In March 2002, and Del and Barbara Spier, an older couple from Texas, "were flat broke" with more than $260,000 in debt, writes Daniel Schulman in Mother Jones.
However, in May 2002, the couple's life changed when they formed a corporation and scored a $8.4 million deal to "rebuild Afghanistan's infrastructure" destroyed by war.
"Given the stakes of the project," writes Schulman, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) could have given a contract to a "well-established outfit with deep experience in conflict zones. Instead, it handed a contract to a firm with no reputation to speak of and a freshly bankrupted management team."
The above, however, is not the only "problem."
While "rebuilding" Afganistan, the couple from Texas was "defrauding the US government, filing phony receipts and billing for ghost employees to bilk millions of dollars from programs aimed at rebuilding the country's war-ravaged infrastructure."
In his article, Daniel Schulman calls Del and Barbara Spier "the cowboys of Kabul."
Their case, notes Schulman, is "one of the most vivid pictures yet to emerge from Afghanistan's Wild West contracting bonanza."
And there are many similar cases!
Did I mention that the couple was from Texas and they did what they did while another person from Texas was running the United States? I see, I did. That may explain a lot.
Click here to read this fascinating and extensive article by Daniel Schulman.
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Comments: 18
That's not a fair statement considering Texas makes up 261,797 sq. miles and the population estimate for 2008 for Texas was 24,326,974.
The other side of the story is that the US government has allowed this to happen. Can't put the entire blame on this couple, or Texas, or even Bush.
Civilian contractors have protected american diplomats from insurgent attack, fed and housed troops, translated for soldiers on dangerous raids, have been injured just like soldiers and have died just like soldiers.
But not only does our government assign contracts to civilian contractors, but they also oversee the insurance system to cover civilian contractors' employees. It's mandated under a law known as the Defense Base Act yet doesn't pay much attention here either. Apparently companies are able to deny medical insurance, or water down insurance, and specifically battlefield insurance, to employees, yet taxpayers still pay the premiums for the insurance and our government reimburses private carriers for any costs arising from combat injuries.
The Labor Department oversees the system, mandated under a law known as the Defense Base Act. It requires federal contractors to purchase workers compensation insurance for civilians working in overseas war zones. But the agency has failed to enforce key provisions of the law, including informing employees of their rights and ensuring that companies purchase such insurance.
The system has produced hundreds of millions of dollars in out-sized profits for the private insurance companies, primarily the American International Group, the largest provider of battlefield insurance in Iraq and Afghanistan. Taxpayers pay the premiums for the insurance and the government reimburses private carriers for any costs arising from combat injures. The top four providers received $1.5 billion in premiums through 2008, yet paid out only $900 million in benefits -- a profit margin of nearly 40 percent.
The Story So Far: Civilian Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan
So where does the blame start here? You can't have a chicken house without the dog to guard it. Surely wolves will show up eventually. Whose fault is it that the chickens were eaten, that's my question.
Like Hezbollah? State sponsored militia?
You do realize that only about 4% of contractors carry weapons, right? There are currently 71,700 contractors in Afghanistan, twice the number of US troops. Only approx. 3,000 of those contractors carry weapons.
According to Robert Gates, "The use of contractor security personnel is vital to supporting the forward-operating bases in certain parts of the country and in continuing our efforts to employ local nationals whenever possible." You read that right. The vast majority of armed guards hired in Afghanistan are not US citizens. According to Gates, "only nine out of the 3,847 security contractors in Afghanistan have U.S. passports."
The rest of the contractors are truck drivers, mechanics, vehicle maintenance, food preparation, technical personnel, oil fields staff, water treatment plants, water and oil pumping station maintenance personnel, electricity, heck, do I need to list them all? Even the Pizza Hut that is run on bases is not run by military people.
Keep in mind that your idea of state sponsored militia, or Hezbollah, have trouble even getting the life, health and battlefield insurance that was promised them and to date, the figures are:
CIVILIAN TOLL
Dead: 1,584
Injured: 35,449
Source: Labor Department, June 2009. Figures reflect number of civilian contractors reported injured or dead in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Afghanistan - Security In Afghanistan, surge of private security contractors
While this couple and also Berger should probably be shot for what they did, why are there not enough overseers? With so much of our money being spent, why are we not prepared to ensure the money is being spent appropriately??
An insinuation that seriously undermines your credibility. Though maybe you know more Texans than I do...
Exhibit A