... they tapped a lot of people.  Early audits show abuses in 10% of cases.  I'm betting when the books are opened, we'll see a lot of Bush's political enemies were tapped

I'm well aware of that.  I don't think HH6 sees it that way is all I was trying to say.   

[Straw Man]

Fuck Blackwater and all the other "contractors".

If there really is a war on terror then let's reinstate the draft and we'll have plenty enlisted men and women to do the job for 1/10th the cost (probably even less)

[Decker]

Fuck Blackwater and all the other "contractors".

If there really is a war on terror then let's reinstate the draft and we'll have plenty enlisted men and women to do the job for 1/10th the cost (probably even less)

Agreed.  Those unconditional tax dollars are just too tasty to pass up for these crooks.

It sickens me that private soldiers/service providers are making a fortune while the military rank and file risk their lives for comparative peanuts.
________________________ ________________________ _____

Yet another in-depth audit has exposed the rampant fraud, corruption and waste in Iraq-related government contracts that have cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars since the war began.

Made public this week, results of this latest probe reveal that the U.S. government failed to comply with federal laws and regulations created to prevent fraud when it paid out nearly $8 billion worth of Iraq contracts in the last five years alone.

Conducted by the Department of Defense’s Inspector General, the audit says that nearly every transaction involved in the multi billion-dollar contracts failed to comply with federal laws, some (about $1.4 billion worth of deals) even lacked basic invoices explaining how the tax dollars were spent.

The damaging 68-page report (Internal Controls Over Payments Made in Iraq, Kuwait and Egypt) highlights the case of an $11.1 million contract that includes “no invoice at all” supporting the request for payment. Additionally, there is no receiving report showing that the millions of dollars in goods or services were even delivered.

The inspector general’s audit covers Iraq contracts from 2001 through 2006, but other similar reports, conducted by various government agencies, have exposed the widespread corruption and waste increasingly prevalent in  government deals in Iraq. Last year congressional investigators revealed that the government wasted $10 billion in fraudulent Iraq reconstruction contracts.

Earlier this year, a separate but equally alarming report published by the Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction confirmed that the abuse of taxpayer dollars continues in Iraq, with millions of dollars in lucrative contracts that don’t get finished yet the U.S. government describes as complete. Those deals were found to be littered with excessive delays, poor performances and projects that simply never came to fruition.

Yet U.S. taxpayers have dished out more than $100 billion for Iraq reconstruction, which is nowhere near complete. The tab is sure to swell, especially since government officials have repeatedly failed to address the documented fraud and corruption that has tainted the effort.http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2008/may/billions-more-wasted-iraq-contracts

[headhuntersix]

Fuck Blackwater and all the other "contractors".

If there really is a war on terror then let's reinstate the draft and we'll have plenty enlisted men and women to do the job for 1/10th the cost (probably even less)

Straw its not cheaper..months ago i explained in detail why..its much cheaper for the DOD/Gov to use contractors. We are also talking two different things as well. We're talking Blackwater/Armor/Hart/Triple Canopy to name a few and then the hundreds of other contractors doing other stuff. We'll call, the first group mercs, thats what they are. Its cheaper to use these guys. Most are X American SOF or US trained foreign SOF. Same with the Brit groups. The other guys like KBR..yeah I know there are problems but nobody and I mean nobody can do what KBR does...sorry there just isn't anybody.