PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT – The nonprofit watchdog journalism organization the Center for Public Integrity published “Windfalls of War II.” Here are some of the Center’s key findings:
– U.S. government contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan have grown more than 50 percent annually, from $11 billion in 2004 to more than $25 billion in 2006. “Iraq remains the clear priority of the U.S. government,” according to the Center, “with more than seven times as many contracting dollars designated for spending there as for Afghanistan.”
– Of the $13 billion awarded through cost-plus contracts (which guarantee the vendor either a fixed amount of profit or a set percentage of profit above its cost), 30 percent was awarded through simple cost-plus, fixed-fee arrangements that offer no incentives for cost savings.
– Former Halliburton subsidiary KBR, Inc. is the largest single contractor with $16 billion in contracts from 2004 to 2006, nearly nine times larger than the second largest contractor, DynCorp International. However, KBR’s share is eclipsed by the $20.4 billion awarded to “unidentifiable foreign entities.”
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